Academic work is set to resume in Nigerian universities as lecturers there suspend an eight-month old strike.
The aggrieved lecturers have been demanding better funding for universities, more facilities and an improved pay system among other issues.
Several rounds of talks with the government had failed to resolve the dispute.
Last month a court ordered the lecturers to end the strike but their union appealed against the decision.
In the early hours of Friday, Nigeria’s Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) announced the suspension of the eight-month strike.
It follows intense negotiations between ASUU and government representatives at a meeting mediated by members of the House of Representatives in Abuja, local media reported.
“Let all of us working together and the members of the House of Representatives working together, put a beautiful end to this thing we have started so that every Nigerian will be proud that we have the universities we can be proud of,” ASUU president Emmanuel Osodeke was quoted as saying by local media.
“We also extend our appreciation to the president for intervening in the ASUU strike. And I want to appeal that in future we should not allow strike to linger. Strike should not go beyond two days,” Osodeke added.
Earlier this week the union gave the clearest indication to end the strike after a meeting with key leaders of Nigeria’s parliament.
The eight-month industrial action was one of the longest strikes by university lecturers in Nigeria. It disrupted academic activities in the country’s public universities, affecting around two million students.
The suspension of the strike comes as a huge relief to the students after months of anxious waiting.
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Source: Africafeeds.com
