Tag: ASUU

Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) has reaffirmed its sanction on academic collaborations on Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, over dismissal of some lecturers.

It was after ASUU National Executive Council (NEC) meeting at University of Ibadan on August 17 and 18.

The dismissed officials are Isaac Akinloye Oyewumi (chairperson), Adebowale Adeyemi-Suenu (vice chair), Anthony Dansu (secretary), Adeolu Oyekan (assistant secretary), and Oluwakemi Aboderin-Shonibare (treasurer).

They were accused of unauthorised removal, retention and dissemination or publication of official confidential documents and sacked.

ASUU resolved that until the members “wrongfully” sacked by LASU are recalled, others should stop “sabbatical leave, visitation, part-time lectureship, external examinations, external assessments, conferences, workshops, research collaborations/visitations, etc to and from LASU.”

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The council said it would  support the sacked lecturers until they are reinstated.

It ordered its branch at the university to furnish the National Secretariat of the council “with, up-to-date report”. 

Following council’s resolution, ASUU National President, Emmanuel Osodeke, in a statement of, called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to reinstate the lecturers “unjustly” dismissed in 2019.

Osodeke said he was “disappointed with Lagos State government’s refusal to release the White Paper on visitation panel to LASU more than two years after.”

“The seeming silence is unbecoming of an elected government,” Osodeke had said.

“We call on Babajide Sanwo-Olu to redeem his pledge to do the right thing at LASU and ensure recall of our unjustly sacked colleagues,” he said.

In February 2022, the David Sunmoni-led governing council reinstated the lecturers after an Appeal Committee, headed by Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Adenike Boyo, cleared the lecturers.

But, 48 hours after the council approved its appeal committee’s recommendation, the same council ruled to put the recall of the lecturers on hold.

The state is yet to reinstate the lecturers more than two years later.

The Federal Government will meet with the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other stakeholders on Monday to address the strike notice issued by the union.

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, disclosed this while fielding questions from journalists during a briefing on his one year in office in Abuja yesterday.

ASUU had earlier issued a 21-day strike notice to the government over unresolved issues, including revitalisation funds for public universities, payment of outstanding earned academic allowances, and release of withheld salaries.

The minister said letters of invitation had been sent to ASUU leadership and other relevant organisations.

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“Most of the issues raised by ASUU are being attended to. The issue of exit from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) has been resolved by the President, but bureaucracy has caused delays.”

Mamman expressed optimism that the meeting on Monday would yield positive results, saying, “By the time we meet on Monday, some of these issues would be discussed and resolved.”

He assured that President Bola Tinubu was committed to academic stability and would provide support to prevent academic disruption.

“Most of ASUU’s demands started in 1981, and every government has faced ASUU strikes.”

The minister emphasised that the government was committed to finding a lasting solution to the issues, saying, “We will do everything possible to make sure we don’t go on strike.”

The Federal Government has scheduled a meeting with Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to address the demands of the varsity teachers, Education Minister Prof Tahir Mamman, has said.

He spoke yesterday on a television programme in response to ASUU’s 21-day ultimatum for the government to revisit the controversial 2009 agreement or the varsity lecturers will down tools.

The union handed down the ultimatum after its National Executive Council meeting at the University of Ibadan last week.

During the programme, the minister confirmed that the government had received the notice of strike from the union leadership and assured that the government was working to prevent another strike in the university system.

According to Prof Mamman, the meeting will look at the demands of the union and fashion out ways to meet them in order to avoid another industrial action.

He said: “We got a correspondence of notice of strike from ASUU on Monday. We met yesterday to review those issues and we are going to be meeting with ASUU on those issues.

“Some of the issues are historic in nature; when you talk about 2009 agreement. This is something that dates back to almost 1981 when they started.

“We have been having a series of conversations with the leadership of ASUU on the issues affecting the university system so that we can, together, address all their concerns.

“The President (Bola Ahmed Tinubu) is quite interested in issues about the progress of academic activities and his desire to have stability and lack of disruption in that sector so that the sector can contribute meaningfully to the academic and manpower development of the country and provide a suitable environment for partnerships with institutions.

“I share with ASUU their vision for a university system but the issue is always the approach. Government will not be able to address every concern at the same time because of other competing needs. That’s where we are.

“I believe we have what it takes to address the issues within three weeks and I also believe that ASUU doesn’t want to go on strike.

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“It is a quest for us to be pragmatic and show understanding with regards to what is doable now, what is doable in the short term and what will require more time to do.

 “We are also putting in place a team that will engage ASUU in the aspect of agreement.

“And some of the agencies of government that have responsibilities to fulfill in the issues raised in the ASUU letter we are engaging, we have written to them too. Like the NEEDS Assessment and allowances we are approaching our colleagues in finance. We need to put figures to some of these issues.

“In our last meeting we asked ASUU to provide details so as to facilitate implementation through engagement with our colleagues in finance for implementation”.

Some of the outstanding issues, according to ASUU, included:

•Conclusion of the renegotiation of the FGN/ASUU Agreement based on Nimi Briggs Committee’s draft Agreement of 2021;

•Release of withheld three-and-half months salaries on account of the 2022 strike action;

•Release of unpaid salaries of staff on sabbatical, part-time and adjunct appointments owing to the application of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS);

•Release of outstanding third-party deductions such as check-off dues and cooperative contributions; Funding for revitalisation of public universities (partly captured in 2023 Federal Government’s Budget);

•Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) (partly captured in the 2023 Federal Government’s Budget);

•Proliferation of universities by federal and state governments;

•Implementation of the reports of visitation panels to universities;

•University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) in place of IPPIS.

The chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, University of Ibadan, Professor Ayoola Akinwole, has said that the federal and state governments must resolve the conflicts between the Nigerian government, the working masses, and Nigerian students in the university system.

The ASUU boss noted that the government needs to “resolve these conflicts by addressing the concerns of all three groups, and prioritising the development of Nigeria’s education sector”.

Professor Akinwole stated this while presenting the 556th inaugural lecture entitled “Aquaculture Engineering: Reconciling the Balance in The Triad of Fish, Plants And Man”, at the University of Ibadan.

According to him, the conflict stems from “Insufficient allocation of resources to education, leading to inadequate infrastructure, poor facilities, and outdated curricula.

“Allegations of corruption and mismanagement of funds within the education sector. Increment in tuition fees, making education unaffordable for many students. Poor living conditions in hostels and academic buildings, inadequate healthcare, and lack of support services for students.

“Workers’ Rights and Benefits: Disputes over workers’ rights, salaries, and benefits, leading to strikes by academic and non-academic staff.

“Deterioration of university infrastructure, affecting teaching and learning conditions. Government interference in university affairs, appointments, and policies. Controversial inconsistent policies lead to high unemployment rates among graduates, causing frustration and discontent.”

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He stated that ASUU and her members continue to display “uncommon courage and resilience to look straight into the eyes of oppressors both at local (individual University branches) and National (Federal and State government) levels and speak truth to them without minding whose ox is gored

“Integrating engineering solutions with biological systems to optimise aquaculture practices”.

While noting that urban aquaculture is crucial for food security, job creation, and income generation, Professor Akinwole urged “governments at all levels to promote it through public awareness and community education, targeting specialised markets for commercial success and environmental awareness”

The government, as a matter of policy, should implement best management practices (BMPs) in all agriculture, aquaculture, and food production facilities, ensuring minimal environmental impact and effective farming operations while minimising negative impacts on human, animal, and plant health.

“Investors in recirculating fish production systems should seek scientific and technical support for site-specific design and component fabrication, avoiding overcapitalisation or premature facility expansion.

“A cooperative or community management approach for small-scale aquaponics and integrated aquaculture systems. This approach improves the technology’s suitability for local production and reduces barriers to entry by increasing access to human capital, thereby lowering individual labour and educational requirements for operation.”

The management of Katsina State-owned Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, UMYU, yesterday distanced itself from the recent media briefing by the leadership of the varsity’s branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, alleging that the state government reduced the overhead cost of the institution from N16m to N7m

The Registrar of UMYU, Muhammed Yusuf Abubakar, who made the above rebuttal through a press statement he sent to The Nation Newspaper in Katsina, said the media briefing made by ASUU was in the absence of the knowledge, consent or directive of the varsity’s management.

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He said, “The management of the university wishes to draw the attention of the general public that the recent press briefing made by ASUU was not made on our behalf.”

“For the record, the management wishes to state that the current administration in the state has been very consistent in the payment of the overhead cost to the university, in addition to other numerous financial commitments.’’

Recall that the Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities of Umaru Musa Yar’adua University, Murtala Kwara, had in a recent press briefing, called for an upward review of the varsity’s overhead cost among others to enable it meet with rising financial challenges.

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said that strike is not imminent, if the Federal Government implements the agreements reached, in the next two weeks.

Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, President of ASUU said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday (NAN).

It would be recalled that ASUU had threatened to embark on strike over the non-implementation of agreements reached with the federal government.

The Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman had on June 26, invited the union for a meeting to deliberate on the lingering issues affecting universities and to avert the planned strike.

Osodeke said none of the agreements reached with the Federal Government had been implemented.

“At the meeting called by the Minister of Education, we agreed that after two weeks, we will meet to see the progress the government has made.

“We will also see what we will do next, if government fail to implement the agreements reached.

“The meeting in the next two weeks is to see what they have done which will inform our decision,” he said.

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The ASUU president said some of the demands included, the non implementation of the 2009 re-negotiated agreements.

He said the agreements had lingered for over six years and government was yet to implement them.

Osodeke said the academic allowances due to their members had also accumulated for over six years and nothing had been done about it

On the issue of revitalisation fund, he said they agreed on the NEEDs Assessment Report to raise N200 billion yearly, for five years.

“Since 2013, only one has been paid. We need revitalisation fund to upgrade our universities to standard, so that we can be having students and lecturers from outside the country,” he said.

Oshodeke added that the government was yet to stop the proliferation of universities adding that many new universities were being approved without fund to run them.

He said the government was also yet to exit the university salary payment from Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System!(IPPIS) as approved by the Federal Executive Council in January

He said their members were still being paid by IPPIS against the directive by the FEC. (NAN)