The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)

  • LAUTECH: Academic activities commence for 2018/2019 session

    The Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, Oyo state, has commenced academic activities fully for the 2018/2019 session.

    Lecturers across the various faculties resumed lectures on Monday with students excited that the prolonged strike called by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) was broken.

    Social and academic activities returned to the campuses of the institution both in Ogbomoso and Osogbo, while students were still returning as at the time of filing the report.

    Abiodun Oluwaseun, the Students’ Union President, who monitored the resumption alongside other executive members, expressed satisfaction with the directive to resume.

    Read Also: LAUTECH appoints new VC, two others

    “We are all happy and impressed that lectures are actually taking place in all the places we visited.

    “As a union, we cannot ask for more, we only want to appeal to those of our lecturers who are still not cooperating to join hands with their colleagues to salvage LAUTECH.

    “The number of students who have resumed is also very encouraging and we thank stakeholders for this New Year gift that is most appreciated,” Oluwaseun said.

    Rev. (Dr) Israel Olaniyan, the Chairman, Parents and Teachers’ Committee, said parents are particularly happy at the resumption of lectures.

    According to him, it is the news that we have always waited for, our joy as parents know no bound.

    “We are pleading with the governors of Oyo and Osun states to help ensure that workers are paid as and when due, so that we can hope for an uninterrupted academic sessions.”

    Olaniyan expressed the readiness of his committee to continue to meet with other stakeholders towards finding a lasting solution to the various problems threatening the survival of the university.

    Dr Azeem Ige, Chairman, LAUTECH Alumni Association, Ogbomoso branch, said all hands must on deck to salvage the university, “which some of us attended and gave the fame they have today.”

    He appealed to the leadership of ASUU, especially in LAUTECH to seek peaceful resolution to the crisis.

    “We are ASUU members and fully aware of what the association is fighting for; but we also have to consider the plight of our students.

    “Our appeal is for our leaders in the association to consider other means while lecture continues,” Ige said.

    NAN

  • Strike: FG to continue negotiation with ASUU on Monday

    The Federal Government says it will continue negotiation process with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Monday to resolve ongoing industrial action embarked by the striking lecturers.

    Senator Chris Ngige, Minister of Labour and Employment said this in a statement signed on Saturday in Abuja by Mr Samuel Olowookere, Director of Press, in the ministry.

    According to the statement, the meeting is in furtherance to efforts at resolving the on-going industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

    “The Minister of Labour and Employment Sen. Chris Ngige is scheduled to hold a meeting with the Executive of ASUU.

    “The conciliatory meeting is scheduled to hold on Jan. 7, at Minister’s Conference Room by 30:30 pm prompt.

    ASUU commenced an indefinite strike on Nov. 5, 2018 over certain demands based on agreement reached with government in 2009.

    Read Also: ASUU: Time to reconsider

    One of the demands is the replacement of Dr Wale Babalakin as the chairman for the government renegotiating team of the 2009 ASUU/Federal Government Agreement.

    Other issues are non-payment of earned allowance, funding of revitalisation of the Nigerian universities, implementation of needs assessment report, poor funding of state universities, among others.

    As part of efforts by the Federal Government to end the strike, it commenced meetings with ASUU leadership on Nov. 15, 2018 followed by the last one on Dec. 17, 2018 before Christmas break.

    NAN

     

  • ASUU, FG face-off serious threat to 2019 elections – INEC

    The ongoing strike action by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) poses a serious threat to the conduct of the 2019 general election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has said.

    INEC expressed the concern as the face off between the university teachers and the Federal Government lingers as it has hampered the recruitment of over one million ad-hoc staffers required for election duties, especially, students from Tertiary institutions.

    INEC’s National Commissioner in charge of Voter Education Committee, Barrister Festus Okoye expressed the worries on Thursday at a seminar in Abuja on the theme, “Media and Gender Sensitive Reporting of Elections.

    Okoye revealed that the Commission is presently organizing ROOT training for serving youth corps members that would be deployed as presiding officers and want to commence the ROOT training of students in the various institutions of higher learning, but the continued strike has made this impossible.

    He therefore called on ASUU and the Federal Government “to quickly and genuinely resolve the lingering impasse that has led to uncertainty in the education sector.”

    He said: “It is next to impossibility for the members of the National Youth Service Corps to provide all the ad-hoc staff needs and requirement of the Commission and over 70 per cent of the ad-hoc staff requirements in some states of the federation are drawn from students of Federal Tertiary institutions, hence the lingering strike by ASUU will no doubt have  serious  impact on the preparations for the conduct of the 2019 elections.”

    Read Also: ASUU continues reconciliation meeting with FG

    “It is important that students of Federal Tertiary institutions should and must be in school at least a month before the February 16 Presidential and National Assembly elections. They are a critical resource and their absence will have adverse effect on the ad-hoc requirements of the Independent National Electoral Commission,”Okoye said.

    Barrister Okoye also disclosed that the over 1 million staff would function as returning officers, collation officers, supervisory presiding officers, presiding officers and assistant presiding officers.

    On the role of the media in the coverage of the elections, Okoye said: “For the media to cover disseminate and report election activities in an objective and professional manner, it is imperative for INEC to constantly interact with, explain and be upfront in providing information to the media to avoid speculation , suspicion and rumor mongering especially at this critical period.”

    He said “INEC is wrapped around exclusivity and believes in the doctrine of not leaving any segment of the society in elections and providing a level playing field for all stakeholders in all stages of the electoral process.”

     

  • ASUU continues reconciliation meeting with FG

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Monday continued with its reconciliation meeting with the Federal Government.

    Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, ASUU President who refused to speak with newsmen after the two hours meeting said, “go and ask the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige”.

    The meeting which was called at the instance of the minister was aimed at finding ways of ending the strike, which commenced on Nov. 5.

    ASUU demands included some areas of understanding in the implementation of the Memorandum of Action agreed to in 2017.

    Some of these areas include shortfall in salaries of some Federal universities’ workers and lecturers, earned allowances, revitalisation that are part of 2009 agreement, among others.

    Ngige, while addressing newsmen, said the meeting was a continuation meeting from last Monday meeting.

    According to him, we gave ourselves some assignment with different Ministries, Department and Agencies (MDAs) on what to do.

    “They brought their reports today and we took the reports and we were supposed to do some implementation on the reports.

    “So we are going to give ourselves some days for it to be done and to see whether we can accomplish them before Christmas,” he said.

    The Minister also denied any walk out by the union, saying there is no walk out, “we held the meeting and we even broke into an executive session and we discussed.

    He added that there is no dissatisfaction by the union as “we have already agreed on implementation and we have given ourselves some work plan”.

    He, however, said that the only difference for the implementation on the agreement reached was only a matter of days before Christmas for the discussions.

    “So that for students who are home, will have some hope of resuming in January and those who have missed their exams this time will also have hope for first week in January.

    “So, the issue of shortfall in salaries are being worked on, among other major issues, and I will be meeting with the Minister of Finance tomorrow to find out the stage of implementation of that. So there is progress,” Ngige said.

    He also said the meeting was adjourned indefinitely.

  • Ngige faults Falana, takes over negotiation with ASUU

    The Minister of Labour, Senator Chris Ngige has faulted human right lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) on the implementation of the No work, no pay policy of the government, saying every employer has the right to withdraw pay for workers while on strike in accordance with ILO conventions and the Nigeria Labour laws.

    The Minister also directed the ongoing negotiations between the federal Ministry of Education and the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities will henceforth take place in his office, directing that all further discussions outside the Ministry should stop

    The Minister said in a statement signed by the Director of Press in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Samuel Olowokoore that he was invoking his power as the Chief conciliator of the Federation to take over negotiation between the union and the government, regretting that efforts so far has not been successful.

    The Minister said that the allusion by Falana that the implementations of the no work no pay by the government was illegal and contravene judgements of the Supreme Court, adding that while workers have a right to strike, employers also have a right to withhold salaries for the days that worker did not work.

    The statement reads: “The attention of the Hon. Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige has been drawn to media publications in which Mr. Femi Falana, Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) human right activist and lawyer, yesterday described as illegal, the enforcement of Sec. 43.1 of the Trade Dispute Act 2004 on the No Work No Pay provision inbuilt in that portion of the Act and asking the Federal Government of Nigeria to immediately withdraw what he termed an “illegal order” emanating therefrom.

    “This according to him is in violation of the various judgments of the Supreme Court. The lawyer went further to justify his position by quoting a plethora of Supreme Court judgments. For a start, the Minister is in disbelief as to whether the learned lawyer was correctly quoted.

    “However, reading through the news item, especially his direct reference to the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) wherein he urged the lectures to disobey that aspect of the law, insisting also that ASUU complied with section 31(6) of the Trade dispute Act 2005 as amended in declaring its strike, the Ministry is constrained to make the following corrections to avoid further misinformation of the general public.

    “First is that Nigeria is a member of the International Labour Organization( ILO ) a United Nations specialized agency dealing with labour issues and whose aim is to promote the right at work for employees and employers, encourage decent employment opportunities, enhance social protection and strengthen dialogue on work-related issues.

    Read Also: No agreement yet on minimum wage, says Ngige

    “It is important to state that Nigeria has also ratified and domesticated about 8 core conventions of the ILO out of which two are most related in the instant dispute between ASUU and the Federal Government of Nigeria. These are the rights to freedom of association and organization as well as the right to Collective Bargaining.

    “Based on these conventions, the ILO recognizes the rights of the workers to strike. However, it also recognizes the reciprocal rights of employers to withdraw wages during strike. This is the anchor for No Work, No Pay.

    “This has also necessitated the Nigerian Parliament (National Assembly) to legislate this into a law through the provision in section 43 of the Trade Dispute Act Cap T8, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2004.

    “Until this section of the law is expunged or repealed through legislative process by the National Assembly, it remains not just applicable but also a point of law for compliance by all citizens of Nigeria. To make it clearer, the ILO had ruled that “salary deductions for days of strike give rise to no objection from the point of view of freedom of association principle.

    “Furthermore more, the worker-employer relationship is built on the concept that the worker agrees to provide his labour /service/skill or any other efforts to the employer in return for which the employer agrees to compensate the employee with money, benefits, compensation and any other considerations.

    “The law of No Work No Pay is, therefore, a fundamental axiom in Labour and Industrial Relations all over the world. Accordingly, trade unions all over the world employ global best practices to stock up funds from check off dues to pay their members’ salaries during the time of strike. This has often occasioned brevity of strikes in most climes.

    “The ministry is constrained to go this length of detailed explanation to forestall incalculable harm this misinformation can cause to the national industrial relations system especially when a distinguished Senior Advocate of Nigeria of Falana’s standing is being quoted as asking workers to disobey the laws of the land. Trade Union leaders can afford to do so when playing to the gallery but not a man who belongs to the inner bar, whose members are supposed to be custodians and protectors of laws made by the parliament.

    In this particular issue of Federal Government / ASUU negotiation, the Hon. Minister had earlier in the exercise of his powers sent back the conciliation to the Federal Ministry of Education as he noticed during the first meeting that both parties have not exhausted the internal conciliation mechanism.

    “Knowing that ASUU and her members are on essential services as contained in the Trade Dispute Act, the Hon. Minister of Labour has therefore directed that the matter is re-apprehended back into his Ministry to avoid unnecessary meddlesomeness by external interlopers as well as to ensure speedy resolution of all issues to enable ASUU to call off the strike.

    “Hence, the Hon. Minister in the exercise of his powers in section 5 of the Trade Dispute Act has re-apprehended the dispute and invited all parties to a meeting. By this, all further discussions between the Ministry of Education and ASUU will now recommence at the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment.

    A meeting has been convened for Monday, December 10, 2018, at the Conference Room of the Hon. Minister of Labour and Employment by 4 p.m. prompt.

    “The Ministry will also further investigate the media report credited to Mr Falana to ascertain whether he actually quoted those Supreme Court judgments, knowing full well that they are tangential and that they neither anchor nor dwell on provisions of section 43 of Trade Dispute Act T8 ( LFN 2004) before it will take further necessary action.”

  • Reps urge Buhari to implement agreement with ASUU

    Immediate implementation of the previous agreement mutually reached between it and Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been proffered by the House of Representatives as the panacea to checking incessant strikes in the nation’s ivory towers, the House of Representatives has said.

    The lawmakers expressed concern over the on-going strike action by members of ASUU, which has paralyzed academic activities of most public-owned universities and expressed dissatisfaction with the Presidency over its reluctance to transmit to the National Assembly the Tripartite Agreement on National Minimum Wage to the National Assembly.

    As a result, the lawmakers resolved that a joint ad hoc committee of  National Assembly be constituted to investigate the remote and immediate causes of Tuesday’s industrial action by members of the Parliamentary Staff Association of the National Assembly (PASAN) and make appropriate recommendations to the two legislative chambers for appropriate action.

    Read Also: Buhari appeals to NNMA to resolve Nigeria’s diversity

    This followed the adoption of a motion of urgent national importance, Sani Zoro (APC, Jigawa), who noted that threats of industrial action by organized labour in the face of the stalemate was caused by the failure to facilitate the due process needed for appropriate resolution of the dispute.

    He said: ‘It is disturbing that members of the Parliamentary Staff Association of the National Assembly also picketed our two legislative chambers on Tuesday to draw attention to their grievances.

    “The looming industrial action threatened by organized labour, with the potential of paralyzing the nation’s socio-economic and political activities- and its attendant costs can be averted in consistence with National Assembly’s established tradition of intervention that have in the past helped to resolve many labour disputes”.

    The motion was unanimously passed after a vote.

  • Again, FG, ASUU meeting deadlock

    One month after it embarked on an industrial action, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is not returning to the class room soon as the meeting between the leadership and Federal Government has again ended in a deadlock.

    The meeting which took place at the Ministry of Education failed to resolve the issue raised by the union which includes reconstruction of the committee to renegotiate the agreement between the union and government among others.

    Read Also:Education stakeholders call for dialogue to end ASUU strike

    The union embarked on the strike on November 4 over the poor funding of Nigerian universities and non-implementation of previous agreements by the government.

    National President of ASUU, Prof Biodun Ogumyemi told newsmen after the meeting that both sides were yet to arrive at a compromise.

    He said “For now, we have started to discuss, we are yet to reach any concrete decision. Once we have more information, we will make ourselves available to the press.”

    Ogumyemi said the meeting will reconvene very soon to continue negotiations, but was not definite.

    The government’s representative at the meeting included the education minister, Adamu Adamu; the permanent secretary of the education ministry, Sunny Echono; a representative of National Universities Commission and a representative from the National Income, Wages and Salaries Commission.

    The government had issued a no work no pay directive to Vice Chancellor’s but withdrew at the last minute.

  • No work, no pay: You are vindictive, NLC tells FG

    The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has accused the government of being vindictive in its application of Labour laws in the country insisting that Nigerian workers will not accept being turned into slaves in their own country as a result of government’s selective application of the laws.

    Labour said the decision by government to invoke the no work; no pay rule on striking workers was an attempt to intimidate workers into accepting unfriendly Labour practices, adding that the current struggle by the Academic Staff Union of Universities did not start today, while government has consistently failed to meet its own side of the bargain.

    It recalled that the government is still holding onto salaries of health workers for protesting government unfriendly practices and refusal to implement agreement with workers, adding that if government fails to meet its obligations, it has no moral right to enforce the no work no pay rule.

    The statement signed by the Acting President, Comrade Lawal Dutsinma reads: “The attention of the Nigeria Labour Congress has been drawn to a memo by the Federal Government dated November 29, 2018 directing all Vice Chancellors of Federal Universities to apply the “No Work… No Pay” rule. We understand that the Federal Government has since rescinded this order.

    “Nonetheless, Nigerian workers are concerned that for the umpteenth time, the Federal Government and many state governments have resorted to bullying and draconian threats in dealing with matters that strictly reside in the domain of industrial relations. This is truly sad, highly unfortunate and extremely provoking.

    “We recall that the current struggle by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for improved conditions of learning in our public universities is not the first time that the Federal Government is issuing the “No Work… No Pay” threat. During the last warning strike by the NLC on the new national minimum wage, the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr Chris Ngige issued a “No Work… No Pay” threat against workers.

    “Also, during the last nationwide strike action by health workers, the Federal Government did not only issue a “No Work… No Pay” threat, it went ahead to implement it. Till now, government still withholds about three months of salaries due to health workers.

    “The Nigeria Labour Congress considers the application of the “No Work… No Pay” rule as an autocratic attempt to cow workers into abandoning their legitimate demand for decent wages, conducive work spaces and social justice.

    “As far as we are concerned, government’s invocation of the ‘no work, no pay” clause in the Trade Disputes Act is selective, erroneous and hypocritical. As we speak, the Federal government and nearly all the states in Nigeria owe workers varying arrears of salaries, allowances, pension and gratuity – some running into years.

    “Yet, workers have continued to endure such profound neglect by political leaders elected to prioritize the welfare of citizens. Given the grand betrayal of workers by government, workers stand the higher moral ground to invoke a “No Pay… No Work” action.

    “Section 43 of the Trade Disputes Act of Nigeria has always been in our statutes, but successive governments had hardly ever invoked it to punish an already impoverished workforce. It is sad that the current government is making a lot of fuss on just one aspect of our laws while holding in contempt several provisions in our labour laws and even our constitution demanding just and humane treatment of workers.

    “It is important to reiterate that Nigerian workers will never accept slavery in their own country. The right to strike is both a human and trade union right protected by our laws and international conventions particularly ILO Convention 87.

    “It is the right to strike that distinguishes a worker from a slave. Do we need to remind government at all levels that Nigerian workers are worthy partners in nation building and not slaves? As a matter of fact, labour builds the commonwealth that political leaders and their cronies, more often than not, squander. It is, therefore, regrettable that government continues to behave as if Nigerian workers are slaves who have no rights or privileges to claim.

    “It is truly unfortunate that our political leaders act with a failed sense of history. On June 22, 1945, organized labour in Nigeria commenced a general strike action that shook the foundation of British colonialism in our country.

    “Not a few historians would argue that our journey to nationhood started with the strike action of June 1945 as millions of Nigerians from every part of the country for the first time in their lives rallied around a common cause.

    “Succinctly put, the 1945 general strike action was the foundation of Nigeria’s independence and sovereignty. It is therefore heart rending that latter day politicians would use the legitimate weapon of strike action to intimidate, hound and oppress the working class which sweat and blood procured the freedom we enjoy.

    “We warn government at all levels to desist from using the “No Work… No Pay” rule to shirk away from their responsibilities. We also demand immediate release of workers’ salaries withheld on the account of “No Work… No Pay” rule.

    “Also, we ask government to respect agreements it freely entered into with ASUU in order to restore normalcy and sanity to our public institutions of learning especially our universities. Our children have suffered enough already. Enough is enough”.

  • Education stakeholders call for dialogue to end ASUU strike

    Some stakeholders in the education sector have appealed to the Federal Government to dialogue favourably with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to end the incessant strike.

    Some of the stakeholders told News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Abuja that there was a need for a functional education system in order for the country’s economy to grow.

    Prof. Olugbenga Alabi of the Department of Agricultural Economics, University of Abuja, said that the government should discuss with ASUU and settle with them peacefully.

    Government should open up to the union and tell them what it can afford from their demands; there should be agreement between both parties and things will work out fine.

    Once there is dialogue there will always be a way out.
    “All these issues are just about good leadership; if both leaderships come together and agree on the issues, the economy will not suffer.’’
    Dr James Daniel, Chief Librarian, Baze University, Abuja, said that ASUU needed to be settled once and for all, adding: “this is a recurring decimal that shouldn’t continue.

    “Many parents are withdrawing their children and wards from public universities to private universities because there is no strike there.
    “Especially when you have girls, by the time you go on strike for two or three years it will affect them as they would have grown to be of marriageable age.

    “The Federal Government should put money into the universities so as to unravel the problems that lecturers are agitating for.
    “As for me, I think ASUU should continue with their strike until they get their demand,’’ he said.

    Dr Steven Oluwaniyi, a parent, called on all Nigerians to work together to take education to the next level.
    Oluwaniyi, who works with the National Mathematical Centre, Abuja, said that no parent would be happy seeing the child sitting at home without doing anything because of strike.

    He said there was a need for the intervention of all stakeholders to come together and dialogue on ways to end the strike.
    “The whole country should work together to make education successful; parents, government and the lecturers have their roles to make education successful.

    No parent will be happy seeing the child sitting at home, waiting for the appropriate time to resume.
    “As parents, you want your children to do well and if the school they are attending does not have adequate materials and learning environment, how will they do well?

    Comparatively, if you want to compare Nigeria with other countries, you will realise that they are ready to pay the price for education which we don’t do here.
    “Therefore, the government must do the needful to end the strike and provide necessary learning materials and good environment for both students and lecturers.’’

     

    However, he appealed to all stakeholders to see to it that education in the country improved.
    On Nov. 5, ASUU declared an indefinite strike to press demands for improved funding of public universities and the payment of accumulated allowances to lecturers.

    The Federal and ASUU met on Monday to resolve issues and end the strike but the meeting ended in a deadlock.

     

    (NAN)

  • ASUU gives reason for rejecting Babalakin, says strike continues

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said that the ongoing strike by the union will continue until the federal government resolve all the issues in contention.

    It also said it has rejected Babalakin who led the FG negotiation team.

    This stance is coming as the Union maintained that the first meeting held with the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Dr Chris Ngige has yet to go into substantive issues which led to the strike.

    While speaking to newsmen after the Congress of the Union, chairman ASUU, University of Ibadan, Dr Deji Omole said ASUU members will not allow the ruling elite to destroy the heritage of the poor which is qualitative public varsity education.

    According to Omole, Wale Babalakin who is the leader of Federal Government team is being rejected by the Union because he is an interested party pursuing a private university license and will do everything to jeopardize public education funding.

    Omole noted that a situation whereby two members in the FG team are pursuing their private university licenses indicate they will not favour funding of public education.

    The ASUU boss maintained that the three-week old ASUU  strike is borne out of genuine and patriotic commitment to ensure a better future for children of the masses and that of Nigeria.

    Read Also: Another unwarranted ASUU strike



    He therefore dismissed the allegation being bandied by the government that the strike was political.

    “How can our strike be political when there are matters that you as government signed into and you failed to fulfill your promises? To us, it is the Federal government that is being political with the truth by becoming untrustworthy.

    “How can the President and his Vice be asking Nigerian universities to become one of the leading universities of the world without making the same commitments responsive and responsible governments in the world are making to Education? Our leadership have shown consistent disrespect for agreements and this is why they can no longer be trusted by our Union.”

    ASUU had declared total, indefinite and comprehensive strike over failure of the Buhari-led federal government to fulfill the content of the Memorandum of Action it signed with the Union in 2017 bothering on revitalisation and funding of universities, unpaid accumulated earned academic allowances, release of University staff pension company license among other issues.