The deadline of the Nigerian government’s ‘Back to Class’ ultimatum to striking university lecturers elapsed on Tuesday, with some universities divided over the resumption order.
The university lecturers have been ordered to go back to class on December 10 or face the possibility of being sacked.
But the ultimatum has generated division amongst the universities, with contradicting statements coming from different universities. Most universities were deviant while few were compliant, a development that had generated questions about the unity of the union.
The lecturers had insisted that the government should tender evidence that it had deposited the revitalisation fund into the CBN account.
Members of the union in the University of Benin in Edo State, south-south Nigeria, did not resume academic activities on Tuesday as directed by the Nigerian government.
The University’s ASUU Chairman, Mr. Anthony Monye-Emina, said that the Union would continue with the strike until the Federal Government met their demands and engaged them in further dialogues.
At the University of Benin, Ugbowo Campus, students were in school with the hope that the Federal Government’s directive would bring lecturers back to classrooms.
In Jos, lecturers at university of Jos in Plateau State defied the government’s order.
However, the university’s Governing Council, through a directive signed by the registrar, Jilli Dandam, directed all academic staff of the university to return to their various departments, units and directorates and commence work. A daily compliance register is to be kept by all heads of department.
It was also a defiant response at the Bayero University in Kano, Kano Sate, as members of the union also disregarded the Federal Government’s directive.
In compliance, the Federal University of Technology in Owerri, Imo State (FUTO) resumed academic activities and fixed December 16 for semester examination.
The Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof. Chigozie Asiabaka, told Channels correspondent that close to 80 per cent of the lecturers had signed in the school register and students were in their revision week ahead of their exams next week.
On Tuesday, the Nigerian government presented an evidence of payment for the 200 billion Naira it had agreed to pay into a Central Bank of Nigeria’s special account for the revitalisation of the universities.
With the development, it is expected that the five months old strike would be called off, as the university lecturers had said they would call off the strike as soon as the government fulfilled the agreement.