The Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) is to hold a National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on Thursday to decide its next line of action over the lingering strike by  public university teachers.
The NUT President, Mr Michael Alogba-Olukoya, said this in a telephone interview with newsmen in Lagos on Tuesday.
The union had on Sept. 26 given a two-week ultimatum to the Federal Government and the lecturers to resolve their differences and end the strike or face nationw

Former Minister of State for fct, Senator Solomon Ewuga (left), with the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar, at the nrc’s public private partnership stakeholders’ workshop in Abuja last Tuesday. Photo: NAN

ide strike by NUT members.
The lecturers embarked on the strike under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on July 1.
The lecturers described the strike as “comprehensive, total and indefinite.
Alogba-Olukoya told newsmen that the union extended the ultimatum following appeals from well-meaning Nigerians.
He, however, noted that the extension would end on Tuesday.
“Since we gave the ultimatum, well meaning Nigerians have been pleading with us.
“In order not to cry more than the bereaved, we gave them till October 22. The NEC members will meet on Thursday to decide our next line of action, “he said.
Our correspondent reports that the university teachers are protesting non-implementation of an agreement they signed with the Federal Government in 2009 on improved funding of universities and payment of allowances to ASUU members, among others issues.
Meetings between ASUU and representatives of the government failed to resolve the issues that led to the strike.
The government has released some funds to meet some of the lecturers’ demands, but ASUU insists on full implementation of the agreement before calling off the strike.
The strike has kept students in public universities out of school for more than three months.
On Saturday, President Goodluck Jonathan appealed to ASUU members to return to the classrooms in the interest of their students.
Jonathan said that keeping students out of school for this long was unpatriotic, whatever ASUU’s grievances might be.
He said that since the government had shown commitment to improving the condition of universities, ASUU should call off the strike.
Meanwhile, the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU), Niger Delta University (NDU) chapter, has allayed fears that opposition politicians in the country might hijack its ongoing strike.
The Chairman of local chapter of ASUU, Dr. Beke Sese,  gave the indication yesterday, while speaking at a solidarity rally at the premises of NDU’s Law Faculty in Yenagoa.
Our correspondent recalls that the industrial action which started on July 1, is approaching the fourth month.
Sese expressed the union’s displeasure that the strike which was meant to drive home ASUU’s demand for better funding of university education was being hijacked for political interest.
“We are aware that some opposition politicians are trying to capitalise on the current ASUU strike to cast aspersions on government and inadvertently trivialise our genuine struggle.
“Let me state here that ASUU is not a party to such cheap manifestation of political opportunism.
“We rather wish to implore this government to make history by commencing the process of revitalising public universities to a height never attained by any previous administration.”
He recalled that the union had over the years, consistently engaged successive governments through dialogue, to compel the political leadership to arrest the rot in the university system.
According to the chairman, the leadership of ASUU has held several talks with the Federal Government over a possible peaceful resolution of the present crisis.
He said: “But it is quite disheartening that the government has refused to show the necessary commitment and sincerity in its self-proclaimed effort to address our demand.
“Rather than honour an agreement it freely entered into with our union after several months of negotiations, government has resorted to arbitrary imposition of money.”
Sese said that the purported disbursement of N100 billion to address the funding requirement of some universities was arbitrary.
He recalled that the government had promised to stimulate the process of revitalising the university system with an initial sum of N100 billion for 2012.
This, he said, would be built up to a yearly sum of N400 billion in the three years from 2013 to 2015 as intervention.
“But regrettably, the said N100 billion being purportedly disbursed is therefore, not at variance with the 2009 agreement and MoU signed with government on the 24th of January, 2012.
“Rather, it appears to be a strategy of government aimed at dividing us.
“By our estimation, the MoU should have fetched the universities a total sum of N500 billion by now, if government had faithfully implemented the 2012 agreement.’’
Sese alleged that the “no-fund” refrain by government reflected a “grand’’ design to frustrate the 2009 agreement and other procedures related to it.
He noted that the same government had within the last three years provided trillions of naira from public coffers as “bail outs” to support private concerns such as banks and arlines.
The chairman urged parents to support ASUU’s effort to compel government to “do what is right for university education”.
He said that the union would remain determined in its effort to bring a drastic change in the university system.
Our correspondent reports that the solidarity rally which was supposed to be a public rally along major roads of Yenagoa, was cut short by the Bayelsa Police Command as it refused to grant the union a rally permit.
Sese said: “We are supposed to go on a public rally on the streets of Yenagoa, but the police denied us permission.
“We, therefore, decided to confine our solidarity rally within the premises of our Law Faculty here in Yenagoa.”
Efforts to get the police to comment on the allegation was not successful, as repeated calls put to the Police Public Relations Officer(PPRO), DSP Alex Akhigbe, were not answered.
Some of the placards carried by the union members read: “Join ASUU and Save Nigerian Universities, “Agreement is Agreement”, “Support ASUU, Help Our Children”.
Others read: “Not Every Child Can Go to Ghana to Study”, “Poor People Children Need Nigeria Universities”, “Stop the Movement from Nigeria Just to Study Abroad.”