ASUU in secret meeting, to end strike Posted by webmaster [highlight]By Ted Odogwu Bureau Chief, Kano[/ highlight] There are strong indications that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may call off its five-month strike, following two days of marathon secret meeting its national executive council (NEC) held yesterday at an undisclosed venue in Kano. When Saturday Newswatch visited Bayero University Kano (BUK) old campus, it was observed that vehicles belonging to Usman Danfodio University, Kaduna State University, Ambrose Ali University and the University of Ibadan, among others were parked at the premises. However, it was learnt shortly after that all the officials who are assembled at the venue boarded a bus, which conveyed them to an undisclosed venue for the crucial meeting. As at the time of filing this report, the meeting was still in progress, while efforts to contact some of the officials for an update failed as they all switched off their handsets. It was however learnt that there are strong indications that the strike may be called off today (Saturday). According to our investigation, some of the NEC officials claimed ignorance of such an alleged meeting, just as it also learnt that it may be an adhoc meeting for the preparation of grounds for the proper NEC meeting. However, it would be recalled that ASUU embarked on the strike five months ago, due to the failure of the Federal Government to implement the 2009 agreement it reached with the union. The crisis between the Federal Government and ASUU has been lingering for quite some time as both parties failed to reach a compromise.