Students and lecturers of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) on Monday returned to school following a directive by the school authorities.
The authority had directed them to end their five-month-old strike and resume classes on December 2 and commence preparations for the 2012/2013 second semester examination.
At the Enugu and Agbani campuses of the university, students were in their various departments exchanging pleasantries and checking the notice boards.
At the Faculties of Engineering and Management Sciences in the Enugu campus, students in their numbers were copying the second semester examination timetables pasted on the notice boards.
The lecturers, on the other hand, held a meeting with the governing council of the university at the Agbani campus on the resumption of work.
Addressing the lecturers, the Chairman of the council, Chief Chilo Offiah, appealed to them to sheathe their sword and return to classes in the interest of the students.
Offiah thanked the lecturers for attending the meeting and assured them that the council would do all it could to ensure the improvement of their welfare.
The executive members of the ESUT branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which called the strike, did not attended the meeting.
Meanwhile, it was a different situation at the Enugu campus of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka as only a few students and lecturers were on campus.
The few lecturers were in their various offices discussing or reading while the non academic staff members were busy working.
Some of the lecturers said they were waiting for directives from both the school authorities and the ASUU branch.
“We heard on the radio that we should resume classes but we have not received any circular to that effect,’’ some of them said.
Only the medical students who did not join the strike were fully on campus.
The Federal Government had directed members of ASUU to call off the strike and resume work by December 4.
