The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, says the union is willing to end its seven-month-old strike.
Osodeke disclosed this on Thursday in Abuja, at a National Town Hall Meeting on Tertiary Education tagged: ‘The Locked Gates of our Citadels -A National Emergency.’
Recall that the union embarked on industrial action on February 14, making it over seven months since public universities across the country were closed down.
The Federal Government recently sued ASUU at the industrial court in an attempt to end the strike.
Osodeke reiterated the union’s commitment to return to school if the Federal Government puts its proposal on the table, saying that negotiation could be reached if the government was willing.
“If the government loves this country, these children and their parents, then they should come to the table and let us resolve these issues in one day”.
The ASUU president also expressed sadness over the lingering strike resulting in the government taking the union to court.
He said suing the union was not an option as it would further worsen the situation of the students and tertiary education in the country.
Osodeke claimed that if the court forces the lecturers to return to school, they won’t force them to teach with open minds, saying that the students would be at the receiving end.