The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has called on the nigerian students to blame the federal government should the members embark on another long strike if their demands were not given attention.
Chairman of ASUU of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK) chapter Awka, Prof. Kingsley Ubaorji, stated this during a press conference organised by ASUU, Nnamdi Azikiwe branch on Tuesday, 2nd July, 2024, at the ASUU Secretariat, UNIZIK, Awka.
According to Ubaorji, following the emergency National Executive Council meeting on Tuesday, the 8th of June, 2024 by Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the union resolved that the administration of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu is yet to engage fully, the union to address all outstanding issues with ASUU decisively.
These issues are: Renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement and implementation of the Prof. Nimi Briggs Report, ii. Funding for the Revitalisation of Public Universities based on the FGN-ASUU MoU of 2012, 2013, and the MoA of 2017, iii. Release of the 3½ months of the withheld salaries, iv. Payment of EAA, Release of unpaid staff salaries on sabbatical, adjunct, etc., due to IPPIS, vi. Release of third-party deductions.
vii. Implementation of UTAS in place of IPPIS, viii. Implementation of the Reports of the Visitation Panels, ix. Illegal dissolution of Governing Councils in Federal and State Universities, x. Proliferation of public universities.
As you are aware, many of these issues have outlived successive governments without any resolution, and other issues have been created by consecutive governments as well, like the implementation of the IPPIS, which came with the Muhammadu Buhari administration”.
The Chairman noted that the government has made commitments and signed agreements with ASUU, detailing timelines and expectations of both parties aimed at developing the Nigerian Universities as conditions for suspending any strike action. As soon as Lecturers resumed, the government and other stakeholders returned to status quo. ASUU would again start writing letters and reminders to the government, which were most often ignored, resulting in another strike action by ASUU”.
“No government had taken the renegotiation seriously, but during the life of the past administration, negotiation came to a conclusion with the Nimi Briggs Committee. A document was produced, but the minions in the corridors of power refused to pass it on to the then President for his consideration and approval. Since then no tangible outcome has been recorded in spite of the constructive recommendations of the Committee”.
“Our union, therefore, demands that all renegotiations of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement be rounded off based on the Nimi Briggs Committee resolutions. It may interest you to know that the salaries of Academics in Nigeria have not been reviewed since 2009. That is over fourteen years of being on a static salary structure despite the country’s increasing inflation rate”.
“Our Union maintains that based on the FGN-ASUU Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) of 2012 and 2013 and the Memorandum of Action (MoA) of 2017, the revitalisation of our public universities remains a top priority if Nigerian universities and academics would remain competitive”.
“Money has been released for frivolities; why not for revitalising Nigerian universities, one might ask? Our union insists that the work for which the government has withheld our 3½ months salaries, based on the ‘no work, no pay’ policy of government, had been done”.
“Therefore, the government has no reason to keep the salaries of university academics. The continued reluctance of the government in this direction is a naked invitation to a situation that may not argue well for university education in Nigeria. Our members are so resolved and strong on this and should be paid without any further delay”.
“It is worrisome and incomprehensible that the Earned Academic Allowances captured in the 2023 Federal Budget have not been paid. The union wonders at the illegality in not paying the EAA even when the budget year in which it was captured has elapsed”.
“We call on the federal government to release our EAA without any further delay, as the non-implementation of this aspect of the budget is questionable and verges on illegality and its concomitant corrupt practices.
“Our union observes the government’s failure to remit third-party deductions, including pension contributions and cooperative society dues. This is due to the incompatibility of IPPIS with the university system. We therefore call for the immediate remittance of these deductions to the appropriate quarters. Failure to release the third-party deductions is a clear violation of the Trade Union Act that governs the deduction of such funds”.
“The introduction of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) has led to unacceptable inconsistencies, including the non-payment of salaries of bona fide academic staff for some years and months, and academic staff on sabbatical, adjunct, and other contractual engagements that make the academic system unique”.
“It is unthinkable that people were employed for the past four years in some cases and nothing is paid to them as salaries up till today not minding their punctuality to work. This is satanic and can only be executed by the devil’s advocate! In addition, promotion arrears for our members are not paid as and when due. It often takes about one year or more to process the promotions of academics especially, those at the professorial cadre, and when the results are finally released, the government finds it difficult to pay promotion arrears to our members. The union, therefore, calls for the immediate payment of these unpaid salaries and allowances by the Federal Government to prevent further unimaginable distress among our members who are affected”.
The statment further reads “Our union maintains that the proliferation of public universities without provisions for adequate funding and infrastructure does not auger well for our university system. Therefore, we call on the government to put a moratorium on creating more universities without substance”.
“If the FGN sets its priorities right, all these could be resolved amicably, without any industrial action. But the truth is that the government appears to have been treating these issues with some fun, which our union finds unacceptable.
“Although the federal government held a meeting with the union last week after more than a year of inaction, we, as a union, want to see necessary actions taken to resolve these lingering issues, which have grave consequences to the Nigerian University System”.
“As a union, we have therefore resolved to engage the media to sensitize the public on the failure of the government to address all the outstanding issues with ASUU. Our union remains committed to advocating for the rights and welfare of academic staff and the overall improvement of the Nigerian University System. We, therefore, call on the government to take immediate and decisive actions to address these critical issues”.
Meanwhile, the ASUU members embarked on a peaceful protest march around the University, carrying placards with inscriptions as “FG pay us 3months plus arrears”, we teach we care, we deserve better pay”, “pay us our worth”, “stop suffocating University lecturers”, “FG stop deceiving Nigerians” , among others.
Conveners of the press conference were
Comrade Frankcollins Okafor and Comrade Allen Adum while others present where Prof Alex Asigbo, Dr Patrick Omuku, among others.
