UNICAL Set To Resume Academic Activities On October 17

The University of Calabar is set to resume academic activities after the nine months strike following the court order by the Appeal Court of Nigeria, this is according to a reliable source at the University.

Last Friday, the court gave the order after dismissing the union’s application for a stay of execution of an earlier ruling of the National Industrial Court directing the university lecturers to resume work.

The University Management headed by the Vice-Chancellor, Professor Florence Banku Obi is said to have plans to reopen the University on the week of the 17th of October, 2022.

Recall that the three-member panel of the Court of Appeal led by Hamma Barka granted the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) permission to appeal the ruling of the industrial court but ruled that it must first resume work to be allowed to file the appeal. It said should ASUU fail to re-open the universities, the permission it gave the union to appeal against the interlocutory injunction of the National Industrial Court “will be automatically vacated.” It gave the university lecturers’ union seven days within which to file its notice of appeal against the order of the National Industrial Court. “I am inclined to granting the application to appeal the decision of the National Industrial Court of Nigeria. But the order of the lower court shall be immediately obeyed,” the court held in its unanimous ruling. The National Industrial Court had on 21 September ordered ASUU to call off the strike.