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Tag: ASUU

  • Fed Govt seeks ASUU’s support for strike-free academic system

    Fed Govt seeks ASUU’s support for strike-free academic system

    • •Labour Minister: Nigeria must move at same pace

    The Federal Government has sought the support of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to ensure that the country runs smooth academic sessions free of strikes.

    The Minister of State for Labour and Employment, Nkeiruka Onyejeocha, made the appeal after a meeting with the union’s leadership.

    She urged the union leaders to join forces with the government for national progress.

    A statement by the Director of Press and Public Relations in the ministry, Olajide Oshundun, said the minister told ASUU leadership, led by its President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, that she believed in mutual understanding between the union and the government to move the country towards the same progressive direction.

    She expressed worry about unending disputes in the nation’s academic system, saying: “We should be part of the process to ensure such actions are averted.”

    The minister called for “proactive problem-solving rather than reactive conflict resolution”.

    Onyejeocha extended an open invitation for dialogue and complete transparency to ASUU.

    The minister urged the union to allow the ministry to know its problems, noting that by prioritising open communication and proactive problem-solving, both parties could work together to ensure a smooth academic session in 2024 and beyond.

    Read Also: ASUU decries planned creation of more universities, tasks govt. on funding existing ones

    She said this would eventually paved the way for a vibrant and flourishing educational landscape.

    Onyejeocha said: “I crave your indulgence to allow the ministry to know all the issues you think we should know. I want us to be on the same page, from item one to the last, for the sake of the Renewed Hope Agenda.

    “Labour Ministry is not supposed to be reactive but be proactive. We should be part of the process to make sure that every issue is addressed.

    “I am a product of the university system. We want to be on the same page because of the Renewed Hope Agenda. We have to move at the same pace. I believe that we can move in the same direction.”

    The minister urged ASUU leaders to consider the current economic realities when presenting their demands.

    She called for pragmatism on past agreements between the union and government, suggesting that some demands might need re-evaluation in the light of the nation’s financial constraints.

  • UI ASUU gives six indigent students scholarship

    UI ASUU gives six indigent students scholarship

    Six indigent but brilliant students of the University of Ibadan (UI) on Tuesday received the 2023 Indigent Students Scholarship Award by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Ibadan chapter.

    The union has been giving yearly scholarships to brilliant but indigent students.

    Beneficiaries of the 2023 award included

     a 200 level student of the Department of Medicine and Surgery, Ilori Ayomide;  Busari Temitayo of the Department of Microbiology and a 400 level student of Department of Aquaculture and Fisheries Management, Osiga Ibrahim.

    Others were Folorunsho Anuoluwa of the Department of Medicine and Surgery; Ekop Uko of Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Adesina Adebare, Department of Archeology and Anthropology.

    Speaking after presenting the award to the beneficiaries the Chairman UI chapter of ASUU Prof. Ayo Akinwole said the award has two categories (ASUU National Award and ASUU UI branch Award), adding that two out of the beneficiaries won N200,000 each for National category while the remaining four got N100,000 each for the branch award.

    According to him, the beneficiaries were chosen following approval by the evaluation committee of the union, which comprised ASUU members across faculties in the institution.

    He added that the beneficiaries were chosen based on indigency and brilliance.

    Read Also: Exemption of ASUU from IPPIS unfair, say civil servants

    Going memory lane, Prof. Akinwole informed that the award, which started in 2018, is part of the unions’ contribution to moulding sound minds and ensuring there is no hindrance to the education of brilliant indigent students.

    He stated that despite the challenges facing the union, it will continue to  contribute to the education of indigent students. 

    Answering questions if beneficiaries of this year would continue to benefit, Akinwole said the yearly award is a one-off to give other students opportunity to benefit.

    Speaking on behalf of the beneficiaries, Busari Temitayo commended the gesture of the union, saying it would go a long way in relieving them of their financial burdens

  • ASUU decries planned creation of more universities, tasks govt. on funding existing ones

    ASUU decries planned creation of more universities, tasks govt. on funding existing ones

    Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Ibadan (UI) branch, has decried the move by National Assembly to create additional 47 federal universities.

    UI ASUU Chairman, Prof. Ayo Akinwole, stated this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Ibadan on Tuesday on the sidelines of its scholarship awards to some indigent students.

    Akinwole expressed concern over the planned creation of additional federal universities when government was still struggling to fund the existing ones.

    According to him, the Federal Government is still battling to maintain the quality of the 52 universities it currently has.

    “Thinking of adding 47 more universities, we begin to wonder what is the objective. The objective cannot be noble at all.

    “If it is noble, you will see the seriousness in the way government is handling the existing ones,” Akinwole said.

    He noted that since government had continually seen university education as the cheapest, it had shown little or no interest in paying salaries and allowances being owed universities.

    Read Also: Exemption of ASUU from IPPIS unfair, say civil servants

    “Perhaps the House of Representatives and the federal government should answer the question: ‘Why are they establishing 47 new universities when they have not taken care of the ones we have?” he queried.

    The ASUU chairman described the removal of tertiary institutions from IPPIS as mere ‘noisemaking’, as there had been no letter to that effect to the universities.

    “No letter, as we speak, has been communicated, either to the bursary or the heads of the institutions.

    “All we have been seeing is so much motion without movement,” Akinwole said.

    He also said that government had not paid them four months’ salaries as being claimed.

    He said the salary adjustment that was included in 2023 had yet to be effected, adding that academic staff members in universities were still earning salaries as approved in the negotiated document of 2009.

    He, therefore, urged the government to always effect its policies before making pronouncements. (NAN)

  • Exemption of ASUU from IPPIS unfair, say civil servants

    Exemption of ASUU from IPPIS unfair, say civil servants

    Some civil servants have criticised the exemption of university lecturers under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

    The civil servants expressed their reservation in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    THe IPPIS was created in 2006 as part of the reforms of the Federal Government to enhance the storage of personnel records and streamline the administration of monthly payroll.

    But over the years, the leadership of ASUU had agitated for the Federal Government to exempt university lecturers from IPPIS and create an alternative payment platform for them.

    The agitation by ASUU resulted in an eight-month long strike by union in 2022.

    The Federal Executive Council (FEC), in a meeting on December 13, finally approved the removal of public tertiary institutions from IPPIS.

    Minister of Information, Mohammed Idris, said the development meant that staff members of public universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education have been taken off IPPIS.

    Mrs. Grace Uzor, a civil servant, said IPPIS was created to eliminate unauthorised personnel workforce (ghost workers) from government payroll.

    According to Uzor, IPPIS was also created to make retrieval of personnel information of public servants seamless.

    She said allowing the university lecturers to exit the system was unacceptable, adding that the system only needed to be monitored and sanitised.

    Read Also: Akeredolu was a patriot, Mimiko mourns

    “If the policy that was put in place to prevent corruption cannot work, it is a problem.

    “And if any group of people can choose to exit a laid down policy, it also means that there is a problem,” she said.

    An accountant, Mr. Emmanuel Isa, said the scheme programmed automatic stoppage of payment to personnel due for retirement as a result of length of service, age and tenure, thus reducing wastage or unauthorised payments.

    He said under the IPPIS, unapplied and unutilised funds were easily monitored and tracked.

    “Monthly emoluments are paid to public servants on the scheme same day, no matter the location within the country without delay.

    “From all indications, the scheme is good but the Federal Government only needed to sanitise it,” he said.

    Another civil servant, Abbas Aliu, said the government should scrap IPPIS if it was no longer desirable, rather than its selective application.

    “If IPPIS has not lived up to expectation, it should be scrapped, rather than its selective application; after all, we are employees of the same government,” he said.

    A financial expert, Mr. Okechukwu Unegbu, said it was regrettable that even with IPPIS, incidents of ghost workers had not abated.

    Unegbu, a past president of the Chattered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), urged the Federal Government to scrap IPPIS  if it was not able to sanitise it and make it function optimally.

  • VCs flouting due process in staff recruitment, ASUU alleges

    VCs flouting due process in staff recruitment, ASUU alleges

     

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has alleged that vice chancellors of universities have been flouting due process in staff recruitment.

    The union’s National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, said this during the Heroes’ Day celebration of the University of Uyo (UniUyo), the Akwa Ibom State capital.

    Osodeke alleged that vice chancellors had turned staff employment to “constituency projects” with which they settle governors, traditional rulers, politicians and some highly placed personalities in the country.

    The ASUU national president promised that the union would fight the misnomer and ensure the restoration of sanity in the system. 

    He said no university in the country had advertised for vacancies in the past six to 10 years, adding that the staff strength of such institutions had tripled without following due process.

    According to him, vice chancellors have been employing all manner of people from governors and senators as lecturers. 

    Osodeke said: “I must heartily congratulate all the heroes honoured today for the sacrifices they made to the point of termination of appointments, seizure of salaries, demotion, among other travails, for speaking truth to powers for the benefit of others. 

    Read Also: ASUU wants IDPs return home

    “Before now, the university employment was done through advertisement, followed by rigorous interviews. But now, how do people get here? It is through temporary appointments. That’s the problem that we have today. I do not know of any university for the past six to 10 years that has advertised. Yet, the staff strength has tripled.

    “Vice chancellors just sat down somewhere and packed people from traditional rulers, governors, and all other politicians into the Nigerian universities as lecturers. Most of them are now scavengers in the system, going after money and all manner of things.

    “Unfortunately, university employment has turned into a constituency project. We have to struggle to reverse this misnomer and bring sanity to the system.”

    In his keynote address, a retired professor of Ethnocomunicology, Desmond Wilson, regretted that the struggles of the union had been made difficult by those he called fifth columnists and other agents employed by the government to cause confusion.

  • VCs flouting due process in staff recruitment, ASUU alleges

    VCs flouting due process in staff recruitment, ASUU alleges

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has alleged that vice-chancellors of universities have been flouting due process in staff recruitment.

    The national president of ASUU, Professor Emmanuel Osadeke, stated this while speaking during the Heroes’ Day Celebration of the University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom state.

    According to Prof Osadeke, VCs have turned staff employment into ‘constituency projects’, with which they settle governors, traditional rulers, politicians, and highly placed people in the country.

    He vowed that ASUU would fight the misnomer and ensure that sanity is restored to the system

    He said no University in the country has advertised for vacancies in the past six to ten years, lamenting that the staff strength of such universities has tripled as Vice-chancellors have resorted to employing all manners of people from governors and Senators to lecturers.

    He said: “I must heartily congratulate all the heroes honoured today for the sacrifices they made to the point of termination of appointments, seizure of salaries, demotion among other travails for speaking truth to powers for the benefit of others.

    “Before now, University employment was done through advertisement followed by rigorous interviews but now how do people get here? It is through temporary appointments. That’s the problem that we have today. I do not know of any University for the past six to ten years that has advertised, but the staff strength has tripled.

    “Vice-Chancellors just sat down somewhere and packed people from Traditional Rulers, Governors, and all other politicians into the Nigerian Universities as lecturers and most of them are now scavengers in the system, going after money and all manners of things.

    “Unfortunately, University employment has turned into a constituency project and we have to struggle to reverse this misnomer and bring sanity to the system.”

    In his keynote address, a retired Professor of Ethnocomunicology, Professor Desmond Wilson, lamented that the struggles of the Union have been made difficult by fifth columnists and other agents employed by the government to confuse.

    While stressing that heroism was not a blank cheque to misbehaviour, the professor urged all members of the union to remain selfless and committed in the fight for the betterment of all and the redemption of Nigerian Universities from its quagmires.

    The Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor Nyaudoh Ndaeyo, who was represented by Professor Ben Etuk, commended ASUU for its selfless service to humanity

    He noted that the role played by the union has contributed immensely to the better welfare of the University staff and urged the association to remain.

    Meanwhile, the University ASUU has doled out over N1.7 million to 15 indigent students of the University who excelled in their academic pursuits and conferred heroes’ awards on its past leaders who led the union through turbulent periods in the history of the branch.

    Read Also: BREAKING: Senate urges NLC, TUC, ASUU to call off strike in national interest

    Those honoured for their selfless service include Dr Etop Ndiyo, Professor Desmond Wilson, Professor Edet Akpan, and Professor Joseph Ushie.

    Others include Professor Aniesua Essiet and Professor Ashong Ashong

    Responding, one of the student beneficiaries of the ASUU-UUB scholarship award, Mr. Ekpo Friday of the Faculty of Education commended the union for the idea of bringing succour to the indigent students of the institution, adding that the gesture was a morale booster for them to concentrate on their studies to finish their University Education with good grades.

    In his remarks, acting chairperson, Professor Opeyemi Olajide noted that the gesture was to help push the students who were also noted to be brilliant in their respective faculties to finish their course of study

  • ASUU wants IDPs return home

    ASUU wants IDPs return home

    The National President, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, has expressed concerns over the plight of Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs), urging government and authorities concern to ensure their return to their various homes to enable them live a normal life.

    Speaking at the kick-off of the distribution of relief materials to Kasuwar Daji community of 250 IDPs camp in Sokoto, Osodeke represented by Professor Sunday Ighalo, said the plight of the IDPs was pathetic noting that return to their various homes would enable them pick up with life and engage in something meaningful to contribute their own quota.

    “The government and relevant authorities as well people of goodwill should come together and do what is necessary by giving the basic care and comfort to the displaced persons who have lost their means of livelihood and property to attacks and violence,” he appealed.

    He commended the Usman Danfodiyo University, Sokoto Branch (UDUS) Branch of the union for the gesture.

    Read Also: Reps to interface with govt, ASUU over withheld salaries

    The  of the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU) donated the items as part of its humanitarian gesture to drive its Corporate Social Responsibility to the society.

    The relief materials included Rice, Beans, Salt, Cooking Oil and seasoning.

    The UDUS Branch Chairman, Prof Muhammad Al-Mustapha, said the exercise in Sokoto was part of the Northwest Zone initiative across Katsina, Zamfara Kebbi and Sokoto states branches.

    According to Al-Mustapha, the union has earmarked N50 million for the distribution, adding that each member of the union were taxed N2000 for the period of six months to provide the relief materials.

    He said the union had intensified efforts towards driving responsive sensitization to influence the government on the urgent need to focus more on IDPs as well provide security for them to be secured back in their homes.

  • Reps to interface with govt, ASUU over withheld salaries

    Reps to interface with govt, ASUU over withheld salaries

    The House of Representatives will interface with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and Federal Government to resolve the eight months outstanding salary owed lecturers.

    This followed a motion by lawmakers – Paul Nnamchi, Aminu Sani Jaji, Julius Ihonvbere and Lilian Orogbu, on the need to address the hardship experienced by members of ASUU.

    Nnamchi, who presented the motion on behalf of others, noted that lecturers play a crucial role in the education system, providing knowledge, guidance, and mentorship to future leaders, ensure a stable and motivated academic workforce for the development of educational institutions.

    He reminded the House that in 2022, ASUU went on an eight-month strike to protest government’s failure to honour past agreements with it.

    Read Also: 2023 UN Day: Foundation calls for lasting peace in Israel, Palestine

    The lawmaker regretted that the strike, aimed at addressing systemic issues, has unintentionally led to financial issues for dedicated lecturers who participated in them. He argued that federal University lecturers are facing financial hardships and distress due to the eight months’ salary owed them, with adverse consequences on students’ educational experiences and overall well-being. 

    Nnamchi said unpaid salaries can negatively affect lecturers’ morale, job satisfaction, and teaching effectiveness, thereby affecting the quality of education provided to students. The educational success and prospects of students are intricately linked to the financial security and dedication of teachers, he noted. 

    He insisted that resolving the impasse is crucial for the stability and excellence of universities, the welfare of educators, and the country’s economy. 

  • TETFund intervention: ASUU rejects private varsities’ inclusion as beneficiaries

    TETFund intervention: ASUU rejects private varsities’ inclusion as beneficiaries

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) yesterday kicked against plans to include private universities as beneficiaries of financial interventions by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).

    ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, announced the union’s position at a two-day interactive session between TETFund and all unions of beneficiary institutions.

    The ASUU president noted that such a moAve would lead to the proliferation of private universities without quality.

    Osodeke, who hailed TETFund for its interventions in tertiary institutions across the country, urged the agency to work more on the monitoring method of its projects.

    The ASUU president noted that the level of performance by the beneficiary institutions are not the same; yet, some of them received the same amount of money.

    Read Also: Israel-Palestine war: CAN calls for calm, diplomatic solutions

    He urged TETFund to apply sanctions against non-performing institutions, stressing the need for the abolition of what he called “stakeholders’ fund”.

    Osodeke said: “ASUU will continue to embark on strike until the right thing is done in our tertiary institutions. Stakeholders’ funds should be abolished.”

    TETFund’s Executive Secretary Sonny Echono said the interactive session was conceived to tackle the prevailing challenges in the education sub-sector.

    He said: “It is our fervent hope that this interactive session will provide an enabling environment for us to understand some of our challenges and difficulties in the delivery of quality education in our institutions and thereby make meaningful contribution to the successful execution of the objective of the fund.

    “As you all know, our primary mandate is to rehabilitate, restore, and consolidate tertiary education in Nigeria, using funding alongside project management.

    “The session is also expected to serve as a platform to discuss and mitigate incidences of industrial disputes in the tertiary education sector and look at ways to prevent and avoid their occurrences.”

    Echono said the interactive session would enable the stakeholders to build and solidify cooperation and collaboration between the agency, its beneficiary institutions and the unions on matters that affect the growth and development of tertiary education in Nigeria.

    He said: “As stakeholders and partners, we intend to share with you all that we have done and continue to do.”

    A former Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Ayuba Wabba, who spoke on the topic: The Role of Trade Unions in TETFund Intervention Activities, hailed the agency for its commitment to the elevation of university education and experience for lecturers, non-academic workers, and the student population in various campuses all over the country.

  • Put ASUU matter to rest

    Put ASUU matter to rest

    For more than one year, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been grappling with the nightmare of eight months withheld salaries following last year’s strike. It’s a miracle that after that assault on their psyche they still remain sane. Consider the progression of the assault, then reflect on the outcome, and then make up your mind. Firstly, the strike was about more than a decade of unfulfilled promises and broken agreements signed by the federal government. It was not ASUU that broke agreements. The strike then dragged on for about eight months. Secondly, the government disregarded its own part of the blame and decided, because it had the power and the purse string, to punish ASUU for feeling short-changed. Salaries were thus withheld.

    Thirdly, the government also encouraged a splinter union, the Congress of University Academics (CONUA), to be carved out of ASUU on the pretext of ASUU’s unreasonableness in pursuing its rights or being too rigid in demanding respect for agreements. Effortlessly, right became wrong. Still sane? Then consider this final detail. Both President Bola Tinubu, who was then candidate for presidential election, and Chief of Staff to the President Femi Gbajabiamila, who was then Speaker of the House of Representatives did their utmost to broker a truce between the warring teachers and the presidency, but failed. Both are now in office. Last year they did the talking, but this year they could, if they choose, walk the talk. So far they have not. So ASUU is still holding the short end of the stick, is blamed by the public for the long and debilitating strike, has endured a traumatic splintering of the union, and is still eight months short on their wages.

    Read Also: The he-goat and the ram: Reality of ASUU strikes

    It is not even clear anymore whether anyone understands the issues at play, or how to define academic work: whether it comprises only teaching or it combines so much more, including research and projects supervision, among others. Everyone knows that the last administration had little regard for education. The new administration claims to regard it with awe. If it won’t or can’t walk its talk, then it should at least come out and defend the iniquitous decision to punish the teachers on multiple fronts. Perhaps they can convince the public that the sun revolves around the earth after all. If that is the case, the teachers, it is guaranteed, will gladly denounce Copernicus and charge Galileo with the intellectual crime of suspected, rather than formal, heresy.