- Our patience overstretched, union warns
The Federal Government has said it will meet with the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) today to continue discussions and avert disruption in academic activities across public universities.
The Director of Press and Public Relations in the Federal Ministry of Education, Boriowo Folasade, confirmed this in an invitation he sent yesterday to cover the meeting between both parties sent yestrday.
“This engagement reflects the ministry’s commitment to constructive dialogue and collaboration in addressing key issues in Nigeria’s university system. Your coverage and presence will be highly valued,” the notice said.
The union had threatened to embark on a strike today unless the government took immediate steps to address their demands.
On Tuesday, branches of ASUU across the country staged a protest to draw the attention of the government to its demands.
The protest disrupted academic activities in public universities.
To placate the union, the Minister of Education, Dr. Maruf Olatunji Alausa, met with the leadership of the university lecturers on Tuesday and discussed salary review and other demands of the university teachers.
Some of the demands of ASUU include: conclusion of the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement based on Nimi Briggs Committee’s Draft Agreement of 2021; release of withheld three-and-a-half months’ salaries over the 2022 strike; release of unpaid salaries of staff on sabbatical, part-time and adjunct appointments.
Others are: release of outstanding third-party deductions, such as check-off dues and cooperative contributions; funding for revitalisation of public universities; proliferation of universities by the federal and state governments, and others.
Also, ASUU has renewed its warning to the federal and state governments over unpaid salaries and allowances.
The union also threatened to down tools if the governments do not take urgent steps to address its demands.
It accused the governments of failing to sign the renegotiated 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement.
ASUU expressed its concerns on the heels of the union’s protest on Tuesday when it demanded the implementation of the agreement and immediate payment of withheld entitlements, which it said have left many academic workers impoverished and frustrated.
Speaking on a television programme, ASUU President, Prof. Christopher Piwuna, said the union had exercised enough patience and understanding for the Federal Government to meet its obligations to academics.
Piwuna said: “We’ve been on this for such a long time, and we have, in our view, always demonstrated patience, understanding, and have adopted dialogue to try to address these issues.
“Since democracy started in 1999, people are quick to say that ASUU has been on strike and schools have been closed. You wonder what the government thinks about these actions.
“When this government came into power two and a half years or so ago, we had engaged them. This is the second Minister of Education since the advent of this administration. We engaged Prof. Tahir Mamman; we have engaged the current minister, Dr. Tunji Alausa, over these issues.
“It appears as if the machines of the government work extremely slowly, and we have had that over and over again.
“We say to ourselves: ‘Why can’t you make it more efficient? Why can’t you make the government more responsive to these issues?’
“But we think that we have demonstrated enough patience; we’ve kept the schools open. Let me just make this point: the government has tried to keep the schools open.”
Registering its grievances, the Kwara State University (KWASU) branch of ASUU accused the state government of neglecting its promise to pay nine years’ worth of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA).
Its Chairman, Prof. Shehu Salau, regretted that despite repeated assurances, the allowances remained unpaid.
“This serves as the last warning before we take action,” he said, adding that third-party deductions had also not been remitted to most Nigerian universities.
At the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA) in Ondo State, lecturers marched around the campus, urging the Federal Government to honour the renegotiated 2009 agreement concluded earlier this year.
ASUU-AAUA Chairman, Boluwaji Oshodi, said: “All we are saying now is: just sign so that we can move forward. If there are problems in our universities again, the government should be held responsible.”
Also, the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNAAB) chapter of the union lamented that the Federal Government was pushing lecturers into poverty.
The union chairman, Ola Oyedele, said lecturers were tired of being owed salaries and allowances while government toyed with agreements reached after years of negotiation.
He also rejected the proposed Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Fund (TISSF), describing it as a “bait loan” that would further impoverish academics.
A former ASUU National Treasurer, Olusiji Sowande, recalled that four government negotiation panels had been set up since 2017 without concrete results.
At the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) in Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, the union members hailed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration for setting up the Yayale Ahmed Committee to conclude talks with ASUU.
It urged the President to ensure the gains recorded did not go to waste.
Chairman of OOU ASUU, Dr. Ganiyu Yinusa, called for the signing and implementation of the committee’s report, demanding payment of withheld salaries from the last strike.
The ASUU chapter of the Ambrose Alli University (AAU) in Ekpoma, Edo State, also protested non-payment of up to 29 months’ salary arrears, a claim the school’s management dismissed.
AAU-ASUU Chairman, Dr. Cyril Onogbosele, said some union members were still owed up to 29 months in salary arrears, as well as promotion arrears and unpaid allowances.
But the university’s spokesman, Otunba Mike Aladenika, insisted that the debts had been reduced from over 35 months inherited to about 15 months through phased payments.
He dismissed the 13th-month salary demand as a negotiable privilege, not a right.
