ASUU BEING FORCED TO END STRIKE

Lagos-based legal practitioner, Daniel Onwe, has
dragged the Federal Government and the
Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU,
before a Federal High Court in Lagos, southern
Nigeria, over the lingering crisis between the
two bodies which has led to the closure of public universities in the country since 1 July. In a motion dated 30 September, 2013, Barrister
Onwe is seeking an order of court to compel
ASUU to call off the strike it embarked upon in
protest over the unwillingness of government to
implement certain aspects of the agreement they
reached over the parlous state of Nigerian universities and other issues. In a 15-paragraph affidavit filed along with the
motion, Onwe is asking the court to declare that
the indefinite strike embarked upon by ASUU,
leading to the closure of government owned
universities for three months, violates the
fundamental rights of the students affected. He argued that the continued strike action by
ASUU has traumatized many students who now
engage in all sorts of vices. Onwe posited that the plight of the affected
students has worsened as their contemporaries
in private universities continue to attend lectures
while they remain idle at home. He urged the court to compel ASUU to open the
universities for lectures to resume while their
negotiation with the Federal Government
continues. No date has been fixed for hearing of the suit.