The Nation Newspaper

Tag: ASUU

  • Minimum wage: NANS urges FG to yield to workers’ demand

    The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), has urged the Federal Government to urgently accede to the organised labour’s demand on workers’ minimum wage to end Nigeria’s unwarranted sufferings.

    NANS gave the charge in Abeokuta in a statement signed by its National Public Relations Officer, Azeez Adeyemi.

    Adeyemi said that the Federal Government should quickly prioritize workers’ demand, saying that their welfare and well being should never be compromised.

    He noted that the current minimum wage of N18,000 had become grossly inadequate and could no longer meet the demands of an average Nigerian worker.

    “With the increment in prices of petrol, goods and services in the nation, no doubt the minimum wage is long overdue for increment.

    “NANS is using this medium to assure the NLC, TUC, ASUU and other unions of our solidarity and support to the struggle of the ongoing strike.

    Read Also: Osun victory shows APC is preferred party – Obaseki

    “The national leadership of NANS under Bamidele Akpan, hereby directs all Nigerian students to actively and morally partake in all rallies, protests and other struggles organised by the organised labour.

    “We won’t compromise as we believe we all shall overcome this present situation,” he said.

  • ASUU kicks against education bank

    ACADEMIC Staff Union of Universities (ASUU),  Port Harcourt zone, has condemned the Federal Government’s plan to set up a bank for university students, saying it will endanger the chances of poor students to get university education on their own terms.

    The group spoke yesterday in a statement signed by the zonal Coordinator, Uzo Onyebinama, and ASUU chairmen from universities in the zone – Joseph Omoro, Federal University Owerri; Ugochukwu Agi, Ignatius Ajuru University of Education; Stanley Ogoun, Niger Delta University; Emmanuel Ekwulo, Rivers State University; and Austin Sado, UNIPORT.

    It said introducing education bank and students’ loan scheme would increase the cost of accessing university education for the poor but intelligent students.

    The statement noted that private universities, which already charge high fees will capitalise on the scheme to make things more difficult for students, and put pressure on  public universities to also raise fees, with the belief that students can access loans.

    ASUU recommends that instead of the scheme, universities should be well funded.

    The union condemned the idea of integrating the education bank and students’loan scheme into the renegotiation deal of the union and the Federal Government, stressing that it will create disharmony between ASUU,  students and the public.

    It said “…in addition, the government team insisted education ought to be funded from diverse sources and proposes an education bank and students’ loan scheme, with a view of establishing exorbitant tuition and other fees in public universities…’’

    “ASUU believes that education is a public good, therefore the union considers the proposal for an education bank and students’loan scheme a deliberate efforts to commercialize public universities and an incentive for private universities to thrive and ultimately deny the children of poor Nigerians access to university education.”

    In their view, the idea of introducing education bank and students’loan scheme into the Union’s renegotiation talk with the FGN as an attempt to create undue rift between ASUU, Nigerian students and the public.

    “It is important to note that ASUU has demonstrated it’s belief in dialogue and due process by subscribing to the renegotiation process despite the fact that many components of the agreement and the subsequent memorandum of understanding(MOU) and Memorandum of Action(MOA) arising there from have not been implemented.

    “We are using this medium to appeal to well meaning Nigerians tonprevail on the FG to show good faith and restart the renegotiation process by reconstituting the current government team and implementing the outstanding components of the 2017 MOA through the release of the forensic audit report on the payment of the Earned Academic Allowance (EAA).”

    They are also demanding for the payment of arrears of EAA between 2009 and 2012, as well as the “mainstreaming of the EAA into the annual budget; including the payment of all arrears of salary shortfalls in all universities that have been verified under the presidential initiative on continuous Auditing (PICA),  and the payment of EAA claims of genuine ASUU members in the University of Ilorin.

     

  • ASUU threatens strike over 2017 agreement

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has threatened to embark on a nationwide strike if the federal government fails to implement the 2017 FGN/ASUU agreement.

    Prof. Lawan Abubakar, the Bauchi Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, at a news conference on Thursday in Jos, expressed surprise that the federal government has yet to implement the various agreements aimed at revitalising public universities, as agreed in 2017.

    “ASUU and the federal government signed an agreement on the revitalisation of the universities and the payment of arrears of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA). We also agreed that the EAA be captured in 2018 universities budgets.

    “We also agreed on the need for adequate budgetary allocation to education in line with the UNESCO minimum standard of 26 per cent,” he said.

    Abubakar regretted that only 7 per cent of the total 2018 budget was allocated to the education sector, and called for the immediate release of the N20 billion revitalisation funding.

    He enjoined members of the public to put pressure on the federal government to live up to its national responsibility by honouring agreements and MoUs so as to avoid disruptions in academic activities. (NAN)

  • Plagiarism: ASUU disowns Unilorin lecturer

    THE Leadership of Ibadan Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has disowned Dr. Usman Adebimpe Raheem of the University of Ilorin, who is facing allegations of plagiarism and intellectual fraud.

    The ASUU leadership maintained that its chairperson for the University of Ilorin is Dr. Kayode Afolayan, who was “illegally sacked by the university of Ilorin administration”.

    The Ibadan Zone of ASUU covers the University of Ilorin, University of Ibadan, Osun State University and Ladoke Akintola University, Ogbomoso.

    The Nation, on Tuesday, reported that Raheem is facing intellectual fraud and plagiarism case.

    In a statement, entitled: “Re: Unilorin ASUU chair faces plagiarism crisis: A disclaimer”, issued in Ibadan, ASUU Zonal Chairman Dr. Ade Adejumo and University of Ibadan Chapter Chairman Dr. Deji Omole stated that “for the avoidance of doubt, Dr. Raheem is not known to ASUU and he is not the chairman of ASUU Unilorin Branch”.

    According to the zonal leadership, Raheem “is an impostor and leader of a renegade group backed by the management of UNILORIN that calls itself ASUU”.

    Adejumo and Omole stated that the chairperson of UNILORIN branch is Dr. Kayode Niyi Afolayan, whose “illegal termination of appointment and that of the branch secretary, Dr. Solomon Oyelekan, by former VC Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali, is being contested in court”.

    “As a union of intellectuals, ASUU does not condone unethical practices and acts of fraud among its members. The union hopes that all the authorities directly concerned and mentioned in the story, especially the University of Ilorin and University of Ibadan, where Dr. Raheem obtained his PhD, that has alleged plagiarised materials, will act immediately on this matter to restore sanity to ethical practices and standards in the academia being eroded by this alleged shameful conduct of Dr. U.A Raheem,” the statement stressed.

  • ASUU calls for reopening of negotiation with FG

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Owerri zone, has called on the Federal Government to urgently open renegotiation on the 2009 agreement with the union to avoid industrial disharmony.

    Coordinator of the zone, Dr Uzo Onyebinama, read out the position of the union to journalists after meeting of the executives held at the Nnamdi Azikwe University Awka on Wednesday.

    Onyebinama stated that after the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement, there was a provision for the renegotiation of the agreement every three years, but regretted that it was in March 2017 that the first renegotiation was held.

    He added that the meeting broke down since May 2018, because of what he tagged “deliberate tactics adopted by the leader of government team to scuttle the renegotiation.’’

    Read Also: ASUU rejects Fed Govt’s N20b

    The unionist said that government team was rooting for funding of education via diverse sources with the proposal for the establishment of `Education Bank and students’ loan scheme.’

    “Students’ loan scheme is a deliberate effort to commercialise public universities and an incentive for private universities to thrive and untimely deny the children of poor Nigerians access to university education,’’ he said.

    Onyebinama maintained that the union’s call for the reopening of meeting between it and the Federal Government was a clear demonstration in ASUU’s belief in dialogue and due process.

    He however, said that if government failed to do the needful, the members of the union might be forced to embark on industrial action.

    Onyebinama gave breakdown of issues in dispute as follows; non-implementation of components of the 2017 memorandum of action, non-release of over N1 trillion arrears or revitalisation fund owed public universities from 2014 to 2018.

    Others are: non release of the forensic audit report on earned academic allowances and non-payment of arrears for 2009 to 2017, failure to mainstream the payment of earned academic allowances into the annual budget.

    He said that the union was equally worried over failure to pay arrears of shortfall in salaries in universities that have been verified under the presidential initiative, on continuous auditing among others.

    Responding to questions, Onyebinama said that the union was not worried over possible political coloration of their action, adding, “that was the same false accusation we faced in 2015 and should it come again this time, it makes no meaning.’’

  • ASUU ‘rejects’ Fed Govt’s N20b

    THE Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is not impressed by N20 billion released by the Federal Government to fund the university system on Monday.

    Its members said the money should have been released last October and by now, the union and the government ought to be renegotiating the FGN-ASUU 2009 agreement.

    The Lagos Zone of the union yesterday described the release of the funds as blackmail.

    At a news conference at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) yesterday, Zonal Coordinator, Prof. Olusiji Sowande, called on the government to disband the Dr. Wale Babalakin-led renegotiation committee with a less ‘fixated’ leader.

    Sowande said the money was part of the N1.3 trillion both parties agreed should be invested in upgrading facilities in public universities within six years.

    He, however, expressed disappointment that the amount disbursed was not up to N220 billion since 2013.

    “Let me make it clear that government has never released any money to our union. The manner in which the announcement was made was intended to blackmail ASUU.

    “Government releases are usually made to the benefiting universities. The purported release of N20 billion is coming after one year as against one month agreed in the MoA of 2017. Our expectation is that by now, government should have offset more than N220 billion to the Nigerian public universities as contained in the 2013 MoU for upgrade of facilities and infrastructural development,” he said.

    Sowande also expressed disappointment that the government led the union on after suspending its strike last September with the impression that it would renegotiate the agreement immediately.

    He said: “Over a long period of 14 months that we participated in the renegotiation, there has been no meaningful progress made, and this was principally due to the disposition of the leader of the government team, Dr. Wale Babalakin. His autocratic habit of imposing his views on the renegotiation committee was a serious clog in the wheel of progress of the renegotiation process.

    “With this attitude, which is against the principle of collective bargaining, it was impossible to build on the gains of previous agreements, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and MoA with Nigerian government, in order to arrive at a mutually agreed path of repositioning the Nigerian university system for global reckoning and competitiveness.”

    Sowande warned that the union’s patience was wearing thin and called on well-meaning Nigerians to urge the government to fulfill its promises or else the union would down tools.

    “Our union should not be held responsible for any avoidable disruption of academic and other activities in the Nigerian public universities if government fails to honour its words,” he said.

  • ASUU rejects Fed Govt’s N20b

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is not impressed by N20 billion released by the Federal Government to fund the university system on Monday.

    Its members say the money should have been released last October and by now the union and the government ought to be renegotiating the FGN-ASUU 2009 agreement.

    The Lagos Zone of the Union on Tuesday described the release of the funds as blackmail.

    At a press briefing at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) Tuesday, Zonal Coordinator, Prof Olusiji Sowande, also called on the government to disband the Dr Wale Babalakin-led renegotiation committee with a less ‘fixated’ leader.

    Sowande said the money was part of the N1.3 trillion both parties agreed should be invested in upgrading facilities in public universities within six years.  He however expressed disappointment that the amount disbursed was not up to N220 billion since 2013.

    “Let me make it clear that government has never released any money to our union. The manner in which the announcement was made was intended to blackmail ASUU.

    “Government releases are usually made to the benefiting universities. The purported release of N20 billion is coming after one year as against one month agreed in the MoA of 2017. Our expectation is that by now, government should have offset more than N220 billion to the Nigerian public Universities as contained in the 2013 MoU for upgrade of facilities and infrastructural development,” he said.

    Sowande also expressed disappointment that the government led the union on after suspending its strike last September with the impression that it would renegotiate the agreement immediately.

    Read Also: Unilorin ASUU chairman faces plagiarism crisis

    He said: “Over a long period of 14 months that we participated in the renegotiation, there has been no meaningful progress made, and this was principally due to the disposition of the leader of the government team, Dr. Wale Babalakin. His autocratic habit of imposing his views on the renegotiation committee was a serious clog in the wheel of progress of the renegotiation process.

    “With this attitude, which is against the principle of collective bargaining, it was impossible to build on the gains of previous agreements, Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) and MoA with Nigerian government, in order to arrive at a mutually agreed path of repositioning the Nigerian university system for global reckoning and competitiveness.”

    Sowande warned that the Union’s patience was wearing thin and called on well-meaning Nigerians to urge the government to fulfill its promises or else the union would down tools.

    “Our union should not be held responsible for any avoidable disruption of academic and other activities in the Nigerian public universities if government fails to honour its words,” he said.

     

  • ASUU chair urges UNILORIN to enforce annual leave

    The Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) chapter, Dr Usman Adebimpe Raheem, has called on management to enforce annual leave for academic staff members.

    Raheem said a law that requires lecturers to take their annual leave when due would help them to recharge and be more productive.

    “If the law says we cannot defer leave, we must not condone deferment to ensure good health,” he said.

    The ASUU chair said university teachers often work round the clock throughout the year studying, teaching, mentoring and conducting practicals, as well as marking scripts, evaluating theses and dissertations and still engaging in one form of research or the other at the risk of their health and personal welfare.

    Raheem, an Associate Professor in the Department of Geography and Environmental Management, said all these responsibilities make it difficult for academics to go on leave at the stipulated time.

    He appealed to the university administration to work out a system that would accommodate lecturers’ annual leave without impacting negatively on the core mandates of the institution.

    Raheem, however, commended  the university workers, particularly his colleagues, for maintaining harmonious working relationship with the administration and for choosing to embrace stability against industrial disharmony.

  • ASUU petitions council on VC’s backdated promotion

    The Southwest zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has accused the management of Lagos State University (LASU) of impunity in witch-hunting leaders of the institution’s chapter of the union.

    Three ASUU leaders in LASU have been queried by the university, following a letter they wrote to the Governing Council requesting an investigation into the backdating of Vice Chancellor Prof. Lanre Fagbohun’s promotion to the professorship cadre.

    Coordinator of ASUU Akure zone Dr. Alex Odigi said yesterday during a congress at LASU that the university violated its laws by questioning the union leaders.

    He said: “We want the public to know that charges have been brought up against three executives.

    “They are Dr. Tony Dansu, secretary; Dr. Adeolu Oyekan, assistant secretary and Dr. Kemi Abodunrin Shonibare, treasurer.

    “It is not news to us that the university sometime ago unjustly dismissed our colleagues, the chairperson and the vice chairperson of our branch.

    “They have begun another systematic process in which they intend to also dismiss the secretary, assistant secretary and treasurer, under the cover of the trump up charge of having collected a classified document and released or publicly issued out. I don’t know where they are making their own rules from. There are some things that if they want to do, they have to look at the law of the states and federation before they can embark on it.”

     

  • ASUU petitions Council on LASU VC’s backdated promotion

    The Southwest zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has accused the management of the Lagos State University (LASU) of impunity in witch hunting leaders of the Institution’s chapter of the union.

    Three ASUU-LASU leaders have been queried by the University following a letter they wrote to the Governing Council requesting an investigation into the backdating of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Lanre Fagbohun’s promotion to the professorship cadre.

    Dr Alex Odigi, Coordinator of Akure zone of ASUU, said on Thursday during a Congress at LASU that the university was violating its laws by questioning the union leaders.

    He said: “We want the public to know that charges have been brought up against three executives.

    “The executives in question are Dr Tony Dansu, Secretary, Dr Adeolu Oyekan , Asst. Secretary and Dr Kemi Abodunrin Shonibare, Treasurer.

    “It is not news to us that the university sometime ago unjustly dismissed our colleagues, the chairperson and the vice chair person of our branch

    “They have began another systematic process in which they intend to also dismiss the secretary, assistant secretary, treasurer of the branch, all under the cover of the trump up charge of having collected a classified document and released or publicly issued out. I don’t know where they are making their own rules from. There are some things that if they want to do they have to look at the law of the states and federation before they can embark on it.

    In a letter dated June 1, 2018, and signed by Dansu and Oyekan, the ASUU-LASU had prayed the Council to investigate whether or not the university’s former Registrar, Mr Akinwunmi Lewis, had done wrong in backdating Fagbohun’s promotion approved on May 7, 2014 to October 1, 2008 without which he (Fagbohun) could have been qualified to run for the office.

    The union leaders attached documents that listed the Council members that approved the promotion of Fagbohun and nine others on May 7, 2014, as well as the letter of promotion that Lewis wrote to Fagbohun on August 24, 2014 backdating his promotion to October 1, 2008.

    In the letter, they questioned why the Registrar made the decision without evidence that the Council directed him to do so.

    “To the best of our knowledge, there was no other meeting of the Governing Council where the promotion was notionally backdated to October 1, 2008 between May 7, 2014 and the day the then Registrar sent the letter of promotion to Dr Olanrewaju Fagbohun or thereafter,” the letter read.

    Fagbohun was appointed vice-Chancellor in 2015.

    Though the Council is still investigating ASUU’s allegations, the management of the University has asked Dansu, Oyekan and, Abodunrin to explain how they got access to the confidential documents containing the Councik’s decision and details of the backdating.

    The Director, Centre for Information and Public Relations, Mr Ademola Adekoya, said in a phone interview that the university’s laws penalises the unauthorised release of confidential documents.

    “The document is confidential; where did they get it? The illegality must be corrected first. Any attempt to check somebody’s file is misconduct. It is there in the condition of service that if you do this, there is a sanction for it,” he said.

    Adekoya added that it was wrong for ASUU to jump into conclusion based on the letter, which he said did not tell the whole story as there were other documents they were not privy to that empowered the former Registrar to backdate Fagbohun’s promotion.

    He also said Fagbohun had contested the date of his promotion with the Council which agreed to backdate it.

    “The Registrar was acting on the records available to him; he did not commit any crime.Moreover, they have written to the Council, they should wait for the outcome. A joint committee of the Council and Senate is looking into the matter and afterwards, Council will take a decision,” he said.