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Tag: ASUU

  • ASUU threatens showdown over absence of Governing Councils

    ASUU threatens showdown over absence of Governing Councils

    • Varsities running without boards for 11 months

    University teachers have given a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to reconstitute the governing councils of universities and address other outstanding issues affecting the ivory towers.

    Their umbrella body, the  Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), frowned at government’s failure to implement a 2009 agreement it reached with them in 2021.

    ASUU also alleged that the salaries of its members were still being paid through the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).

    The union raised the issues during a news conference in Abuja yesterday on its National Executive Council meeting at the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State. The NEC took place at the weekend.

    ASUU added that NEC would reconvene in two weeks if the issues raised, especially the reconstitution of the governing councils, were not addressed.   It noted that it had given the Federal Government enough time to set things in motion.

    The union’s position was backed by the Congress of University Academics (CONUA) which said the dissolution of Governing Councils breached Section 3(2A) of the   Universities Autonomy Act 2007.

    President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, who read the text of the NEC resolutions, asked Nigerians to hold the federal and state governments responsible if its demand for the reconstitution of the governing councils was allowed to snowball into an industrial crisis.

    Read Also; Nigeria gains additional maritime territory

    Osodeke said: “We hereby restate our demand for reinstating the governing councils whose tenures are yet to elapse and reconstitute those whose tenures had elapsed so that our universities can run in accordance with their laws.

    “ASUU shall do all within its powers to ensure that the dignity of the academia is fully restored in line with practices obtainable in forward-looking climes.

    “NEC shall reconvene after two weeks from the date of the NEC meeting to review the situation and take decisive action to address the issues.’’

     Osodeke noted that the dissolution of the governing councils by the National Universities Commission(NUC) on June 22, 2023, was against the principles guiding the administration of universities.

      NUC’s action was based on a directive by President Tinubu for the dissolution of the boards of all government parastatals, agencies, and companies.

    The governing councils, among others,  are in charge of the universities’ overall management and direction, approve their annual budgets, supervise staff recruitment and promotion, and ensure that they  (universities)  function in accordance with their goals and objectives.

    ASUU  also kicked against what it described as a “paltry” increment of salaries of academic staff of universities.

    It said it views the   35 percent salary increment for professors and 25 percent for other  university teachers as a wage award  that can be withdrawn by the government at any time.

    The union said the continued use of IPPIS platform for payment of university salaries was in breach of an understanding the government reached with its leadership.

       ‘’The platform, with all its encumbrances, is used to pay our members under the disguise of the “New IPPIS” contrary to the understanding reached at the 11th January 2024 stakeholders’ meeting held at the National Universities Commission (NUC),” it said. 

     CONUA also said the  government should reconstitute the councils to calm the disquiet in the university system.

    It argued that the dissolution of the councils was an error that created an impression that the government was unappreciative of the ‘’invaluable services of the distinguished Nigerians’’ who accepted to serve their nation.

    A statement by CONUA’s  National President of Congress   Niyi  Sunmonu, on the need to reconstitute the councils, reads:  “Apart from patently violating the law on university autonomy, a wholesale dissolution of the governing councils before the end of their tenure gave the unintended impression that the government was unappreciative of the invaluable services of the distinguished Nigerians some of who were begged to put their wealth of experience at the service of the nation’s educational system.

    “…we believe that it is an error for the governing councils to be dissolved without reference to the Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Amendment) Act 2003 which is also referred to as the Universities Autonomy Act No. 1, 2007. Section 3(2A).

    ‘’The section    states that the council so constituted shall have a tenure of four years from the date of its inauguration provided that where a council is found to be incompetent and corrupt it shall be dissolved by the visitor and a new council shall be immediately constituted or the effective functioning of the university.’’

  • BREAKING: ASUU threatens nationwide strike

    BREAKING: ASUU threatens nationwide strike

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to embark on another nationwide strike to protest absence of governing councils in all federal universities among other issues.

    ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, spoke at a press conference in ASUU national secretariat, Abuja.

    He also noted that the dissolution of the Governing Councils was illegal as it was against the principles guiding the existing universities.

    The union also faulted what it described as the nonchalant attitude of the Federal Government to matters pertaining to academics in Nigerian Federal Universities.

    Read Also: ASUU rejects wage award, insists on negotiated salary for members

    It also faulted the 35 per cent salary increment for professors and the 25 per cent salary increment for other academics in the university system.

    The body said it saw the increment as a wage award that could be withdrawn by the government anytime it deems fit.

    Details shortly…

  • ASUU rejects wage award, insists on negotiated salary for members

    ASUU rejects wage award, insists on negotiated salary for members

    University workers yesterday rejected the N35,000 wage award, saying that they prefer to negotiate their salaries with President BolaTinubu.

    The president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, who spoke at the inauguration of the secretariat of the University of Ibadan branch, said the wage award fell below expectation.

    The union’s building at Olajuwon Olayide Extension, Ajibode, has a secretariat building, scholars’ chalets as well as other modern facilities.

    Osodeke disclosed that the union had agreed that whatever was legally sent to members’ accounts should be spent,  but not to be taken as the negotiated salary.

    He said: “We told them we should negotiate our wage, but they said we are giving you an award of N35,000; we have told them that it is not our own. We are still insisting that there has to be negotiated salary.”

    Osodeke highlighted pending industrial issues with the Federal Government, including the renegotiation of the existing agreement, payment of withheld salaries, earned academic allowance and the release of the Needs Assessment Funds.

    While commending the UI ASUU branch for the edifice it built through the expertise of its members, Osodeke decried the use of external or foreign consultants to handle projects in the country.

    He said  government should rather hire Nigerian experts and consultants, particularly from the universities.

    The Vice-Chancellor,  Prof. Kayode Adebowale, represented by Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnership, Prof. Yemisi Bamgbose, commended the union.

    He said the secretariat would serve as a hub of intellectual discussion, collaboration and solidarity among lecturers “as it continues to strive for a better future for our universities and our nation.”

    The UI ASUU Chairman, Prof. Ayo Akinwole, said the secretariat was built without donations from external bodies.

    He commended union members who supported the projeand ensured its completion.

    The highlight of the inauguration included a session: titled, “Challenging Neo-Liberal Narrative in Nigeria’s Education Sector: ASUU’s 2022 Strike and Matters Arising”.

    Speaking on the theme, Akinwole said the impact of neo-liberalism on education was complex and multifaceted.

    Read Also: Tinubu appoints Wike’s man, Woke, as Ogun-Osun River Basin Development Authority’s MD

    He said the lecture was appropriate “at this period in our nation’s march toward self-reliance and independence in the right sense of the word.”

    He added: “Expectedly, the lecture beams light on the way forward in continued relevance for scholars and all concerned leaders of the progressive movement in Nigeria.”

    A Professor of Botany, Odoje Biodiversity Centre, Ogbomoso, Prof. Omotoye Olorode, spoke on the foundationality of the neo-liberal narrative as expressed in the Nigerian ruling class’ response to ASUU’s strike.

    He said: “ASUU’s struggles arise out of the necessity to build a country in which every citizen shall be free, educated, well fed and healthy. We cannot abandon these struggles and yet be worthy of being called ‘intellectuals.’ This is where we stand. This is where we ought to stand.”

    The union’s building at Olajuwon Olayide Extension, Ajibode, University of Ibadan, has a secretariat building, scholars’ chalets as well as other modern facilities.

  • ASUU rejects wage award, insists on negotiated salary for members

    ASUU rejects wage award, insists on negotiated salary for members

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has insisted on negotiating the salary of its members with the Tinubu-led administration, thereby, rejecting the N35,000 wage award.

    ASUU National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, stated this in Ibadan on Thursday at the inauguration of the secretariat of the University of Ibadan (UI) branch of ASUU.

    Osodeke stated that the union had agreed that whatever was legally sent to members’ accounts should be spent but not to be taken as the negotiated salary.

    “We told them we should negotiate our wage, but they said we are giving you an award of N35,000; we have told them that it is not our own.

    “We are still insisting that there has to be negotiated salary,” he said.

    He identified the renegotiation of the existing agreement, payment of withheld salaries, earned academic allowance and release of the Needs Assessment Funds as some of the pending issues with the Federal Government.

    While commending the UI ASUU branch for the edifice it built using the expertise of its members, Osodeke decried the use of external or foreign consultants to handle projects in the country.

    He said the government should rather hire experts within the country, especially from within Nigerian universities as consultants.

    Earlier, the Vice-Chancellor, UI, Prof. Kayode Adebowale, represented by Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research, Innovation and Strategic Partnership, Prof. Yemisi Bamgbose, had commended the union.

    Adebowale said the secretariat would serve as a hub of intellectual discussion, collaboration and solidarity among the union members “as it continues to strive for a better future for our universities and our nation.”

    The UI ASUU Chairman, Prof. Ayo Akinwole, said the secretariat was built without donations from external people or bodies.

    He commended members of the union who gave in cash and kind to see to its completion.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the inauguration had a session, titled, “Challenging NeoLiberal Narrative in Nigeria’s Education Sector: ASUU’s 2022 Strike and Matters Arising”.

    Speaking on the theme, Akinwole, said the impact of neoliberalism on education was complex and multifaceted.

    He noted that the lecture was appropriate “at this period in our nation’s march toward self-reliance and independence in the right sense of the word.

    “Expectedly, the lecture beams light on the way forward in continued relevance for scholars and all concerned leaders of the progressive movement in Nigeria.”

    Read Also: ASUU rejects advert for MAU Yola VC post

    A Professor of Botany, Odoje Biodiversity Centre, Ogbomoso, Prof. Omotoye Olorode, spoke on the foundationality of the neoliberal narrative as expressed in the Nigerian ruling class response to ASUU’s strike.

    He said, “ASUU’s struggles arise out of the necessity to build a country in which every citizen shall be free, educated, well fed and healthy.

    “We cannot abandon these struggles and yet be worthy of being called ‘intellectuals’.

    “This is where we stand. This is where we ought to stand.”

    NAN reports that the union’s building at Olajuwon Olayide Extension, Ajibode, University of Ibadan, has a secretariat building, scholars’ chalets as well as other modern facilities.

    (NAN)

  • ASUU rejects advert for MAU Yola VC post

    ASUU rejects advert for MAU Yola VC post

    The Modibbo Adama University (MAU) chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has rejected advertisements for candidates to fill the position of vice-chancellor of the university.

    The position will soon be vacant as the current VC, Professor Abdullahi Tukur, is in the last few days of his five-year tenure.

    The MAU Yola chapter of ASUU, at a press conference, said it rejected the advertisement of the vacancy for the post of vice chancellor in MAU because the action is illegal.

    The chairperson of the chapter, El-Maude Gambo, who read the text of the press conference to newsmen, said the advertisement of vacancies for the offices of vice chancellor and other principal officers in all federal universities has procedures.

    Read Also: Workers’ Day: ASUU urges govt to prioritizlse workers welfare

    He explained: “Under normal circumstances, the council does that, whereas under abnormal circumstances the vice-chancellor or Senate can appoint an acting vice chancellor for six months.”

    El-Maude Gambo added that, unfortunately, the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, had earlier mandated some university management, including MAU Yola, to write an application seeking his approval to advertise for the position of vice-chancellor.

    “This singular illegal act does not only violate the established norms and/or culture of electing vice-chancellors and other principal officers but also threatens the integrity, autonomy, and academic freedom of Nigeria’s public universities,” he asserted.

    The MAU branch of ASUU also condemned the dissolution of governing councils of federal universities by the National Universities Commission (NUC) following a directive of President Bola Tinubu, an act which the union said violates Section 3 (1&2) of the Universities Miscellaneous Provisions Act 1993.

    El-Maude urged President Tinubu and the Minister of Education to reconstitute the governing councils for universities to function maximally.

  • Workers’ Day: ASUU urges govt to prioritizlse workers welfare

    Workers’ Day: ASUU urges govt to prioritizlse workers welfare

    The chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Ibadan chapter, Professor Ayoola Akinwole, has urged the federal and state governments to prioritize the welfare and working conditions of Nigerian workers

    He noted that the socio-economic situation in Nigeria, the post fuel subsidy removal backlash, and current fuel scarcity, affect the working class and their families adversely. 

    Professor Akinwole, in a release to mark the 2024 May Day celebration, noted that Nigerian workers continue to contribute to the development of Nigeria despite being undervalued and underpaid by the various levels of governments, including private organisations.

    He said: “Nigerians, particularly the working class, are celebrating 2024 workers’ day experiencing fuel scarcity. Workers who are poorly paid will still have to pay hiked transportation fare. The inflation in Nigeria is killing, and many are getting malnourished as the cost of food items have skyrocketed”

    According to the ASUU boss, the 2024 worker’s day is a reminder to the unfulfilled promises of the federal and state governments on improving the poor wages and working conditions of the Nigerian workers.”

    Professor Akinwole noted that it is inconceivable that those in government exploit their states’ resources while some even loot for their unborn children while workers are left pauperised.

    Read Also: ‘Why UNIBEN ASUU members may not resume academic activities’

    While thanking the Nigerian security forces for their efforts to make Nigeria safer, the ASUU boss called on the Federal Government to ensure special welfare package for families of those who have lost their lives while defending Nigeria.

    Like other sectors such as education, Professor Akinwole said that the welfare of security agencies should be paramount to the president, who is the commander in chief of Nigerian Armed Forces.

    Professor Akinwole then tasked the President to conclude agreements with ASUU and improve the working conditions for the intellectual community in Nigeria.

    This, if done, will reduce the latest trend where brilliant Nigerians are running away from taking lecturing jobs in Nigerian universities.

    According to Akinwole, if this continues, those Nigeria who needs to develop the education sector will leave the country while those without the requisite skills will gain employment with little to offer.

    Akinwole asked the president to address the drift and jointly approve a living wage and improved working conditions for lecturers in public universities in Nigeria noting that Nigeria lecturers who are yet to run to Europe or countries in the global North are the last set of patriots who deserves special salaries and better working conditions.

  • ASUU gives Gombe ultimatum on allowances, arrears, others

    ASUU gives Gombe ultimatum on allowances, arrears, others

    The Academic Staff Union of University, (ASUU) Gombe State University yesterday gave two-week ultimatum for Governor Inuwa Yahaya to address salient pending issues between the academic Staff of the university and the state government.

    ASUU, in a resolution after its congress in Gombe, frowned at the failure of the university administration to address the issues affecting the well being of its members which is currently affecting the morale of academic staff in the university.

    “Morale of staff has been on the decline due to failure of the university to address the welfare issues of staff amidst the socio economic challenges in the country,” said the ASUU chairman, Suleiman Salihu Jauro. 

    In the resolution jointly signed by Jauro and his secretary, Muhammad S Muhammad, ASUU said the varsity administration has failed to pay the accumulated Earned Academic Allowance, EAA front 2015/2016 session till date.

    The academic staff is asking the state government and the university administration for the payment of areas of 2020, 2021 and 2022 promotion, allowances to lecturers teaching General Studies courses and staff engaged in teaching part-time programmes.

    Read Also: ‘Why Edo varsity’s management, ASUU clash is getting messier’

    Other demands of the union include non-implementation of 2022 promotion for academic staff on the professorial cadre, non-implementation of 2023 promotion for academic staff, non-implementation of new salary table for academic staff, non-payment of postgraduate allowance for supervision, Internal examination etc and non-implementation/non-payment of arrears of consequential adjustment in minimum wage to 30,000 effective from April 2019.

    Consequently, the Congress unanimously resolved to give the university a time frame of two weeks from yesterday within which to address the above listed issues.

    The union warned: ” if these issues remain unaddressed at the expiration of the time frame, the union will not hesitate to consider other legitimate options available to it to pursue it’s demands.”

  • ‘Why Edo varsity’s management, ASUU clash is getting messier’

    ‘Why Edo varsity’s management, ASUU clash is getting messier’

    The clash between the management of Edo State Government-owned Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, and the institution’s chapter of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is getting messier, as the lecturers are insisting that the management is being economical with the truth.

    Chairperson of ASUU at AAU, Dr. Cyril Onogbosele, at a news conference in Benin last Thursday, said no fewer than 25 members of academic staff of the university had lost their lives since he came on board on August 3, 2021, over the crisis in the university, caused by aberrations, impunities, oddities and misnomers.

    Onogbosele said within the period of focus, the university witnessed the eclipse of the universally-cherished university autonomy, administrative misnomer, highhandedness, pauperisation and victimisation of staff, erosion of pristine university ethos of due process, rule of law and academic freedom – all in the name of repositioning.

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    The management of AAU, through its Head, Corporate Communications and Protocol, Otunba Mike Aladenika, in a statement, however, described the university’s ASUU news conference as a cacophony of half-truth activism.

    He said scientific accuracy was the hallmark of research.

  • ASUU: varsity lecturers on same salary for 15 years

    ASUU: varsity lecturers on same salary for 15 years

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said university lectures have remained on same salary structure for 15 years.

    The union said the development was caused by the failure of the Federal Government to implement the agreements it reached with the university teacher in the past decade and a half.

    It urged the Federal Government to review the FGN/ASUU 2009 renegotiation agreement to reflect the current economic realities.

    The union also urged the Presidency to sign the draft agreement the government reached with the Nimi Briggs Committee.

    Addressing reporters after the union’s meeting, ASUU’s Owerri Zone Coordinator, Prof. Dennis Aribodor, regretted that the 2009 agreement renegotiation had dragged for seven years – since 2017.

    The union leader said the signing of the agreement would restore dignity in the academia, promote industrial harmony and peace in the universities.

    Aribodor said: “The reluctance of the Federal Government to conclude the renegotiation is the reason the government’s committee has had three chairmen: from Wale Babalakin through Munzali Jibril to Nimi Briggs. This means academic workers in our universities have been on the same salary structure for 15 years.

    “The most obvious implication of the truncation of the renegotiation of the agreement is that university teachers in Nigeria have been on the same salary regime since 2009, when the value of the naira to the dollar was N120 as against N1,800 today.”

    Read Also: Nigerian lecturers have been on same salary for 15 years – ASUU tells Tinubu

    Describing the step the Tinubu administration had taken to pay four months out of the withheld salaries of university teachers as one in the right direction, Aribodor also urged the government to clear the balance to end further agitations.

    “That struggle by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, instigated by the failure of government to honour agreements, was, after all, in the national interest. Meeting ASUU’s demand in this regard is a panacea for industrial peace in our universities,” he said.

    On the proliferation of universities in the country, the union expressed worry that federal and state governments were not matching the increase in the number of institutions with adequate funding.

    “The proliferation of universities was one of the issues that led to the strike actions of 2020 and 2022, and part of the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed by ASUU and the Federal Government stressed the need to review the National Universities Commission (NUC) Act to make it more potent in arresting the reckless and excessive establishment of universities. The review has not been done.

    “The massive and reckless manner by which federal and state governments are establishing universities without making adequate preparations for their funding should be brought to a halt.

    “Federal and state governments should focus on adequately funding existing universities to enhance their capacity to admit more students,” ASUU added.

  • Paying ASUU

    Paying ASUU

    • Stakeholders must learn from past mistakes in the interest of varsity education.

    It is cheering news that the Federal Government has paid four months of withheld salaries to members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) who embarked on an eight-month-long strike in 2022. On May 30, 2023, the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) ruled that the withholding of the salaries was legal. All the same, as a measure of goodwill, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu decided to pay four months out of the withheld salaries. This decision is a commendable act of magnanimity.  From the strike and its aftermath, there are different lessons to learn by different stakeholders in the Nigerian university system.

    First, ASUU cannot continue to subscribe to the mantra that “strike is the only language government understands.” Considering the very wide range of scholars and professionals, including psychologists, sociologists, political scientists, linguists and communication experts, among others, that are in their membership, to claim that they cannot find any alternative to largely ineffective and mutually-damaging strike actions is an admission of failure to justify the huge investments of the nation in them.

    During the 2022 ASUU strike, the front page of the November 26, 1981 issue of ‘Daily Sketch’ was circulating widely on social media. It had the headline “ASUU may call off strike.” If the strike option had been sufficiently effective in all those four or so decades, things would have become so good in the university system that another strike would not have been contemplated in 2022.

    Second, ASUU needs a critical review of the timing and duration of its strikes. In 2000, ASUU declared the commencement of a nationwide strike at the onset of the fearsome COVID-19 lockdown. That was ill-advised and amounted to an attempt to aggravate rather than ameliorate the trepidation of the nation. That was a time when all the intellectual resources of the country needed to have been mobilised to confront a novel scourge.

    Going on strike for the whole of eight months at a stretch was also unedifying and self-defeating. A labour union is not an enemy force, and must not conduct itself as one. The devastation of any aspect of national life should therefore never be the express or ostensive goal of any union, whatever the circumstances.

    Third, ASUU has not been adequately reflective in the communication of its strike actions. For example, the union stated that the 2022 strike would be “comprehensive, total and indefinite.” However, when the government invoked the “No work, no pay” provision of the labour law, the union launched into semantic gymnastics by arguing that it was only teaching that members were not doing during the strike, but that they were carrying out the other two major duties of a lecturer – research and community service. It bears noting here that teaching is the primary duty of a lecturer, and research and community service are ancillary activities. 

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    Fourth, the government should endeavour at all times to agree to only the demands of ASUU which it can reasonably fulfill, and strive creditably to fulfill the agreements it has signed with the union.

    Fifth, the Federal Government needs to shed its ambivalent attitude towards lecturers’ strikes. In this regard, the government has treated the members of the Congress of University Academics (CONUA), who were not part of the 2022 strike, the same way it has treated ASUU members who were on strike. So, the salaries of members of CONUA were withheld for the period of the ASUU strike, and only four months of their salaries have been paid along with the payments to ASUU.   This has the tendency to give the impression that the government does not really appreciate adopting measures other than strikes to pursue workers’ demands.

    Going forward, all stakeholders within the Nigerian university system should work in harmony to make the system globally-competitive and functionally-relevant at all times, and especially in moments of national challenge.