Great Big Hole is a giant submarine sinkhole which is located off the coast of Belize, near the center of Lighthouse Reef, a small atoll 70 km (43 mi) from the mainland and Belize City.
The circular shape of the hole is quite unique, giving it over 300 m (984 ft) across and 124 m (407 ft) deep.
This Great Big Hole is an amazing attraction, especially for divers with a appreciation of geographical phenomena and it is one of the most astounding dive sites to be found anywhere on earth.
The place was made famous when in 1971 Jacques Cousteau brought his ship the Calypso, to the hole to chart its depths.
Investigations by this expedition confirmed the hole’s origin as typical karst limestone formations, formed before rises in sea level in at least four stages, leaving ledges at depths of 21 m (69 ft), 49 m (161 ft), and 91 m (299 ft).
Stalactites were retrieved from submerged caves, confirming their previous formation above sea level.
Some of these stalactites were also off-vertical by 5˚.
Soon, he declared this alluring site as one of the top ten scuba diving sites in the world. In 1996, the site was declared as UNESCO World Heritage Site.
Looking from above, the dark blue color of the hole signifies that it has a great depth, especially compared to the shallow waters nearby.
The Blue Hole is well known among the world of recreational diving enthusiasts, for whom this place has them all: clear waters and a variety of flora and fauna as you can meet here nurse sharks, Caribbean reef sharks and bull sharks.
This place allures a lot of tourists, which are not coming just for diving, but also for the nearby small caves and beaches.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has queried some universities on non-compliance with its decision to remain on strike while negotiations with the federal government continues.
This follows a report that a few members of the lecturers’ union have pulled out of the ongoing industrial action to resume academic activities.
ASUU President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, is said to have made this disclosure in an interview with news men on Monday, June 13, in Abuja.
Meanwhile, ASUU had been on strike for about four months to press home its demands.
ASUU Demands
The striking lecturers’ demands include funding for the revitalisation of public universities, Earned Academic Allowances, use of the University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) and promotion arrears.
Meanwhile, since the union embarked on strike, few of its members have pulled out of the ongoing strike to resume their academic activities.
Osodeke is quoted as saying “We will punish those who have pulled out from our ongoing strike the appropriate way. We will ensure to query them and we will follow it up the appropriate way. We have even queried some of them in accordance with the union.”
Speaking on the Union’s previous meeting with the Federal Government, Osodeke noted that since the last Tripartite Plus meeting called by the Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, on the ongoing industrial action over a month ago, there had been no other meeting while adding that nothing concrete came out of the meeting.
The ASUU chief revealed that the union would be meeting with the government within the week.
Recall that the Minister of education on behalf of the federal government had pleaded with the leadership of the ASUU to end the ongoing strike action.
Emeka Nwajiuba had said that while the government understands that the demands of ASUU are genuine, it also believes that a strike is not the best approach to resolving these issues.
According to the minister, the industrial action is affecting every citizen of the country in one way or the other including his family.
The US Open will allow Russian and Belarusian players to compete later this year after deciding not to follow Wimbledon’s lead in banning them.
Players from the two nations will have to compete under a neutral flag at the final Grand Slam event of the season.
It means Russian men’s world number one Daniil Medvedev can defend his title in New York.
The United States Tennis Association (USTA) said it “continues to condemn” the invasion of Ukraine by Russia.
“The USTA will allow individual athletes from Russia and Belarus to compete in the 2022 US Open, but only under a neutral flag,” it said.
Russia was banned from International Tennis Federation (ITF) events – and many other events across the sporting world – after the country’s invasion of Ukraine, which was a military operation supported by Belarus.
In April, Wimbledon made the decision to ban Russian and Belarusian players from the grass-court event, which starts on 27 June.
Players from both countries are also banned from any of the UK grass-court tournaments, which includes this week’s events at Queen’s and Birmingham.
The governing bodies of men’s and women’s professional tennis – the ATP and the WTA – said Wimbledon’s move was “unfair”.
The USTA said it recognised Wimbledon and other organisations had to “deal with unique circumstances that affect their decisions”.
It added: “Based on our own circumstances, the USTA will allow all eligible players, regardless of nationality, to compete at the 2022 US Open.
“The USTA, standing with these other tennis entities, supported the banning of the Russian and Belarusian Tennis Federations from the ITF, and therefore all international team competitions.
“The directive for players from those countries to play under a neutral flag when competing outside of international team competitions.”
The scene at Kabul airport was one of chaos and desperation. Amid gunfire, people were stampeding in total panic. Thousands were trying to escape the Taliban, and Fati was among them.
Fati is a goalkeeper who honed her fluent English by watching TV series and films growing up in another, very different Afghanistan. Her full name and age are withheld to protect the identity of her family.
As the Taliban rapidly retook control of her country in August 2021, Fati quickly decided that she and her international team-mates would have to leave their homeland and loved ones behind.
For years they had played together, a football team that represented an Afghanistan of greater opportunity and freedom for women. Now thoughts turned to the public executions and stifled liberty that had been hallmarks of the Taliban’s previous rule from 1996 to 2001.
Fati had considered the Taliban’s return impossible. Her disbelief soon turned into a sense of hopelessness and dread. She had to get out.
“I accepted that Afghanistan was over,” she says.
“I thought there’s no chance for living, no chance for me to go outside again and fight for my rights. No school, no media, no athletes, nothing. We were like dead bodies in our homes.
“For two weeks I never slept. I was 24 hours with my phone, trying to reach out to someone, anybody for help. All day and all night, awake, texting and searching social media.”
Fati and her team-mates did find a way out. They were assisted by an invisible international network of women guiding their steps towards safety.
This is the story of their escape.
It starts 12,700km away in Houston, Texas, where a 37-year-old former United States marine was planning the evacuation.
“It was like a little virtual operation centre running out of WhatsApp,” says Haley Carter. “Never underestimate the power of women with smartphones.”
Carter, 37, was a goalkeeper too. After her time in the military, which involved service in Iraq, she played three seasons with NWSL side Houston Dash before moving into coaching. Between 2016 and 2018 she was Afghanistan’s assistant coach.
The American may have been thousands of miles away but she was sharing intelligence about the rapidly changing situation in Kabul with marines and National Security staff via encrypted messaging apps like WhatsApp and Signal. The operation was dubbed a ‘Digital Dunkirk’.
“In a normal combat environment, that kind of information wouldn’t be shared. But this was an evacuation,” Carter says.
“I’ll be honest with you, I didn’t think it would be possible. It was crazy. It was wild, looking back on it.”https://emp.bbc.com/emp/SMPj/2.44.15/iframe.htmlHow it happened: The Taliban advance
Carter had been enlisted to help by Khalida Popal, a former captain of her national team who had been involved in Afghanistan women’s football for years.
As a teenager under Taliban rule, Popal and her friends would play matches in total silence so the Taliban wouldn’t hear them. She left Afghanistan because of death threats over her involvement in the game and since 2011 had been living in Denmark.
Time was of the essence. Popal knew that Fati and her team-mates would be vulnerable to Taliban investigations because of their sporting exploits. She also knew that soldiers were going door to door. Many female athletes in Kabul were in hiding. Many feared for their lives.
She told Fati and the other players to delete their social media accounts, burn their kit and bury their trophies.
“That was hard because it was our achievements,” says Fati. “Who wants to burn their jerseys? I thought, if I survive, I will make [the achievements] again.”
At the same time, Carter was working on the plan to get them on a military plane out of the country at the earliest opportunity. She knew the security situation in the Afghan capital would only become more dangerous. She strongly believed the US and British governments were badly mishandling the situation. And the Taliban were setting up checkpoints.
“Khalida texted all of us saying ‘girls, be ready to leave for the airport together, just one backpack each’,” says Fati.
“She said: ‘We can’t tell you that we are even sure that you will go inside the airport. But if you fight, you will survive.'”
Ex-Afghanistan captain Khalida Popal also played a key role in helping the players
When the time came, Fati wrote Carter’s phone number on her arm in case her mobile was stolen or confiscated. Carter had also told Fati that the players should rotate having their phones switched on to preserve battery life among the group.
Fati left home carrying as little as possible, as instructed. She was wearing long robes that also covered her face. The journey to the airport was fraught with hazards, any of which might stop the players in their tracks.
Popal’s advice had been to pack for three days, just in case. But in addition to a phone charger, clothes and water, Fati couldn’t resist taking another item, even though doing so was a big risk.
“I had one of the national team shorts,” she says. “I wore it like underwear and I was scared about that.”
The situation at the airport was truly desperate. Thousands of people had congregated, some having travelled from the most distant regions of the country.
“People were squeezing each other and trying to go inside as fast as they could,” Fati says.
“It was a matter of life and death. Everyone was trying to survive.”
For the vast majority, the scramble was in vain.
“If your name was not on a list, or there wasn’t somebody inside the airport coming out to get you, you weren’t getting in,” says Carter.
“So we had to work extra hard to make sure that marine counterparts at the gates had their information to make sure that they could get in.”
Carter told Fati that “there will be a guy at the north gate”.
She added: “You should be there at the exact time and write a password that I’m telling you. He will understand and there will be no questions and you guys will be inside.”
That password was the name of World War Two marine hero John Basilone, and the date the marine corps was founded – 10 November 1775 – combined with various other symbols.
“It was communicated to me that that’s what the marines on the gate would be looking for,” Carter says. “Marines are going to know that another marine told her to write that sign.”
But at the north gate, Fati and her group were turned back. The message hadn’t got through.
“I tried to show that code but the soldier was rejecting and saying, what national team? Who are you?” Fati says.
“He said, if you have a US passport we will let you in but no other options.”
In Houston, Carter had to recalibrate the plan.
“My heart didn’t sink at that point because I was in operational mode,” she says.
“I said OK, that’s not a problem, just give me some time so I can recommunicate to the folks on the gate so they know you’re coming.
“I think she was stressed, and rightly so. I was not stressed, because if I’m stressed, that stress is going to convey to her.”
Fati and the rest of the players could only wait.
“If I guess, it was 48 hours we were outside the airport,” she says.
“The weather was too hot, there was no air. The children around us were crying and screaming, and saying, ‘let’s go home, we don’t want to die’. Whenever they heard the gunfire, they were screaming.
“There were so many eyes looking at me to do something, to find a way.”
Fati decided she and the players would try again, this time at the south gate. There were two Taliban checkpoints in the way.
At the first, she was separated from her brother and he was badly beaten. At the second, she was herself kicked and hit by the men with rifles pushing crowds back.
With the weight of responsibility on her shoulders, amid the crush of bodies, the heat and the gunfire, she felt it was over. She felt like giving up.
Then she remembered the text message Popal had sent her: “If you fight, you will survive.”
Fati says: “It was a thing that lighted up that darkness. Suddenly, there was something telling me to get back up and I started again in a strong way. That was a lesson I will keep in my whole life; there’s always a hope, there’s always an open door.”
The players regrouped. Suddenly, taking advantage of a distraction that absorbed the attention of the Taliban guards, they made a dash for the Australian soldiers just beyond, still at the airport’s southern entrance.
“There were so many people but we managed to get past the last checkpoint,” Fati says. “We saw the Australian soldiers and shouted phrases like, ‘national team players’, ‘Australia’ and ‘football’.
“They looked at our documents and let us through.”
An air crew prepares to load evacuees at Kabul airport in August 2021
When Fati, her team-mates and some Afghan Paralympians boarded a C-130 military transport plane bound for Australia, she sent a photo and message to Carter. “I made it. We made it.”
The C-130 is a no-nonsense transporter of hardware and troops for war zones, and the girls were hosted in the cargo area, trying to get comfortable enough to sleep on each other’s shoulders.
So there were no dramatic final glances down through the window at the place that had always been home.
“The plane just took off and there was just noise and the fear that we had. Looking around, there were just scared faces,” Fati says.
“I was thinking, you will never ever be able to see this beautiful place where you made memories and grew up. It’s your last time.”
In 2010, in their first official match, captained by Popal, Afghanistan’s women lost 13-0 to Nepal.
Regardless of the scoreline, a momentum was established that could only flourish in the relative freedoms of an Afghanistan without Taliban rule.
“We were a voice for all of those who were voiceless,” says Fati.
“It made my parents change their mindset, especially my dad. He had the same mindset of other men who thought that sport is not good for women.
“Some people were thinking we were just trying to have fun. But they didn’t understand that it wasn’t just fun. It was about society, it was about rights.
“Our national team was about all those women who were hidden.”
Carter, pictured in 2016 playing for Houston Dash
The most recent official action involving female Afghan footballers came in June 2021 in an under-20 tournament for central Asian nations in Tajikistan.
Two months later came the Taliban’s return.
In Australia, Fati and her team-mates trained together for the first time in February after Melbourne Victory provided facilities and coaches.
“The feeling was amazing,” says Fati.
“I thought, we have our everything back, and there was a new hope for all my team-mates.
“I’ve locked those smiles in my memory. And I thought, I’m successful. We will not be lost.”
In April, they passed another milestone. Coached by former Wales international Jeff Hopkins, who is now the Melbourne Victory women’s coach, they played their first match since fleeing Kabul, a 0-0 draw against a local non-league team.
The Afghan kit bore no names, only numbers on the back of the jerseys – a reminder that while they are safe, their relatives are still at risk of identification and reprisals.
The future looks uncertain. In order to compete internationally in official competition they will need the backing of the Afghan Football Association (AFA), and the approval of the Taliban, which nobody expects to be given.
In September the team was withdrawn from qualifiers for February’s women’s Asian Cup, which China won.
Fifa describes the situation in Afghanistan as “unstable and very worrying”. It says it “remains in contact” with the AFA and “remains committed to growing the game”. But it could not say with any clarity whether Fati and her team-mates would once again be able to represent their country.
Meanwhile, the men’s team have been playing, recently missing out on qualification for the 2023 Asian Cup. The AFA president, Mohammad Kargar, has not responded to an interview request.
Fati remains resolute.
The Afghanistan women’s national team playing a non-official match in Australia
“We are worried about the title of the Afghanistan national team, if we’re going to have it officially or not,” she says.
“If the AFA say no national team, it doesn’t matter because I have my team-mates. We have each other. We will play together or individually. We are already a family and no-one can change it.
“The goals instead will be for us to make the national teams of Australia or the country that we are in. Still we are Afghans and, somehow, we will be the representatives of our nationality.”
Carter finally met Fati in Australia in April.
“She’s an incredible young woman,” the American says.
“It’s not just the resourcefulness but the courage that entire group of young women displayed, Fati being the leader. The resilience and courage that they’ve shown over the last year is breathtaking.
American multinational technology company, Amazon says it will begin delivering parcels to shoppers by drone for the first time later this year, pending final regulatory approval.
Users in the Californian town of Lockeford will be able to sign up to have thousands of goods delivered by air to their homes, it said.
The shopping giant has promised drone delivery for years but has faced delays and reported setbacks.
But it said it planned to roll out the service more widely after Lockeford.
“The promise of drone delivery has often felt like science fiction,” it said in a blog post. “[But] later this year, Amazon customers living in Lockeford, California, will become among the first to receive Prime Air deliveries.
Super Eagles coach, Jose Peseiro, has showered plaudits on Ademola Lookman, Terem Moffi, Sanusi Zaidu and Oghenekaro Etebo, after his side recorded a historic win on Monday.
Peseiro’s side annihilated Sao Tome and Principe 10-0 with goals from six different scorers.
The coach made four changes to the side that played against Sierra Leone on Thursday, with the quartet coming on for Samuel Chukwueze, Joe Aribo, Sadiq Umar and William Troost-Ekong.
All four players were involved in the goals scored in the encounter.
Both Moffi and Lookman scored their first goals for the team just as Etebo was also on target, while Zaidu on his part, made an assist for Moffi’s second goal in the game.
Speaking after the game, Peseiro said the players who followed his instructions.
“I want to improve our organisation on the pitch because we didn’t train too much with them and we wanted to introduce our ideas,” the Portuguese said after the game.
“The match was good because they tried to follow our organisation. Our style, our ideas followed it. They tried and the guys who were introduced in the match did well. I select players to start and they did well.”
The Eagles now lead Group A with six points from two games. They also have a superior goal difference of +7 ahead of second placed Guinea-Bissau, who they host in their next fixture in September.
Sierra Leone are third with a point, while whipping boys Sao Tome and Principe occupy the bottom of the group.
A play area and public engagement space for children to learn more about cultural preservation and explore their environment to ensure a holistic educational experience has been unveiled at the National Museum Onikan, Lagos State, Southwest Nigeria
Funded by the US Mission in Nigeria, the space was constructed with recycled materials made into arts and other interesting toys for children, along with a new exhibition space within the National Museum, also funded by the US Consulate General Lagos was also inaugurated.
In a remark during the inauguration of the space, the Acting US Consulate-General, James Suor explained that the educational space was designed to create excitement in the minds of school children, support learning, facilitate relaxation and promote shared values of democracy and robust people-to-people ties.
According to the Consulate Public Affairs Officer, Stephen Ibelli, both the play and learning area for children and the new gallery are part of the many projects the US Mission and the National Commission for Museum and National Monuments have been partnering on across Nigeria.
He said this is in the bid to promote shared values between Nigeria and the United States of America.
While expressing gratitude to the US Mission for providing the spaces, the Director-General of the National Commission for Museum and National Monuments, Professor Abba Isa Tijani, said efforts are ongoing to upgrade more National Museums across the Country.
He added that the Commission had stocked the gallery with interesting pieces to foster cultural understanding and peace.
Tijani announced that recently the Commission also won a forty thousand dollars grant from the Bank of America Art Conservation Fund to restore and conserve Igbo Ukwu Bronzes at the National Museum in Lagos.
On his part, the Lagos State Commissioner for Youths and Social Development, Olusegun Dawodu who was represented by the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Dr Olugbilemiga Aina, described the provision of both the children play and learning spaces and gallery as innovative ideas which should be replicated nationwide.
The two in one event was attended by some primary school pupils from across Lagos State who took time to explore the play area.
Happy the elephant must remain in the Bronx Zoo, a judge has ruled.
Happy the elephant, a long-time resident of the Bronx Zoo, must remain there after a New York court ruled she is not legally a person under US law.
On Tuesday, the state’s highest court voted 5-2 to reject an animal rights group’s argument that Happy was being illegally confined at the zoo.
While elephants are “impressive”, the court said, they are not entitled to the same liberty rights as humans.
The animal rights group sought to have Happy moved to an elephant sanctuary.
The court dispute centred on whether the legal principle of habeas corpus – which guards against illegal detention – should be extended to emotionally complex and intelligent animals.
“While no one disputes the impressive capabilities of elephants, we reject petitioner’s arguments that it is entitled to seek the remedy of habeas corpus on Happy’s behalf,” wrote Chief Judge Janet DiFiore on behalf of the majority.
“Habeas corpus is a procedural vehicle intended to secure the liberty rights of human beings who are unlawfully restrained, not nonhuman animals.”
The decision follows that of lower courts which had repeatedly taken the side of the Bronx Zoo in the case brought by the Nonhuman Rights Project, a New York-based legal non-profit.
The group had pushed to remove the 51-year-old elephant from the Bronx Zoo, saying she was imprisoned in her one-acre enclosure.
But the Wildlife Conservation Society, which operates the zoo, rejected this description, saying Happy and her fellow elephant at the zoo are well cared for.
It did not respond immediately to a request for comment following the ruling.
In a statement on Tuesday, the Nonhuman Rights Project celebrated the decision’s dissenting opinions, calling them “powerful” and adding that it planned to use them in another elephant rights case underway in California.
In her dissent, Judge Jenny Rivera wrote: “[Happy’s] captivity is inherently unjust and inhumane. It is an affront to a civilized society, and every day she remains a captive—a spectacle for humans—we, too, are diminished.”
Happy was born in the wild in Thailand in the 1970s, captured and brought to the US when she was about one.
She has lived at the Bronx Zoo since 1977.
She is one of two remaining elephants at the zoo, which has said it will eventually end its captive elephant programme.
The Super Eagles 10-0 mauling of Sao Tome and Principe in a 2023 AFCON qualifier in Morocco on Monday entered the record books as the country’s biggest win since its first official match in 1949.
In terms of goals scored, it was record-equaling – the national team had also scored 10 goals, though conceded one in an a game against neigbours Dahomey (now Benin Republic) in 1959.
Remember the 5-3-10 Eagles under Yugoslav coach Father Tiko in the 1970s? Tiko’s side, reputed for their attacking prowess, also scored loads of goals, including 10 against a Canadian club while preparing for the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games, which Nigeria eventually withdrew from.
But a member of that side Segun Odegbami said the goals didn’t count.
“The goals we scored were not against a national, they were against a club side, so it didn’t count,” Odegbami said.
Nigeria 10-1 Dahomey (now Benin Republic)
Nigeria’s highest win ever before Monday’s rout of Sao Tome and Principe was recorded on November 28, 1959, when the national team mauled Dahomey (now Benin Republic) 10-1 in an Nkrumah Cup clash in Lagos.
Nigeria 7-0 Benin
The Green Eagles also had the Squirrels for dinner, winning 7-0 in two friendlies, first on February 14, 1977 in Lagos, then on January 14, 1978 in Porto Novo.
Nigeria 7-1 Burkina Faso
In 1991, Nigeria beat Burkina Faso 7-1 in the AFCON qualifying group stage inside the National Stadium, Lagos.
Rashidi Yekini was the star of the day, scoring four goals. Nigeria’s remaining three goals were scored by Samson Siasia, debutant Finidi George and Friday Elahor, in that order. Mbemba Toure scored the consolation goal for the Burkinabe.
Nigeria 6-0 Ethiopia
In the 1994 AFCON qualifiers, the Eagles thrashed Ethiopia 6-0 with the country’s all-time highest scorer Rashidi Yekini hitting a hat-trick in the 33rd, 44th and 64th minutes, after Barnabas Imenger opened scoring in the 29th minute. Left-back Nduka Ugbade was also on target in the 50th minute. Related News
Notably, goalie Peter Rufai got involved in the action, scoring the Eagles’ last goal in the 90th minute from the spot.
Nigeria 6-1 Liberia
This win came in 2012 in an AFCON qualification match versus Liberia, which the Eagles would go on to win the following year and qualify for the Confederations Cup.
The Eagles were held 2-2 by the Liberians in the first leg, meaning they had to win this one to advance.
Victor Moses scored twice, with Mikel Obi, Efe Ambrose, Ahmed Musa and Ikechukwu Uche adding a goal each. Liberia’s consolation goal came after Nigeria’s fifth goal, and it was scored by Patty Wleh.
Nigeria 6-1 Tahiti
Nigeria defeated Tahiti in the Confederations Cup in 2013, scoring six goals and conceding only one.
It was Nigeria’s first match in the competition’s group stage, meaning the Eagles temporarily topped the group. Two Tahiti players – Tehau and Vallar – helped Nigeria with own goals. Forward Nnamdi Oduamadi scored a hat-trick, with left-back Elderson Echiejile scoring the other goal.
Tahiti went on to lose 10-0 and 8-0 to Spain and Uruguay respectively, meaning their only goal of the tournament came against Nigeria.
Nigeria 5-0 Benin
Nigeria’s dominance over Benin is not in doubt, with the former winning 13 of their 16 meetings and losing just once. But the Eagles penchant for high goals margin against their next door neigbours knows no bound, as they once again hammered the Squirrels 5-0 in another friendly in Lagos November 4, 1979.
Nigeria 5-1 Zimbabwe
Another huge triumph came in a 2006 World Cup qualifier, this time against Zimbabwe in 2005.
Nigeria’s tenacious offensive force of Osaze Odemwingie, Stephen Makinwa and Obafemi Martins ran riot over Zimbabwe’s defence. There was nothing the opposition could offer, faced with the likes of Obinna Nwaneri, Joseph Yobo, Ayila Yussuf, Taye Taiwo and Chidi Odiah in the Eagle’s defence.
Martins scored two of Nigeria’s goals, with Osaze, Yussuf and substitute Nwankwo Kanu adding the rest.
The National Executive Council (NEC) of the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) has begun a one-month strike, effective Tuesday 14th of June.
The Union made the decision after a meeting at the Federal College of Education (Technical), Asaba, Delta State, on Friday, June 10, where it assessed the level of federal government’s response to its requests, following the expiration of the 21-day ultimatum issued to government on the lingering issues of industrial concerns.
The strike action was disclosed to newsmen in a communique signed by COEASU President, Dr. Smart Olugbeko and General Secretary, Dr. Ahmed Bazza Lawan, respectively.
The statement reads in part, “… The total strike action suspended by the Union in December 2018 will be resumed immediately for four weeks in the first instance. NEC shall reconvene after the four weeks of strike action to re-assess the level of the Government’s commitment on the issues for an appropriate decision on the way forward thenceforth.
“Every Chapter Congress across the federation should convene on Tuesday, June 14, 2022, to adequately inform the Congress on the commencement of the strike action due to the festering issues and the status of inaction leading to the industrial action.
“Leadership of the Union at all levels (National, Zonal and Chapter) should embark on an emphatic media campaign towards seamless public awareness on the issues leading to the strike action.
“The strike action shall be total and all members of the academic staff in all Colleges of Education (both Federal and State) must withdraw from all statutory duties without exemption.
“All State-owned Colleges already on industrial action to press home local demands should impress on their respective Managements that the local strike shall continue in the unexpected event that their local issues remain unresolved by the end of the nationwide strike.
“Vice Presidents/Zonal Coordinators shall monitor the compliance of Chapters in their respective Zones while defaulting Chapters shall be prevented from enjoying the gains of the struggle and earn themselves other sanctions as NEC shall deem applicable based on normal Union regulations pertaining to Collective Bargaining.”
Meanwhile, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) are still on an indefinite strike, which began two months ago.
ASUU and the Federal Government are yet to reach an agreement regarding the lingering industrial action.
ASUU had recently resolved to continue its ongoing nationwide strike for another three months.
The strike started on February 14, 2022, after several reconciliation meetings between both parties proved abortive.
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