New twist as NANS rejects court order for ASUU to call off strike, brands it ‘black market judgement’

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), on Wednesday, dismissed a judgement of the National Industrial Court which ordered members of the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) to suspend their ongoing strike immediately.

Justice Polycarp Hamman of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) had ordered striking lecturers to return to class, adding that the industrial action was at variance with the Section 18(1)(2) of the Trade Disputes Act.

However, in a statement issued by NANS National Public Relations Officer, Giwa Yisa Temitope, the association slammed the ruling, stressing it was inconsequential

It described the ruling as a “black market judgment”, tasking the Federal Government to accede to the demands of ASUU.

The statement read: “Our attention has been drawn to a news of a court judgment mandating the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call of its 7 month strike. As an association, we feel disturbed to read the news of the judgment because we believe that it betrays equity.

Read also:NANS vows to disrupt political campaigns over lingering ASUU strike

“Ordinarily, the Federal Government is not meant to have dragged ASUU to court. But, the fact that they had to drag ASUU to court is a signal that this government cannot handle crisis. And, we want to state categorically that the court cannot force members of ASUU back to lecture theatres.

“And, as it stands today, with that court judgment, we maintain that the court has not resolved the problem and we reject the judgment in strong terms. The court could have said that the Federal Government should go and pay rather than say that lecturers who are on strike should go back to classrooms. We were expecting the court to have understood that lecturers are on contract of personal service hence, they cannot be compelled to render a service they don’t want to render.

“The only remedy to this strike action is for the Federal Government to accede to the demands of ASUU which the government willingly entered into with them and properly fund education.”

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