The latest strike by the teachers under the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) began in March and in spite of several rounds of meetings between leaders of the union and the Federal Government, the teachers had warned students and parents to be prepared for a very long strike this time around.

ASUU has been locked in a protracted dispute with the Nigerian government over issues connected to poor funding of public universities. Every time the dispute boiled over to strike by the teachers, negotiations between the two parties always produced agreements.

However, the government’s failure to meet the teachers’ expectations within the context of the agreements have been a primary reason ASUU has been on strike almost every year since 1999.

But in what seems to be a good news on Friday, after weeks of negotiations and foot-dragging, the Federal Government on Friday accepted the demand by the Academic Staff Union of Universities that they be exempted from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.

According to punchng, the government also shifted grounds on a number of issues, including the insistence that all the academic staff of the federal universities must be paid through the IPPIS platform.

Consequently, while many have looked forward that the breakthrough in negotiations is expected to end the eight-month strike embarked on by the university lecturers since March, 2020, however, the wait seems not to be over.

According to the leaders of the University lecturers, while it described the outcome of the negotiation between the FG and ASUU as a fruitful one, it however revealed that ASUU would now consult with its council and then get back to the government in a short while, to make their final intention known; if the strike will be suspended or not.

In its words, it said:

“#Updated (Outcome of Friday Meeting)

The Negotiation between FG and #ASUU today yielded very good results.

1. The government has agreed to use the old platform before #IPPIS, to pay all withheld salaries.

2. #UTAS is still undergoing usability test.

3. On revitalization, the government offered N15billion in addition to the N20billion pledged earlier.

4. #ASUU would now consult with its council and then get back to the government in a short while, to make their final intention known; if the strike will be suspended or not.”

Consequently, in your view, putting into consideration the ASUU demands the FG has met, do you think the University lecturers have any further reason not to call off this over right months old strike ?