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Tag: ASUU

  • NANS condemns ‘attempt to truncate democracy’ at A/Ibom assembly

    The Senate of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has condemned what it considered as an attempt to truncate democracy in the State House of Assembly in Akwa Ibom State following the recent leadership saga.

    The Senate President NANS Comrade Abdulmajeed Oladimeji Oyeniyi at a World Press Conference addressed in Kaduna said, “We are in receipt of credible intelligence highlight plan by the opposition to use thugs to invade the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly and prevent the House from carrying out its legislative business of law making.

    “It is important we call on the attention of the entire world to this undemocratic act that is about to be perpetrated by the opposition in Akwa lbom State”.

    The student body stressed that the State Legislative arm is an independent arm that do not require the intervention of external body and alleged that, “we are pretty sure that the target is not directly on the Speaker but the person of the Governor, such that if the opposition succeed by taking over the state Assembly, it will be very easy for them to impeach the Governor.

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    “Nigerian Student wish to categorically state that the era of truncating democracy or the people’s will has for long gone and our Democratic systems have come to stay, we hereby advice the opposition to desist from this act of un-patriotism to our democracy, her citizen and the country at large.

    “The leadership of Nigerian Student wish to remind the general public that the Speaker of Akwa Ibom State House of Assemble was once a Senator of NANS and the Speaker to Nigerian Youth Parliament, therefore any attempt to stampede his activities as the Speaker of Akwa lbom State House of Assembly, the Students’ Community and Youth leaders across the country will not hesitate to invade the state capital”.

    The student body also called on the Federal Government to as a matter of urgency address issues raised by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) with the view to bringing the ongoing stike to an end.

  • ASUU strike : Parents, students call for quick FG intervention

    Some parents and students in Abuja on Tuesday urged the Federal Government to speedily intervene and resolve the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU).

    The parents, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria in Abuja, expressed worry over the constant strikes embarked upon by the university lecturers’ union.

    NAN reports that on Monday, the Federal Government and ASUU had a meeting to resolve their agreement in order to suspend the lecturers’ strike.

    However, the meeting that reportedly started at about 5 p.m. at the Federal Ministry of Education ended in another deadlock.

    A parent, Mrs Eunice John, said: “it is a pity what our government and ASUU is doing to this to our children who have been forced once again out of school.
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    “‎We know that many of the leaders have their children either studying in private universities or in other schools overseas, that is why they can always keep our children out of school.

    “Many parents are struggling to pay school fees of their wards to keep them in school and out of the streets, yet these children are forced to come home and some now engage in various vices.

    “That is not the only problem, when their studies are disrupted, it affects them; imagine those who were in the middle of writing examinations having that flow disrupted.’’

    ‎John pleaded with the FG and ASUU to reach an agreement that would end the strike and ultimately help improve the education sector.

    Mr David Onilede, another parent said the strike was worrisome adding that it would affect the productivity of the students.

    “I am worried at the sustained strike by ASUU. As a parent, the capacity of our children for productive interaction with their studies is being jeopardised.

    “I do not trust the FG ‘ s negotiating team; it seems that it is fixated on commercialising education at the tertiary level; ASUU should resist this. ‎

    “ASUU too, should be more flexible in their obsession with earned allowances; it portrays their struggles as selfish,’’ he said.

    Mrs Jumoke Yusuf, a Public Servant, said that the constant and protracted lecturers’ strikes had marred the country’s university system, as continuous breaks in the learning process had negatively affected the students.

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    “This strike is affecting the students and even we the parents because unexpectedly these children are coming home which they did not plan for.

    “That is not the main issue because you cannot stop your children from coming home no matter what.

    “The issue is that these incessant strikes are actually causing a lot of problems for these children in the sense that they just stay too long in school.
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    Esther Ajayi, a student ‎at the Nasarawa State University, who a spoke to reporters, said the strike had reduced her morale.

    ‎”I paid my fees for admission for a master’s degree programme and was excited and ready to go to school, however, this strike has dampened my hope of finishing within the stipulated time.

    “We want the federal government to dialogue with ASUU to end this continuous strike.
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    “It is not only sad that children of the masses try to be beat all odds to be the best they can be, but more worrisome is that the government of the day plays politics with the education system.

    ‎”Nigeria prides herself as the giant of Africa, but finds it difficult to resolve issues that are beneficial to the populace, we want the strike called off soonest.”
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    Emmanuel Onuoha, another student who spoke to NAN, accused the FG of failing the Nigerian student. ‎

    He said that government needed to do everything within its power to address the challenges in the sector as he called for the strike to be called of soonest.

    “Our parents said in their time the education system was good, there was nothing like strike and education was basically free.

    “Now some of them are in government and they are allowing us to suffer what they never did, because they can afford to send their children to schools abroad to get the best. ‎

    “We are pleading with government to solve this problem so we can go back to school.

    “Our ‎mates in private universities are way ahead of us; we‎ are just sitting at home doing nothing. It is not fair,”‎ he said.

  • Strike: Fed Govt, ASUU peace talks to continue

    A SCHEDULED meeting between the Federal Government and striking varsity teachers’ body, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), ended in a deadlock last night.

    The meeting which started at about 5pm at the Federal Ministry of Education was called to find a lasting solution to the ongoing strike by the lecturers.

    ASUU members embarked on the strike three weeks ago over the poor funding of Nigerian universities and non-implementation of previous agreements by the government.

    The union’s National President, Biodun Ogunyemi, told reporters after the meeting that negotiation was still ongoing and that the parties would reconvene at a later date.

    “All I can say for now is that negotiation continues and the meeting has been adjourned to a later date,” Ogunyemi said.

    The union leader had earlier given the implementation of the 2017 agreement between both parties and the dissolution of the Wale Babalakin –led Federal Government Negotiation Committee as conditions to make the teachers shelve the strike.

    The Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Tertiary Education Services, Aminu Suleiman, expressed concern over the lingering ASUU strike during an oversight visit Education Minister Adamu Adamu.

    According to a statement issued by the spokesperson Federal Ministry of Education, Ben Goong, the minister told his guests that the Federal Government was determined to “confine the strikes in education sector to the dustbin of history, adding however that funding remains the greatest obstacle”.

  • Strike continues as FG, ASUU fail to reach agreement

    The Federal Government and striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) officials on Monday failed to reach an agreement after another round of meeting.

    Another round of meeting to bring to an end the industrial action embarked upon by ASUU on November 4th, was called by Minister of Education, Adamu Adam.

    The meeting began at 5:30 PM and lasted for more than three hours at the headquarters of the federal ministry of education.

    National President of ASUU, at the end of the meeting, told reporters that both parties failed to reach an agreement on how to end the strike.

    Prof. Ogunyemi said that a new date will be fixed for another round of talks with the federal government.

    The ASUU National President said: “The meeting will continue at a later date. We will continue from where we stopped. We will continue at a later date. We have started the discussion,we are continuing and the discussion will continue at a later date. That is what I can say for now.

    Pressed by reporters to disclose the date the union will reconvene to address the ongoing strike, the union president said: “You will get to know about it.”

    In a related development, House of Representatives Committee on Tertiary Education, has appealed to the striking lecturers and federal government to find a common ground so that academic activities could resume in the nation’s tertiary institutions.

    Chairman of the Committee, Aminu Suleiman, said the House was concerned over the prolong strike.

    Suleiman, who led members of his committee on an oversight visit to the ministry of education, urged both parties to look beyond resolving the ongoing crisis and consider providing a long lasting solution that would enable the nation’s education activities move smoothly without any form of disruptions.

    In a statement in Abuja on Monday, Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations. Bem Gong, said the federal government was worried over the industrial action and desirous of ending strikes in the education sector despite the challenges of funding confronting the sector.

    The statement reads: “Members of the House of Representatives Committee on Tertiary Education Services rose from a one-day oversight meeting with the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu expressing deep concern over the continued strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), urging the federal government and ASUU to expeditiously conclude the ongoing negotiations in order to bring back our students to their campuses and classes.

    “Committee Chairman, Hon. Aminu Suleiman said federal government and ASUU must go beyond resolving the current strike to providing lasting solutions that will make strikes in the education sector a thing of the past.

    “On his part, Education Minister, Adamu Adamu said, government is desirous to confine strikes in the education to the dustbin history, adding however, that funding remains the greatest obstacle.

    “The minister however said, the workshop on sustainable funding for education in Nigeria coming up tomorrow at the Presidential Villa is expected to proffer lasting solutions to the sustainable funding for the sector.”

  • Knowledge ASUU needs

    Nigerians have long come to terms with the fact that public universities can hardly have a strike-free session. It was therefore no news to many that Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) embarked on yet another round of strike last week after accusing government of lack of commitment to the 2009 pact between her and the government over the release of N1.3 trillion to address the decay in our tertiary institutions. The problems over which ASUU has battled government since the early 80s have not changed. So is ASUU’s strategy.

    The travails of tertiary institutions in Nigeria started with the incursion into politics of a military populated by the less-privileged in society who joined the military for a chance to climb the social ladder. Because they were envious of their better placed compatriots, their first set of victims when they forcefully took over power in 1966 were the politicians, considered as the source of their misfortune, intellectuals, bureaucrats and the press who they envied for their superior knowledge.

    The January 1966 coup plotters wiped out the politicians, the benefactors who had made it possible for them to get into the military in the first place. Yakubu Gowon then embarked on his own war against the intellectuals, ordering them to move out of their ivory towers. Murtala Muhammed and Olusegun Obasanjo who did not know the bureaucrats are the ‘salt of life’ embarked on a senseless retirement of highly trained and experienced civil servants ‘with immediate effect’. Obasanjo took over privately owned Daily Times, the most influential and most widely circulated newspaper in Africa south of Sahara. Buhari, besides jailing journalists for reporting the truth also jailed politicians irrespective of their offences for long periods ranging between 100-200 years. Babangida without contesting or winning an election hilariously called himself president. He and Abacha also deluded themselves thinking they could decree political parties and even teach democracy.

    The ill-educated soldiers did not stop at that. They effected what Tekena Tamuno called “a status coup”.  In 1960, only the prime minister earned more than a vice chancellor (4,500 to 3700.punds). A professor earned more than a cabinet minister and an army general while a first degree holder joining the civil service earned more than a second lieutenant. But all that changed by 1975 with generals not only earning more than professors but earning their salaries for life.

    But I think the misadventure of a military not trained in the art of managing society can at best be described as a folly. That their unpatriotic and unambitious creation – the ‘new breed’ politicians allocate outrageous salaries to themselves should only attract the sympathy from ASUU.  In any case, the entry point for professors as recently observed by Kayode Fayemi, the governor of Ekiti State is about N500, 000. Except those in the banking and oil industry, very few Nigerians earn that. And compared with the media, an institution which like the universities is engaged in the business of trading in knowledge, the universities are not doing badly.  As an executive director of Guardian newspapers with turnover in billions, for 18 years, four of them as chief operating officer, I did not earn anything close to that.

    But beyond issue of salaries, the current ASUU strategy and dubious claims such as the country is rich enough to execute free university education,  cannot move those who believe you can without education,  become president, chairmen of international conglomerates and earn higher salaries by merely allocating more weight to brawn than brain.

    We saw the effect of ASUU’s false and unchallenged claim aimed at blackmailing government on our students who unfortunately are incapable of articulating our current problems as they demonstrated on the street of Abuja last Monday demanding an increase in the current education budget to 28%.

    This was long after Adamu Adamu, the minister of education had made it clear that the pledged made by Yar’Adua and Jonathan  which the duo could not implement at a period of economic boom cannot be fulfilled now that the economy is just recovering from a recession. This was also after the   chairman of the implementation monitoring committee of the agreement, Wale Babalakin, citing other competing expenditure demands, that require funding ‘which, government cannot ignore’, has appealed to ASUU for dialogue. And this was after the government has said it has no money to pay except it takes a bond which will become a burden for the youths in future.

    And contrary to ASUU’s claim, there are very few places in the world where good and qualitative education is free. It is true Canada gives grants to its citizens, but this is because the country suffers a deficit of qualified professionals. And because such grants are tied to performance, those who fall below standard have access to students’ loan. It is also true the US and Britain give grants to their universities (US $76 billion in 2013, Britain £12.1 billion in 2016 – Punch editorial November 14). But in both nations, the grants are not substitutes for school fees. Hillary Clinton during the US presidential contest of 2016 was on record as promising to bring relief to those American youths saddled with $75,000 indebtedness after graduation.

    In Britain, most of the universities are self-sustaining through payment of fees, especially by foreign students and patenting their research findings. Fees charged to non-EU students are unregulated and higher than for UK and EU students. This income allows universities to fund activities where costs exceed income.  Unfortunately for the first generation universities that used to attract foreign students in the 60s and 70s, ASUU’s endless strikes have become a disincentive to foreign students.

    For years, ASUU has been unreasonably opposed to payment of school fees by university students .The usual self-serving argument is the protection of the children of the poor. But if one may ask, how many children of the poor can compete with the children of the elite who attend elite secondary schools where fees can be as high as N1.5m for admission to universities of Lagos, Ibadan, Nsukka and ABU?  Over 50% of those who get admitted to these first generation universities went through diploma or DUPEB where in some universities they pay as high as N400, 000. But as soon as such children get absorbed into 200 levels, their parents join the league of poor people who can only afford N20, 000 school fees.

    Unlike in the US, where federal aid in the form of Pell Grants is awarded to students from families with annual incomes generally below $60,000 per year, those who benefit from government subsidies to the universities here are the political, economic, military and intellectual elite.

    Sadly, the poor artisans, market women, fruit and vegetable sellers whose interest ASUU claim to be protecting  are the ones who pay through their noses to put their children who never stood a chance getting admitted to the first generation Nigerian universities in the private universities in Nigeria, Republic of Benin and Ghana.

    ASUU must stop celebrating their knowledge of history and politics of ‘what was, what is’ and ‘who gets what, when and how’ and acquire some knowledge of economics. Besides, as against infantile duels, current ASUU leadership should show interest in making contributions to the policy thrust of government. That was the case in the 60s and 70s.

  • ASUU, Govt meeting to continue next week

    The meeting between the Federal Government and striking university lecturers resolved to continue next week.

    At the end of the meeting, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) said its strike would continue.

    Yesterday’s five hour meeting was presided over by Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige.

    The ASUU team was led by its President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi.

     

     

  • Breaking the ASUU strike logjam

    When will the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)strike end? This is the question being asked as the government and the varsity teachers seek a way around the perennial crisis. The government’s negotiation team is proposing scholarship and Education Bank as means of funding universities, but ASUU has other ideas. KOFOWOROLA BELO-OSAGIE reports.

    Since November 5, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been on strike. It said it was a resumption of  the strike it suspended in September last year over the government’s failure to fulfil terms of the 2009 Agreement and subsequent Memoranda of Action (MoA).  The MoA implementation was to infuse N200 billion yearly into universities to revitalise their facilities.

    The strike started when talks between ASUU and the government negotiation team, headed by Dr Wale Babalakin, broke down.

    While ASUU faulted the government’s failure to implement its proposal on alternative sources through which the government could fund the university system, the government negotiation team argued that government funding was not sustainable and proposed an Education Bank that can give students loans.

     

    Negotiation team’s position

    Babalakin has said the team had the blessing of the National Council on Education – the highest decision making body in Nigeria regarding education policy – to introduce a student loan scheme.

    “The National Council on Education has directed that student loan schemes be set up by the various state governments. It has also supported the idea of an education bank, which would provide soft loans for students seeking to obtain university education,” said Babalakin.

    Babalakin and other members of the team – Prof Olufemi Bamiro, Prof Nimi Briggs, Mr Lawrence Mgbale and Prof Munzali Jibrin – said the Federal Government could not afford to provide the N1 trillion the union was demanding for the university system yearly as it would have little to spend on other national needs.

    “Should the Federal Government make available the sum of N1trillion every year to fund University Education, which is equal to 70 per cent of the total capital released for 2017, which was N1.3b? In our opinion, this is not realistic in a country that has other competing needs such as infrastructure, defence, security, health            and other needs that require government’s urgent attention,” the negotiation team said.

    Currently, Babalakin said the government was only able to fund 22.5 per cent of university needs and proposed a more sustainable method of funding.

    The negotiation team is proposing an increment in the number of scholarships available to university students such that 30 per cent of students can attend school on various kinds of scholarships.  For the remaining 70 per cent, the team proposed that the Education Bank could provide an annual loan of N1 million to the students to cover fees and other costs.

    “Our position is that every student, who gains admission to a University and is not able to qualify on merit for the Federal Government’s scholarship                 should be entitled, as of right, to obtain a loan from the Education Bank. A loan of N1 million per annum would be made available to each of such students. N700,000 (seven hundred thousand naira) out of this loan will be paid to the University as tuition fees while the balance will be available to the student as support towards his upkeep allowances,” he said.

    In repaying the loan, the team proposed for the students to pay back not more than 10 per cent of their income with an interest of five per cent within a given period.

    “The loan from the Education Bank is a right for all those, who are qualified and who apply for it. It will be provided at an interest rate of no more than five per cent per annum to enable the Bank cover the cost of administering the loan.

    “The loan will be structured in a manner that the student borrower will not expend more than 10 per cent of his income in repaying the loan over a given period,” the team said.

     

    ASUU’s position

    Reacting to the negotiation team’s proposal, ASUU President Prof Biodun Ogunyemi told The Nation that the Education Bank was a means to introduce tuition fees into public schools and further pauperise the people.  He said Education Bank had been experimented in Nigeria in the past, but did not work, saying the same fate would befall the new proposal.  He also expressed concern that even after graduating, using students’ loans, the high unemployment rate could make it difficult for students to repay the loans.

    He said: “ASUU does not agree on education bank.  It was tried before in Nigeria for seven years – from 1993 to 2001 and it failed because of corruption and government’s failure to live up to its expectation.  The bank was forced to close down.”

    Ogunyemi faulted Babalakin’s claim that the team was not proposing tuition hike, saying the education bank is being proposed to allow it.

    “We heard the chairman of the negotiation team said they are not proposing tuition fees.  When he said they should introduce Education Bank to give out N1 million out of which the students would pay N700,000 on tuition, is that not it?

    “We see that as a trap because the bank will collapse; and after that, they would have introduced tuition fees, which once started would become difficult to stop.  It is a debt trap for our students.  They should resist it.  After they graduate, where are the jobs they will get to repay the loan?”

    On the contrary, ASUU boss believed if the Federal Government would implement its funding proposal, which he said was prepared by a plural team of government  (including the Accountant-General of the Federation; Federal Ministry of Education; National Universities Commission and ASUU officials), the university system would be better funded.

    “In the proposal we gave the negotiation team, we listed other sources the government could use to fund education.  We told the government to block leakages through corruption.

    “There are some agencies and parastatals whose funds could be harnessed for education.  These agencies have corporate social funds that are not declared.  They call it cash cow in government circles – their budgets are not made public – agencies like the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN); the NNPC, NDIC, and even NIPOST, which was estimated to have made N5 billion from Stamp Duties alone.  But the government   refused to implement this.  If we did all of these and we agreed after we presented the report in 2017, why would government not implement the report?”

    When asked why Nigerian universities could not raise funds like renowned universities of the world that do not depend on government funding, Ogunyemi said it boiled down to proper funding of the institutions to carry out cutting-edge research, which Nigerian universities lacked the capacity to do.

    “The universities you talk about are able to carry out cutting edge research.  It is through research that they get patents and make money – not selling pure water, or baking bread and cake – that is not the business of the university.  Before we can get to that level, the government must invest in the universities. Go to our laboratories, there are no equipment; go to our libraries, there are no books,” he said.

    Ogunyemi said it was not lack of capacity on the part of Nigerian academics, but poor work environment which did not promote research.

    “We have the capacity.  That is why you see Nigerian lecturers go abroad and excel. But back home, we do not have the enabling environment.   When you look at the areas Nigerian academics are making exploits, it is usually in the literary areas and not fields that require cutting edge research,” he said.

    Even with limited resources in Nigeria, Ogunyemi said universities would have been able to generate more funds from research if only the government would make use of their experts in implementing contracts.

    “All the contracts the government is implementing we have experts in the university, we have consultancy services that can do them.  But the government will not do so because the universities will not pay kickbacks to politicians from the contracts,” he said.

    Ogunyemi added that ASUU had advised the Federal Government to give its abandoned properties in Lagos to universities to generate income, but met a brickwall.

    “We told them to hand over all those properties in Lagos that were abandoned when the government moved to Abuja, but they did not.  Many of the properties are rotting away,” he said.

    Ogunyemi said ASUU’s refusal to be silenced had helped universities to still remain afloat. “If we fail and say let us give up like primary and secondary school teachers, probably public universiites would be worse than they are now.  We are doing this for our students – because of their future – so there will be universities in their time,” he said.

    When will this empasse between the government and ASUU be resolved?  This is the question students, forced to stay outside the classroom because of the strike are asking.

    As for Oluwatobi Junaid, a 400-Level Mass Communication student from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, a quick resolution of the crisis is all she wants as she does not believe there is anything to gain from lengthy strikes.

    “The strike is causing us to slow down.  This week, I was to see my supervisor for my project, but could not because of the strike.  When the money is released, we don’t see the effect.  The ICT centre (funded by special intervention fund), which they have been building since I got into this school is still under construction; it has not been completed,” she said.

  • ASUU strike: Parents, students appeal to ATBU to conclude exams Appeal

    Parents and students of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, on Wednesday appealed to lecturers of the institution to conclude the suspended examinations.

    Their appeal came in spite of the current strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) checks at ATBU showed that general academic activities on campus have been paralysed as a result of the strike.

    Though students have not been asked to vacate the school, as the time of this report, no academic activity is going on while many of them were seen wandering on campus.

    Alhaji Mohammed Kawu, a parent, told NAN that the incessant strikes in the universities were undermining the credibility of Nigerian graduates.

     

    He called for immediate resolution of the issues leading to strikes in nation`s higher institutions.

    “The disruption of the ongoing examinations at ATBU is a setback to the students` academic development and the parents who provide the funds for support.

    “The strike lowers the morale of the students when their examinations are cut short and consequently affects their performance in future examinations,’’ Kawu said.

    Another parent, Malam Saidu Jumba said,“There is no parent that is happy with the situation, including lecturers, whose children are also schooling there.

    Jumba decried the hardship the incessant strikes were causing to students and parents, saying that government and ASUU should find permanent solution to the problem.

    According to him, the spate of strike in the country institutions of learning is worrisome and alarming.

    A student of Library Science of the institution, Isah Musa said strikes, in schools, were causing a lot of damage to both parents and students.

    Musa said the suspension of examination, half way, was devastating and was causing a lot of psychological torture to students.

    “Some of us cannot travel home because we have no idea when the strike will be called-off, we cannot afford to go home now and start paying transport to return if academic activities resume.

    “Besides, we may leave now and risk missing the examinations, in case the lecturers change their minds and decide to continue with the examinations,’’ Musa said.

    On her part, Miss Amina Aliyu, from the Department of Geology, appealed to the lecturers to return to classes in the interest of the students.

    “They should allow us to finish the second semester examination; this disruption will affect us psychologically and could break the resolve of some of us,’’ she said.

  • ASUU vs. FG again!

    •Only pragmatic negotiations will lead to realistic solutions

    The recent resumption of industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is grim testimony to the complexity of the issues and the inability of the parties concerned to move beyond entrenched positions.

    ASUU claims that it resumed the strike it suspended in September 2017 because there had been no significant progress on the implementation of the 2009 agreement between it and the Federal Government, as well as the Memoranda of Understanding of 2012 and 2013, and the Memorandum of Action of 2017.

    The union is demanding the reconstitution of the government’s negotiating team, the release of a forensic audit report on Earned Academic Allowances (EAA), and payment of all outstanding EAA and their integration into salaries. ASUU also wants the payment of arrears for all universities which have met the verification requirements of the Presidential Initiative on Continuous Audit (PICA), and the release of the operating license of the University Pension Fund.

    The Federal Government has responded by explaining that the 2009 agreement was signed by a previous administration when oil receipts were relatively high, and that the current economic situation makes it unable to meet the financial requirements which stand at over N2 trillion. It has promised to release a previously-promised N20 billion as evidence of its good faith.

    What is perhaps most surprising in all this is the exact similarity with previous ASUU-FGN face-offs. There is the same government refusal to listen to pre-strike appeals for action until the strike is declared. There is the same excuse of inadequate funds to honour the terms of previous agreements. There is the same display of initial inflexibility on both sides.

    There can be little doubt that ASUU is fighting a just cause. It is simply asking the Federal Government to live up to its obligations to the universities it is responsible for. The funds in question are meant for the rehabilitation of infrastructure, the acquisition of facilities and equipment, and the payment of academic staff with the ultimate aim of returning public universities to a glorious past when they were among the best-known on the African continent.

    Nor can it be said that the union has embarked on a wildcat strike. Several months before it declared a comprehensive, total and indefinite strike on November 4, ASUU had gone on a publicity campaign to inform the public about the issues and warn government about the consequences of its refusal to honour previous agreements. It had expressed its disquiet with what it saw as the uncooperative attitude of the Federal Government’s negotiating team led by Mr. Wale Babalakin (SAN), and had reiterated its preparedness to discuss matters in good faith.

    However, ASUU must realise that it cannot continue to deploy the same tactics utilised over the years and expect different results. Like the others, this industrial action will follow the accustomed trajectory. Both parties will eventually go back to negotiations in which promises will be made and an uneasy truce maintained until the next industrial action.

    This cannot continue. ASUU must understand that the financial implications inherent in fulfilling its demands are simply beyond the current capabilities of the Federal Government. The N2 trillion it is seeking represents over 20 per cent of the 2018 national budget, and would starve similarly vital sectors such as agriculture, public works and security of much-needed funds.

    For its part, government should learn that it is wrong to sign up to agreements it clearly has no intention of honouring. It is not enough to claim that they were arrived at by previous administrations, since government is a continuum. It is also blatantly unfair to claim financial incapacity when public office holders enjoy inordinately high salaries and allowances.

    Both parties must focus less on themselves and more on the overall good of the nation. The repercussions of an extended ASUU strike will simply compound matters. Conditions in universities will worsen; thousands of idle students let loose on the streets will have consequences that are too dire to be imagined.

    ASUU and the Federal Government should first look at resolving the easier issues, such as the release of the forensic audit report on the EAA and the University Pension Fund’s operating license. This will help to establish good faith on both sides and enable them to tackle the more difficult issues in the right spirit. Strict timelines and deadlines should be established for the release of funds; both parties should agree on disbursements that are realistic and achievable. While ASUU does not have the right to tell government who it will negotiate with, it might be wise if the Federal Government’s team is looked at again with a view to injecting fresh perspectives and re-establishing trust and confidence.

  • Our Girls; Can NLC, ASUU stop NASS salaries and perks?

    Our Chibok girls were kidnapped on April 15, 2014 Inexplicably our Dapchi girl-child, 15, Leah Sharibu is not released.

    Obasanjo says Nigerians are frustrated. Not an original observation, sorry though he is not correct. Nigerians are very, very frustrated and have been very, very frustrated almost all their lives and the lives of their parents as well from a lack of love of Nigeria by its leaders. Currently, we are at the deliberate but still inexplicable nine-month serial delays in budget approval, a wicked, evil and successful attempt to ruin the economy. Add the perpetuation in politics by, and the easy manipulation of the media of, the old and largely failed past presidential guard in the country’s highest offices. The imposition of candidates, the continued financial consequences of the massive theft and misuse since 1999 of our public funds precipitating the pauperisation of the citizen but not the politician who still illegally, legally steals irresponsibly and mentally inexplicably huge funds masquerading as salaries and perks with no remorse far in excess of the sums stolen by all the criminals convicted of fraud and theft or even enjoyed by politicians in the best economies in the world. Nigerians are indeed very frustrated that politicians from all major parties rub citizens’ noses in their poverty while politicians get richer. Unfortunate.

    It is a pity that our president is ‘proud to declare a State of Emergency in Water -Sanitation and Drinking’. Similarly a new vehicle launch boasts it has a car that can ‘Cope with Nigerian Roads’ like Peugeot of those days ‘Made for Nigerian Roads’. When will we have roads like everywhere else? Only if the political class make that decision between self and citizen.

    The NLC and all bodies going on strike separately should put as Number One on their agenda what many citizens consider to be Enemy Number 1- the National Assembly (NASS) and force it to cut its hyper-greedy salaries and perks, SAPing Nigeria dry. NLC etc should also target the colossal constituency projects and lead a campaign for cancellation of in favour of relocating the funds into the ministry budgets. NLC should also campaign to put politicians on the state and federal salary structure at levels up to level 20 or even level 24 for president. These could have been part of the fight for increased minimum wage. Perhaps ASUU, striking for improved services and fulfillment of long past agreements should remain on strike and be joined by other bodies like the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, until NASS recants its exorbitant and extortionist emoluments greater than in any other political class worldwide.

    The reason why the education budget is so much lower than the UN recommended 26% is that the politicians trivialise the need to equip education to a level at par with anywhere in the world. Nigeria has always had the money for education. Just see how many trillions have been unaccounted for, and therefore stolen, during the military misadventure and since 1999. Witness the abandoned projects and disappearing funds for pensions and salaries. The money for education and even good quality health and good roads was and is there but it was and perhaps is, to a much lesser degree, diverted to corruption-driven projects and the greed of politicians, contractors and civil servants. They are like a plague of locusts on citizen. Their steps to amend the constitution are belated and an afterthought to placate a population disgusted with its non- passage of the budget for nine or 10 months. When did our thieves stop stealing a few millions and move to a billion and more? Was it not under the military that their ‘chop-chop’ appetite was whetted? If the huge sums were never stolen, there would have been funds for all important projects to railways to meet Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs. Of course it takes a leadership that is anti-corruption in morals, policies and cash and bullion matters. At present we have a leadership which appears to be failing in parts of this definition and the violence and ethnically-based appointments are there for all to see. Would he jail those who are suspected of corruption but who gave him support to win his first term? Will he turn on the apparent corrupt friends-in-high-places making them strange bedfellows, if he wins a second term? The story is told that he surrounded himself through his top main appointments with the Daura Mafia because he is hell-bent on preventing being ousted by another military coup a la Babangida, who is still very much around and by the way is planning an autobiography!!!

    Personally I cannot give a kobo of my money to Babangida for his autobiography as his reign left a very bad taste in my mouth, a huge dent in the dollar value of my naira, created the first wave of professional refugees heading abroad, and an increase in the Monetary Policy Rate under the vulture International Morticians Fund and the Woe Bank. However I hope as a tribute to Nigeria, and as a penance for sins past, he will give away one million copies of the book. And readers please do not dustbin the book or burn the book before reading it. No knowledge, no matter how annoying, is wasted. I do not expect revelations of pre-coup plot meetings or assets declaration in the book.

     

    • Uncover ‘I LOVE NIGERIA’ KNOWLEDGEABLE CANDIDATES for 2019 -SDG 16.