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Tag: ASUU

  • ASUU faults JAMB on new admission guidelines

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Ibadan chapter, has lashed out at the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) for acting beyond its powers by releasing admission guidelines for Nigerian universities.

    The union said it is the mandate of the Senate of Nigerian universities to regulate admission modalities and determine what best suits each institution.

    The ASUU Chairman at the institution, Dr. Deji Omole, stated this while reacting to the 2016 admission guidelines recently released by JAMB.

    He said both the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, and JAMB Registrar, Prof. Dibu Ojerinde, are confused and inconsistent by first going against collection of administrative charges under Post-UTME by universities, but now preaching payment of screening fees in “its illegal guidelines which is designed to favour the children of the rich against the poor.”

    Omole said Adamu and Ojerinde are unaware of happenings in Nigeria universities, adding that the newly released point – based scoring system is not new as it was innovated and used at the University of Ibadan for five years and abandoned.

    He stressed that the institution has moved beyond such model of admitting students.

    He said, “JAMB is acting beyond its mandate which is to conduct and release results. The Senate of universities has the right to determine the model or guideline to adopt to admit their students from the pool of candidates sent to it by JAMB.

    “Each university has standards which are not subjected to the whims and caprices of any government appointee. JAMB does not have the powers to tell universities how to conduct their screening. It is a way to cover up their inadequacies because JAMB’s credibility as an examination body is yearly being queried.

    “JAMB and its handlers are confused. Last year, they arbitrarily placed students in private universities to satisfy the needs of their cronies. These were mainly children of the poor who had not chosen those institutions. In the just concluded JAMB examinations, they awarded candidates with extra 40 marks without any justification.

    “Now, those with two sittings results will be shortchanged and those awaiting results will be disadvantaged. There will be rise in result racketeering at WAEC again as people will be purchasing grade ‘A’ since that is what will guarantee admission.

    “More miracle examination centers will spring up and JAMB and the minister would have succeeded in entrenching corruption and further kill university education in Nigeria. ASUU stands by university autonomy. JAMB cannot determine admission guidelines for universities, rather JAMB must be overhauled to make their results believable and trusted.”

     

  • How quality of education can improve – ASUU

    How quality of education can improve – ASUU

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) said the quality of tertiary education in the country could improve if the institutions are allowed to regulate their students’ admission process.

    The union’s National President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos that if that was done, the quality of education would improve.

    Oguyemi spoke against the backdrop of the Federal Government’s decision to come up with a uniform guideline for admission of candidates for the 2016/2017 academic session.

    The Minster of Education, Adamu Adamu, had at a recent joint policy meeting to decide the cut off mark for students seeking admission into the universities, announced the scrapping of post-Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME).

    The Post UTME is the second stage of screening usually conducted by universities for the final selection of candidates into the institutions.

    Adamu had said in a statement that he would sanction any university or tertiary institution found conducting examinations under any guise to admit students.

    He further directed tertiary institutions that had collected money from candidates for such purposes to immediately refund it or face appropriate sanctions.

    The minister said if any tertiary institution had already conducted any form of examination, such an exercise stood annulled.

    The ASUU chief told NAN that such directive encroached on the autonomy of the institutions.

    “I think government should give these institutions the chance to regulate themselves.

    “They should decide for themselves, the process they dim fit to admit their students.

    “The Senate of universities for example, should decide on the process they want to use in selecting candidates.

    “We do not think it’s right for government to decide the method of screening of the candidates, indeed, we want to attain some level of sanity and quality in the system,’’ he said.

     

  • OAU lecturers, ASUU chair in row over choice of VC

    OAU lecturers, ASUU chair in row over choice of VC

    SOME members of the ObafemiAwolowo University’s chapter of the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) yesterday accused their chairman, Dr. Celeb Aborisade, of misrepresenting the union on the  appointment of Prof. AyobamiTaofeek Salami as vice chancellor.

    Speaking with reporters in Osogbo, the state capital, Prof. Adegbola Peter Akinola of OAU Mathematics Department said it was not correct that the ASUU supported the new vice chancellor’s appointment.

    Akinola, who was accompanied by other three ASUU members, faulted Aborisade’s comment, describing it as inaccurate.

    He maintained that the process that produced the vice chancellor was “not free, fair and transparent”.

    According to him, the process was fraught with “at least two fundamental irregularities, which made it utterly unfair and decidedly skewed against all the contestants, except one person”.

    Akinola accused the OAU ASUU chairman of issuing a statement on the VC’s appointment that was not authorised by the congress.

    He described the statement as false and self-seeking.

    Akionola alleged that the outgoing vice chancellor, Prof. Bamitale Omole and “his collaborators” deliberately planned the selection to include conditions which were not originally in the advertised criteria for the appointment to the office of VC.

    He said: “This is because the selection and appointment process is at present subject of a litigation before the Federal High Court Osogbo, which had served all the necessary processes on the parties, particularly the university’s council, to hold on pending the determination of the matter on notice concerning complaints of improper process and partiality brought by SSANU and NASU of the university.

    “But while the matter was slated for hearing on June 7, the university authority surreptitiously on June 6, organised a questionable interview in Abuja at a secret location and purported to announce a candidate in utter disregard of the due process of judicial intervention. It is curious to note that three of the four internal candidates purportedly invited for the interview could not attend.”

    But Aborisade said Akinola has no right to discredit the position of ASUU on the matters.

    According to him, whatever Akinola was saying on the matter should be discountenanced because “he is saying that to cause confusion as he never attended ASUU meeting more than once in the last two years after I defeated him in the ASUU chairmanship election he contested with me.”

    On the position of ASUU at its meeting of June 6, he said: “By the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement, the Federal Government has granted autonomy to the university. In the said autonomy, the Governing Councils of the Federal Universities are the only bodies given the responsibility of appointing vice chancellors based on every university’s statutory requirements. ASUU will not at any time tolerate any attempt to subvert this hard-earned autonomy.

    “The Governing Council of ObafemiAwolowo University advertised the position of vice chancellor in December 2015 with specific criteria spelt out in the advert for intending candidates.

    “A five-man search team was set up in accordance with the laid down procedure. At the end of the application deadline, the Governing Council met between March 8 and 11, 2016, and a shortlisting exercise was conducted, as stipulated in the statute of the ObafemiAwolowo University.

    “The process led to the emergence of six candidates. Congress was satisfied with the report and was consequently adopted. Congress observed that the current university autonomy does not factor a direct role of ASUU in the appointment of university vice chancellors. Going down memory lane, the previously conducted referenda seemed not to have had positive influence on the appointment of vice chancellors, but rather, had led to the polarisation of our membership.

    “After exhaustive deliberations on the subject, congress resolved to have an interaction with the candidates (rather than a referendum) and a committee was set up by the congress to organise such.”

  • Exodus of 40 Kogi varsity lecturers worries ASUU

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Kogi State University Ayingba chapter, has expressed concern over the exodus of academics from the state owned-institution.

    It bemoaned the depletion of lecturers, a situation it blamed on the state government.

    ASUU in a statement signed by Dr D. O Aina and Dr. M. Abula, Acting chairperson and secretary, said more than 40 lecturers have quit their jobs at the university in recent times.

    They listed some of the issues causing lectures to leave as irregular salaries, non-implementation of tax holiday as promised by the government, and regularizatization of the university law, without which they said the school has been operating illegally.

    “The lack of the foregoing has turned Kogi State University into a breeding ground for other universities as mass exodus of senior academic staff cadre is being witnessed and standards in the system are seriously being jeopardized.

    No fewer than 40 has been witnessed in recent times.

    “We also wish to reiterate that apart from the current action on salary, the other issues are already before the ASUU NEC for necessary permission to press for their implementation,” they said.

     

  • ASUU backs strike in Lagos

    ASUU backs strike in Lagos

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Lagos (UNILAG) and Lagos State University (LASU) chapters have supported the strike.

    However, this support did not disrupt the ongoing first semester examination at UNILAG. At LASU on the other hand, students are on break until June 1.

    Chairman ASUU-LASU Dr Isaac Oyewumi told our reporter over the phone that teaching staffs were not expected at work following orders from the national body to join in the strike.

    Oyewumi, who participated in the rally said: “ASUU-LASU is part of the strike. We are presently at NLC secretariat, Yaba, to discuss steps to take concerning our movement. We simply complied with national directive and we amdonish anyone who is not complying to do so immediately.”

    Second Vice-Chairman, UNILAG-ASUU Dr Ademakinwa Adebisi said the university complied with the directive, though some lecturers conducted exams yesterday.

    Adebisi, who said members joined the rally at the state secretariat, Alausa, faulted the government for being insensitive to the plight of Nigerians by not expanding Nigeria’s capacity to refine oil locally.

    “We have done as directed;  ASUU’s position has remained constant; there is just irresponsiveness from the Federal Government to the plight of the masses. Should we be talking about fuel importation at this time? When other countries are refining their own oil, we are talking about importation,” he said.

  • ASUU plans ‘mass action’ against fuel price hike

    ASUU plans ‘mass action’ against fuel price hike

    The National president of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, on Tuesday mobilized members of the union for strike and mass action commencing from Wednesday to force the Federal Government to revert the pump price of petrol from N145 to N86 per litre.

    In a letter to ASUU members nationwide and titled: “Increase in pump price of Premium Motor Spirit to N145 per litre: Proposal for Joint Action with NLC,” the ASUU president said members are urged to fully respect Article 2 of ASUU Constitution which required them to work for the protection and advancement of the socio-economic interests of the nation.

    “Branch chairpersons are to conduct emergency congress meetings on Tuesday, May 17, 2016 to mobilise our members for the action commencing on Wednesday. All branches of ASUU nationwide are to comply,” the letter added.

    The chairman of ASUU, University of Ibadan chapter, Dr. Deji Omole, who read the letter to union members at the institution, said the chapter was ready for mass resistance to what he called “obnoxious and callous policy of fuel price increment.”

    Omole said the subsidy removal was the most criminal ambush by federal government to empower the rich and cripple the poor.

     

  • ASUU shuts Bayelsa varsity over unpaid salary arrears

    ASUU shuts Bayelsa varsity over unpaid salary arrears

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in the Bayelsa State-owned Niger Delta University (NDU) has commenced a sit-at-home protest following the inability of the Governor Seriake Dickson-led administration to pay lecturers of the university five-month salary arrears.

    Investigations revealed that ASUU at the weekend directed its members to vacate the campus and to suspend all academic activities till further notice.

    When our correspondent visited the school on Friday, no lecturer reported to work and classrooms were found empty.

    Ongoing examinations were suspended and students were seen leaving the campus and the university community for their various homes.

    The ASUU Chairman in NDU, Stanley Ogoun, confirmed the development and said lecturers could no longer be discharging their duties without money to run their daily expenses.

    He said: “We have started the sit-at-home action and this means suspension of all academic activities relating to teaching and examination of students”.

    But the Bayelsa State Government appealed to ASUU and other workers in the state not to despair over the economic crisis facing the state insisting that clearing their backlog of salaries remained the first-line charge of Dickson.

    The government in a statement co-signed by the two political advisers to the governor, Mr. Fyneman Wilson and Mr. Steven Diver, said the governor and his team were going through sleepless nights to pay the workers.

    The statement said the governor had already set up a Financial Management Committee chaired by the deputy Governor, Mr. John Jonah, to review monthly financial obligations and satisfy the basic ones.

    “To this effect, paying workers’ salaries always come first before other financial obligations. Steps are already being taken to ensure the payment of salaries within the shortest possible time.

    “We are appealing to workers to exercise some patience because they will soon receive their pay. We also appreciate Bayelsans for displaying sense of maturity and understanding despite the difficult time they are going through,” the statement said.

    The statement also highlighted the economic difficulties faced by the state adding that it was painful for a state which used to collect an average of N16bn monthly to settle for N2.9bn in January and N1.6bn in March.

    According to the statement allocations of three months were not enough to pay over N4bn monthly salaries of the workers.

    It said the verification committee set up by the government to clean the payrolls of public servants would ensure that genuine, honest and hard-working workers received their entitlements.

    The statement said: “The Dickson’s administration is the one that values all workers in the state and committed to improving the welfare of workers including paying gratuities and pensions of retired workers.

    “The governor has also taken steps to strengthen the Internally-Generated Revenue (IGR). He should be commended for looking inwards”.

    It also clarified that the government received N1.285bn bailout fund for the eight local government areas instead of N12.85bn wrongly reported in the media.

    “The Dickson-led administration in Bayelsa is focused. When this economic crisis started in the country, Bayelsa managed to stay afloat because of the governor’s prudence in the management of scarce resources.

    “Following the submission of verification reports from the local government areas, the government will soon direct the various councils to start paying salaries of their workers,” the statement said.

  • ASUU threatens strike over shortfall in varsity allocation

    ASUU threatens strike over shortfall in varsity allocation

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Benin zone, has threatened to embark on strike action over shortfall in university allocation.

    It accused the Federal Government of stoking the embers of crisis when the university system was yet to fully recover from the damaging effects of a prolonged  strike action in 2013.

    The Zone of ASUU said it was an unfortunate and sad development that the Federal Government was contributing to the threat to peace in the university system by not sending enough money to pay salaries.

    Its Zonal Co-ordinator, Prof. Anthony Monye-Emina, in a statement in Benin City, said the use of co-operative, welfare savings and union dues to make up for the shortfalls and “the ridiculous handouts in whatever guise in place of salary” was unacceptable.

    Prof. Monye-Emina said the union should not be held liable in the event of any crisis in the university system.

    He noted that most universities were under the burden of severe financial crisis and that the government was yet to proffer an explanation on when it would end.

    “In universities where full salary is seemingly paid, deductions for co-operative societies, welfare associations, union dues and so on, come in arrears. This implies that such deductions are accumulated to be able to make full payment of salary in subsequent months after which remittance is made.

    “In essence, university staff savings is what is used to augment the shortfall. It is important to note that this accumulation of deductions/remittances is exclusive of tax deductions. This implies that tax deductions are remitted as at when due to the same government that does not feel obliged to avail the universities the full complement of their allocations. This development is in addition to shortfall in running, operational, logistics and other costs,” Emina said.

  • ASUU threatens strike over shortfall in varsity allocation

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities, (ASUU), Benin zone, has threatened to embark on industrial action over shortfall in university allocation.

    It accused the Federal Government of stoking the embers of crisis when the university system was yet to fully recover from the damaging effects of a prolonged strike in 2013.

    The union said it was an unfortunate and sad development that the federal government was contributing to the threat to peace in the Nigerian university system by not sending enough money to pay salaries.

    Zonal Co-ordinator, ASUU, Benin Zone, Prof. Anthony Monye-Emina in a statement made available to journalists in Benin City, said the use of co-operative, welfare savings and union dues to make up for the shortfalls and the ridiculous handouts in whatever guise in place of salary was unacceptable.

    Prof. Monye-Emina said the union should not be held liable for any crisis in the Nigerian university system.

    He noted that most universities were under the burden of severe financial crisis, stressing that government was yet to proffer an explanation on when it would end.

    “In universities where full salary is seemingly paid, deductions for co-operative societies, welfare associations, union dues and so on, come in arrears. This implies that such deductions are accumulated to be able to make full payment of salary in subsequent months after which remittance is made.”

    “In essence, university staff savings is what is used to augment the shortfall. It is important to note that this accumulation of deductions/remittances is exclusive of tax deductions. This implies that tax deductions are remitted as at when due to the same government that does not feel obliged to avail the universities the full complement of their allocations. This development is in addition to shortfall in running, operational, logistics and other costs.” Emina said.

  • ASUU begins ‘no pay no work’ at Kogi Varsity

    ASUU begins ‘no pay no work’ at Kogi Varsity

    Members of the Kogi State University (KSU) chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have withdrawn their services till the government pays their salary and allowances. Their action led to the suspension of the semester examination, which would have started last Monday. MOHAMMED YABAGI (400-Level Mass Communication) reports.

    The crisis at the Kogi State University (KSU) in Anyigba over unpaid salaries and allowances has taken a new turn. Lecturers have withdrawn their services until they are paid. The action led to the suspension of the semester examination, which would have started last Monday.

    The institution’s chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) initially issued the government and management a 21-day ultimatum during its March 23 congress to pay its members. The ultimatum expired last weekend without the government addressing the lecturers’ grievances.

    Responding to the development, ASUU declared “no pay, no work”. The lecturers vowed not to go for classes until their salaries and allowances are paid.

    The action has led to the suspension of activities on campus. Students, who turned up for examination last Monday, returned to their hostels in disappointment. There is no word yet from management on the examination.

    The ASUU chairman, Dr Daniel Aina, said  the action became necessary because of what  he called the “shabby treatment” of lecturers by the school. He said the National Executive Council of the union is backing the action, which, according to him, should not be seen as a strike but a withdrawal of service.

    He said: “The ASUU is on ‘no pay, no work’ action. We are not on strike. We have withdrawn our services for the mean time. This means lecturers will be in their offices, but they will not go for lectures. We will not attend statutory meetings, such as Boards of Departments, Faculties, Senate, and the like.”

    As part of the action, he said ASUU members  would not conduct examinations nor supervise students and other matters related to students activities, until all arrears of salaries are “liquidated”.

    Aina said the lecturers’ action was not political, added that it is not also against the university’s leadership. He accused the government of taking the lecturers’ welfare for granted.

    The union urged the government to strengthen its revenue generation system to get funds to pay salaries.

    Aina said: “The ASUU supports the on-going anti-corruption drive of the government to fish out bad eggs in the system. It would also be good if the government strengthens its revenue generation method to make it easy to pay workers’ salaries.”

    He said ASUU would not condone corruption among lecturers, adding that once the arrears are paid, they would go back to work.

    Aina said the autonomy of universities remained sacrosanct, adding that KSU would not be an exception. He advised that the university should not be seen as an extension of civil service, stressing that the institution must be strengthened to expand the scope of knowledge and research.

    Reacting to the lecturers’ action, a top management official, who pleaded not to be named, described it as sabotage. He urged lecturers to return to work and give management time to resolve the matter, since Governor Yahaya Bello and the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Mohammad Abdulkadir, are  new in the saddle.

    The source said: “The governor, since assumption of office, has shown determination to make practical efforts that would improve the status of education in the state, especially at the tertiary level. It would be better if ASUU could allow the government to conclude the ongoing civil service verification.

    “The Vice-Chancellor has also shown concern on the matter. He recently directed that N160 million be paid as salaries from the university’s Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) between December 2015 and this month. This shows the management is making effort to resolve the matter.”

    He urged ASUU members to think about  students, who will bear the brunt of the action.

    Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the governor Mallam Abdulmalik Abdulkarim said the government was cleansing the state. He said before Bello assumed office, the institution was over-staffed, adding that “irrational” employment was embarked upon throughout the state between January last year and when the governor mounted the saddle. “The wage became bloated as allocation from the federation account could not match our wage bill,” he said, adding that as soon as the ongoing workers’ screening is concluded, salaries will be paid.

    Speaking to CAMPUSLIFE, Students’ Union Government (SUG) president Philip Shuaibu and his National Association of Kogi State Students (NAKOSS) counterpart Abdulmalik Hadi pleaded with the lecturers to return to work, saying they did not want the academic calendar to be truncated by the action.

    Shaibu said: “Students are not happy with the development in the school. We call on government to do the needful to ameliorate the situation. In the last two years, we cannot count the number of strikes embarked upon by workers’ unions in the school. This is why we are worried that the latest development may truncate the current academic calendar. The lecturers and the government should resolve the matter on time in the interest of students.”

    Hadi called for dialogue, saying: “We are saddened by the incessant strikes in the school. We want the matters connected to it resolved. Our future should not be held to ransom, because of the inability of government and lecturers to sit and dialogue.”