As students of the nation's public universities continue to hold their breathe over whether the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) would accept the latest offer of the federal government and end their four-month strike, uncertainty continues to prevail as regards to when the crucial meeting of the National Executive Council (NEC) would hold. THISDAY gathered that the death of the former ASUU President, Prof. Festus Iyayi, is the likeliest reason for the continued delay in holding the meeting. The much-anticipated NEC meeting would be the decider over the fate of students, who have been idling at home for almost five months. There were speculations that the meeting would hold last Saturday, after it was cancelled due to the auto crash which claimed the life of the unionist and author. ASUU’s representatives said there had been no intention to hold the meeting on Saturday.
But some newspapers had reported that the meeting may hold next Friday, even though this was neither confirmed nor debunked by the union. There were also speculations currently that the union may decide to postpone the crucial meeting till next year.
A labour analyst, however, told THISDAY that the meeting was likely to hold after the burial of Iyayi, which had been tentatively slated for the first week of December. "They may have decided to postpone the meeting as a mark of honour to their departed colleague, who died while on his way to the meeting. We should also give them that chance to mourn him," he said.
ASUU President, Dr. Nasir Fagge, did not respond to calls made to his mobile phone.
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