- Union Seeks National Peace Committee’s Intervention To Avert Strike
- Says Govt Has Proven It Is Not Committed To Welfare Of Academics
- FG Woos Students Union, Organised Labour With 64 CNG Buses
With 7 days to go in the latest ultimatum issued by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to the Federal Government to meet its demands, there are growing fears that academic activities in the country may again be grounded.
The Matrix reports that on On Monday, September 23, 2024, the union issued a final 14-day ultimatum for the government to address its demands.
This followed a previous 21-day strike notice which it announced at the end of its National Executive Council meeting on 18 August.
ASUU and the Nigerian government are at loggerheads over the union’s unmet demands by the government.
ASUU’s demands from the Nigerian government include the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement, payments of its three-and-a-half months’ salaries withheld during the 2022 strike action, and the continuous use of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) for payments of university workers’ salaries.
The union also wants the government to pay its members’ earned academic allowances, release of funds for the revitalisation of universities, and the implementation of the reports of visitation panels to the universities.
ASUU also condemned the government’s plan to amend the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) Act to funnel 30 per cent of its funds to the student loan scheme, which it described as President Bola Tinubu’s ‘grandiose pet project’.
ASUU has consistently opposed the scheme and rejected a slot on the board of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), the government agency handling the scheme.
The Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, also a professor, had met twice with the union between 28 August and 6 September. However, the union said the government’s moves were not satisfactory, prompting Monday’s fresh ultimatum.
As the deadline looms, the union has appealed to the National Peace Committee to wade into the lingering issues between it and the Nigerian government to avert the impending strike planned to commence in October.
The Lagos Zone of the union made the appeal on Sunday in a statement obtained by The Matrix and signed by the Coordinator, Adelaja Odukoya, a professor of Political Science.
According to the union, the recent interactions with the government, allegedly characterised by the government’s refusal to provide agreement papers and minutes of meetings, “have proven that it the government not committed to the welfare of the academics.”
ASUU, therefore, called on Nigerians, including the National Peace Committee, to wade into the matter to resolve the crisis ahead of the current ultimatum, which expires on 6 October.
The statement said ASUU should not be held accountable for any industrial discord that may result from “the government’s ‘inability and deliberate refusal’ to meet the union’s demands and avert industrial disputes in the universities.”
“ASUU, therefore calls on well-meaning, public-spirited Nigerians, labour Unions, religious leaders, Civil Society Organisations, political leaders and the public to prevail on the Tinubu-led government to take decisive actions and engage with the leadership of ASUU to resolve all outstanding issues that could lead to the imminent shutdown of our university system,” the statement reads in part.
The union said the best way to resolve the lingering crisis is for governments to tow the path of commitment to the collective bargaining principles established in the conventions of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).
In a related development, the union has warned that the Federal Government should be held responsible for any industrial unrest in Nigeria’s public universities.
ASUU issued the warning in a statement signed by the union’s Federal University, Dutse, FUD, Chairman, Comrade Dr Salim Ahmad.
The union noted that over the past four years, Nigeria’s public universities have been in a state of industrial disharmony, leading to two costly and avoidable strike actions.
“The leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities has made several concerted efforts to dialogue with government officials, including the President, with a view to addressing the outstanding issues in the agreement and the various memoranda signed between the Union and the Federal Government.
” Unfortunately, the Tinubu administration, like the Buhari’s, has been unyielding.
“The nonchalant attitude of the administration to our legitimate and reasonable demands compelled the National Executive Council (NEC) of ASUU, following wide consultations, to convene a meeting at the University of Ibadan from 17th to 18th August, 2024, where it exhaustively deliberated on the contending issues and resolved to give a 21-day ultimatum to the Federal Government of Nigeria to address them.
“This ultimatum was duly communicated to the government through the Minister of Education via a letter dated 20th August, 2024,” the statement said.
The statement added that after the expiration of the 21-day ultimatum, the Federal Government has not demonstrated any genuine commitment to address the issues in contention.
ASUU said failure of the Federal Government to meet the monetary and non-monetary demands of the union is brewing industrial disharmony in Nigeria’s public universities
Meanwhile, in a move akin to wooing the Organised Labour and student union in the country, the Federal Government has procured and handed over 64, 100-seater capacity compressed natural gas, CNG buses.
The buses were handed over to organised labour and student union leadership in Abuja on Sunday during a brief ceremony at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja.
The Federal Government, through the presidency, also made available over 400 compressed natural gas conversion kits handed to private sector transporters in four states as part of efforts to lower the cost of fuelling vehicles used for public transportation.
It is left to be seen if these moves will Avert the impending strike.
