Africa-Press – Nigeria. Alhaji Abdullahi Ibrahim, a human resource expert, has appealed to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to obey the judgment of the National Industrial Court at once.
Ibrahim also urged the union not to appeal the judgment but to return to the classrooms in line with the democratic process and as patriotic intellectuals.
He made the appeal in a statement he issued in Abuja on Thursday.
Ibrahim called on the Federal Government not to proceed further with the suit filed in the National Industrial Court but to withdraw the case.
He said the government should also direct the immediate payment of outstanding salaries of ASUU members for them to resume academic activities.
According to him, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms could be used to resolve the lingering crisis.
He said, “ASUU strike that has turned to national embarrassment, is avoidable if both parties had allowed patriotism to play dominant roles in the disagreement.”
Ibrahim expressed satisfaction with the promise made by President Muhammadu Buhari that he would hold more consultations to get the ASUU crisis out of the way.
He added that such a firm assurance gives a ray of hope that the crisis will soon be put behind.
The human resource expert also appealed to the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) as stakeholders, should avoid complicating the issue by making inflammatory statements and organising protests as the matter was about to be brought under control.
“I am appealing to ASUU to call off the strike and resume classes,” he added.
Ibrahim expressed optimism that the Federal Government would no doubt pay their outstanding salaries from March to September this year so that academic activities could resume without any inhibition.
He called for a resumption of negotiations immediately after the strike is called-off.
According to Ibrahim, the Alternative Dispute Resolution mechanism approach is better than litigation, as litigation has its own way of slowing down actions.
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