Edo State government has said that it has no apology for the demolition of some buildings from which some staff of the University of Benin were forcefully evicted.
It said it acted based on judgment from the court of law.
The response of the state government followed press statement issued by the Benin Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities that the “the governor has taken his lawlessness and disrespect of the laws of the land.”
Zonal Chairman of ASUU, Anthony Monye-Emina, who briefed journalists Tuesday urged the state government to respect the laws of the land and pay the sum of over two hundred million naira compensation to the affected UNIBEN staff.
Anthony said the action of Governor Oshiomhole was an affront on orderliness and good conduct in the state.
He urged Governor Oshiomole to live up to his promise to compensate those whose properties were affected rather than embarking on demolition spree.
Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Prince Kassim Afegbua described the language of ASUU as conclusion not only derived from sheer sentiments, unreason, poor scholarship but also a product of intellectual inertia.
According to him, “It is very unfortunate that members of ASUU who ordinarily should be knowledgeable and schooled about the dynamics of government can descend to the level of using gutter language to describe a popularly elected Governor of Edo state.”
“What is lawless about our action? Waiting for judgment to be given on their stay of execution thus far or what? Where is the lawlessness? As far as law is concerned till date following the respective judgments, those buildings remain the property of Edo State Government.”
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Akure zone has condemned the Edo State Governor, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole for allegedly demolishing a residential building belonging to University of Benin.
The union, which claimed that the management of UNIBEN had filed an Appeal against a lower court judgement which favoured the governor, described Oshiomhole’s action as an act of lawlessness.
Besides, ASUU urged the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu to intervene in the crisis between the governor and the university management.
It will be recalled that a State High Court sitting in Benin had ruled in favour of the state government in 2014, as owner of the residential building purportedly belonging to the university.
Speaking at a press conference held at the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), ASUU Coordinator, Akure zone, Dr. Alex Odiyi blamed the governor for taking laws into his hands rather than allowing the case to run its course at the appeal court.
Odiyi alleged that the governor was doing this because his days in office are numbered and his real intention is to share these properties among his political associates.
He said the governor had “made seeming overtures to the staff of the university who were affected by his lawless and promised to make amend by compensating those who suffered some losses by his condemnable action.
Odiyi called on the minister of Education to step into the matter and ensure that the university of Benin administration lives up to its responsibility of protecting the property of the university.”
•Union says 2016 budget ’ll return Nigeria to debt trap
•’Jonathan established 12 institutions without legal backing’
THE Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) said yesterday that the introduction of the Treasury Singe Account (TSA) by the Federal Government undermines universities’ autonomy and makes their operations difficult.
Addressing a news conference in Abuja, ASUU National President Nasir Fagge Isa urged the government to exempt the universities from TSA implementation “on account of the peculiarities of the institutions”.
The 2016 budget before National Assembly, according to him, would return the country to debt trap.
The union justified its silence on the issue of the sack of 13 vice chancellors, saying 12 of the universities established by former President Goodluck Jonathan lacked legal backing and therefore, did not exist as universities in the eyes of the law.
Isa said: ”With the operation of TSA, federal universities find it extremely difficult to discharge their core responsibilities of teaching, research and community service as well as engaging in international academic networking due to inadequate access to budgeted funds.
“In view of the dynamic nature of universities and fluidity of their programmes, this accounting system creates bottlenecks, undermines university autonomy and makes it extremely difficult for universities to fund ongoing research and sustain international networks.
“Also, the TSA makes it very difficult to buy equipment and consumables for laboratories… On account of the TSA, federal universities have experienced shortfall in their personnel cost in the month of December 2015 and January 2016 and this has caused serious delays in the payment of salaries.
“ASUU rejects, in its entirety, the practice of causing shortfalls in personnel cost and will be compelled to take appropriate steps against it if this is not checked on time. TSA is incompatible with the autonomy of universities and our union calls on the Federal Government to exempt the universities from its implementation on account of the peculiarities of the institutions.”
Speaking on the sack of vice chancellors and appointment of new ones by the government, Isa said the union received the news with a lot of concern because of its implications for due process, university autonomy and the growth of universities.
He added that “going by the provisions of the University Miscellaneous (amendment) Act 2003, only the governing councils are bestowed with power of appointment and removal of vice chancellors”.
Explaining the position of the union on the government decision, he said: “ASUU, way back in 2011, condemned the manner in which the new universities were established through executive fiat by President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration. For upward of four years, the laws establishing these universities were not gazetted. All our entreaties to make government correct this anomaly fell on deaf ears.
“The latest development in these universities has justified our consistent demand for proper governance structures and processes in the Nigerian university system. In the first place, vice chancellors were arbitrarily appointed into these institutions and governing councils instituted without making the enabling laws public.
“We are worried that the same circle of illegality is playing out again. In a university where there is the law, only the governing council is empowered to remove a vice chancellor from office ‘for a good course’ and only a council has the power to appoint a vice chancellor in accordance with the law.”
Citing the relevant provisions of the law, the ASUU President said: “We therefore call on the Federal Government to tow the path of legality and due process by gazetting the law, appointing the council and mandating the councils to immediately commence the process of appointing the vice chancellors for the affected universities”.
On the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) Vice Chancellor, he said: “Available information suggests that since the Vice Chancellor of NOUN had served a five year term guaranteed under the University Miscellaneous (amendment) Act 2003, he should not be given an extended term of even a day.”
He accused the government of foot-dragging in the implementation of the 2009 agreement between the union and government, pointing out that some actions of government amounted to abrogation of some sections of the agreement.
He cited the development in the university staff schools, budgetary allocation to education, payment of outstanding earned academic allowances, establishment of Nigerian Universities Pension Management Company, commencement of renegotiation of the agreement and funding of state universities as part of the breaches.
On the 2015 budget, he said the budget has the capacity to increase the nation’s debt profile by about 14 per cent of the nation’s GDP with the danger of beginning another debt trap.
The ASUU President said the 2016 budget did not have any new alternative strategy for developing the country, pointing out that “to fund the recurrent expenditure, the government will have to go borrowing. It is worrisome that the IMF and the World Bank are already courting, praising and toasting the new government in Nigeria”,
He added that while President Buhari has said the country would not borrow, the Minister of Finance has been consistently affirming that “we have to borrow in order to fund the 2026 budget”.
Opposing the idea of borrowing money to fund the budget, he said the N2.2 trillion recovered from the TSA and other funds recovered from looters should be ploughed back to finance the budget.
He noted that economic recovery and national revival would succeed only with a socio-economic and political programme grounded in the people’s wishes and aspirations, stressing that such programmes should be explained to the citizens and will be accepted by them.
Protesting members of the National Association of Nigerian Students were on Thursday dispersed by a team of Policemen around the Federal Secretariat, Abuja.
The protesting students had gathered at the entrance of the Federal Ministry of Education to protest the recent sack of Vice-chancellors of 13 Federal Universities appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The body argued that the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, erred in the appointment of new vice-chancellors, adding that the action of the minister was interference on the duties of universities governing councils.
The students carried placards with inscriptions such as: “ASUU break the silence against this injustice.” “Sack of VCs, an attempt to cripple our citadels.” Say no to injustice,” among others.
They said: “On February 12, 2016, the Federal Government, without due recourse to the governing councils of 12 Federal Universities and the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), removed their vice-chancellors without any clear statement as to what their offences might have been.
Shehu said: “What is the reason for the sacking of the four vice-chancellors of Federal Universities and that of NOUN before the expiration of their tenures?
“We request that the Federal Government, should in the interest of due process, reverse its decision and reinstate the illegally sacked vice-chancellors.”
He said that the association notified all relevant agencies including the minister of its planned protest. They wondered why the minister could not come to address them.
The NANS president accused the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of complicity in the sack of the VCs because of as its silent on the issue.
However, trouble started when the students smashed the windscreen of a sports utility vehicle (SUV) with registration number FG 23 A31, belonging the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs as it drove by.
The students chanted angrily, threatening to force their way into the ministry if the minister did not come out to address them.
All efforts by the policemen to ensure that the protesting students retreated were resisted. A situation which resulted in the firing of tear gas at them by the police.
Journalists, bystanders and the protesting students scampered for safety while the policemen made arrests.
The NANS President, Mr. Tijani Shehu, and no fewer than five other students, were arrested.
The Policemen also manhandled a camera man working with the African Independent Television (AIT) and smashed his camera.
However, the Police Public Relations Officer, FCT Command, Anjuguri Manza, (ASP) when contacted on the development said that he was yet to be briefed on the issue.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Lagos Chapter, on Friday urged the institution’s authorities to improve on the welfare of its members.
The union’s Chairman, Dr Adelaja Odukoya, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos, expressed satisfaction with the authorities’ attitude toward provision of an enabling environment for effective teaching and learning in the university.
He, however, said there were still concerns in the area of welfare of the union’s members.
“You know before now we had issues with the university authorities, which, to an extent, has been largely resolved.
“The major challenge we are facing today as a union is that of accommodation for our members.
“A situation whereby a lecturer will be coming from far distance every morning to carry out his or her mandate every day has its effects on quality service delivery.
“I know it could be better and that is why we are calling on the school authorities to look into the issue and seek ways of finding a lasting solution to it,’’ the don said.
Odukoya said that one must have enough rest and less stress for his body to function well, and for him to be at his best.
He said the conclusion of daily academic activities late at night could amount to a disservice, not only to the lecturers, but also to the students and the university at large.
Odukoya, a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Political Science, urged the university authorities to reconsider their stand on the issue of annual leave for the union’s members.
He said that a lot of the lecturers were unable to go for their annual leave because of the various programmes that were being run in the institution.
“I still want the authorities to expedite action too in this area because we need the leave once in a while to rest, and to also do some other personal things.’’
The don said that the lecturers were doing a lot in the area of self-development by way of attending workshops and other developmental programmes.
Odukoya said plans were underway to organise leadership training for ASUU members in the university.
“The training is expected to hold in the various chapters of our universities nationwide.
“We are yet to have any particular date for the training, but as soon as we get directive from the national body, we shall commence,’’ he said.
THE Federal Government owes public universities about N660 billion from unpaid Needs Assessment Intervention Fund, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Ibadan Zonal Coordinator Prof. Segun Ajiboye said yesterday.
Ajiboye, who is also the University of Ibadan ASUU Chapter chairman, claimed in an interview in Ibadan that the money was part of unpaid intervention fund for the year 2014 (N220 billion), 2015 (N220 billion) and 2016 (N220 billion).
He added that the intervention fund was part of the N1.3 trillion agreement signed in 2013 by the Federal Government and the union.
On the 2016 budget presented by President Muhammadu Buhari, he noted that the N369.6 billion earmarked for education was inadequate when compared to the amount needed to cater for all levels of education in the country.
The ASUU zonal coordinator, who noted that the President did not speak on how the government would fulfil the agreements it reached with the union, added that the government also owed academic staff in the public universities more than N200 billion arrears of earned allowances for the 2014 and 2015 academic years.
He reminded Buhari that the 2009 agreement, which was due for a review in 2012, has not been addressed by the Federal Government, adding that ASUU had written severally to the government on the need to start the renegotiation of the agreement to reflect contemporary realities.
“When you consider the agreed intervention fund in 2013, it was N1.3 trillion, but has the Federal Government kept to that promise? They only released N200 billion in 2013 after the six months strike and since then, nothing has been injected.
“Unfortunately, it is the same government agents that will be saying Nigerian universities are lowly ranked globally without doing the needful to make the universities meet global standard. This involves injecting enough funds into the tertiary education system. If the funds are released, our universities will be able to compete when the necessary infrastructure is in place,” the union chief said.
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Monday said the Federal Government is owing universities in the country close to N660billion.
The money is part of the unpaid Needs Assessment Intervention Fund for universities in Nigeria.
The Zonal Coordinator, ASUU, University of Ibadan, Prof. Segun Ajiboye, said this in a chat with journalists in Ibadan on Monday.
He reminded the federal government that the 2009 agreement which was due for a review in 2012 has not been addressed, adding that ASUU had written severally to the government on the need to restart negotiation on the agreement to reflect modern and contemporary realities.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Lagos State University (LASU), has advocated for a retirement age of 70 years for professors in the institution.
Making a presentation at a stakeholders’ forum on a bill to amend the LASU law of 2004 organised by the House of Assembly yesterday at the Lateef Jakande Auditorium, ASUU Chairman Dr. Adekunle Idris said professors should not be allowed to retire at 65.
The bill is titled: “A Bill For A Law To Amend The LASU Law, 2004 and other Connected Purposes”.
Idris said most of the professors leave for other universities and work till 70 after retiring in LASU at 65.
According to him, some of the retiring professors use their students to conduct researches and they end up short-changing the university.
The ASUU chairman said the union has been advocating a single five-year tenure for the vice-chancellor and other principal officers.
He added that a holistic amendment of the LASU law should be done.
His words: “The federal law states that a joint committee of the council and senate shall choose the vice-chancellor from three shortlisted candidates and submit the name to the governor for approval.
“The Governing Council would appoint the vice-chancellor and it would be approved by the Visitor.
“The VC shall hold office for a single term of five years.
“The VC may be removed from office by the Governing Council over gross misconduct or as a result of inability to discharge his duties.
“The committee shall conduct investigations into allegations made against the VC and report to the Governing Council. There shall be no sole administrator in the university.”
He added that principal officers, such as deputy vice chancellor, registrar, bursar and the librarian should also serve a single five-year tenure and that those serving now should be part of this proposition.
The Chairman of the Committee on Education, Lanre Ogunyemi, said the amendment is to enhance the quality of education in the university.
He added that it will also assist in ending the protracted leadership crisis that has rocked the state-owned tertiary institution.
“Ffactors affecting accreditation and de-accreditation of courses in the institution would be considered.”
The Majority Leader, Sanai Agunbiade, who reviewed the bill, appealed to the institution’s workers to change their attitude and conduct in order to make the law active.
“The workers know the situation well. Our responsibility is to make laws that would push the institution to the next level,” he said.
The Federal Government has stepped into the quarrel between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and Prof Hilary Edeoga, Vice-Chancellor, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture at Umudike (MOUAU) n Abia State. The parties are sticking to their guns, despitethe probe, report UGOCHUKWU UGORJI-EKE (Umuahia) and CLARICE AZUATALAM (Port Harcourt).
•Edeoga
The Federal Government has launched a probe into the allegations of fraud, high-handedness and mismanagement levelled against Prof Hilary Edeoga, Vice-Chancellor (VC), Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU) in Abia State by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
President Muhammadu Buhari, speaking through the Minister of State for Education, Prof Anthony Onwuka during the university’s seventh convocation last Saturday, said he was aware of the rift between Edeoga and the union, adding that all the issues.
“Government is aware of the misunderstanding between the university management and ASUU, which is the reason the ministerial committee has been set up to investigate the matter and submit its report within 10 days,” he said.
There is no love lost between Edeoga and the MOUAU branch of ASUU, chaired by Dr Uzochukwu Onyebinama. In June, the university suspended Onyebinama for alleged fraud and examination malpractices following investigation by a staff disciplinary committee.
Back then, Edeoga said the panel found Onyebinama “guilty of insubordination, total disregard for constituted authority, inefficiency, negligence and dishonesty in the discharge of his official functions.” The panel and recommended his dismissal, but the university management converted it to suspension.
Onyebinama has taken the university the court over the matter.
ASUU also kicked against the suspension and threatened to down tools if he was not re-instated. It was learnt that he has not been re-instated.
In the past few weeks, ASUU has held press conferences across the country, calling on the government to check Edeoga’s alleged excesses, which its leaders claimed was plunging the institution into crisis.
At the ASUU Sokoto Zone press conference, the Zonal Coordinator, Dr Lawali Alkali Argungu, accused Edeoga of sundry misdeeds.
He said: “For the 2014/2015 admission exercise, the VC instructed that all new students must buy a bed space at the rate of N60,800 which he deliberately refused to refund those who could not get the accommodation.
“The Vice-Chancellor, in flagrant violation of the university laws compelled prospective applicants seeking job to pay a non refundable application fee of N3,800, a practice alien to the University system.”
The union also accused Edeoga of approving some programmes, such as Human Resources Management, allegedly not accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC). He was also said to have approved the promotion of 30 lecturers to professorial cadre who were not adequately qualified.
But, a group of academics who claimed to have pulled out of MOUAU ASUU, has condemned the union’s national leadership for allegedly denigrating the VC.
In a statement signed by its leader, Dr Joseph Adama, and distributed in Port Harcout, claimed that the allegation that the university was running unapproved programmes was untrue.
It flayed the ASUU leadership for failing to authenticate its claims before falsely accusing Edeoga.
The statement reads: “What ASUU national body should have done was to have investigated the facts of the matter before going to the press.
“There is a gang up initiated by ASUU, using the zones to fight MOUAU, the vice chancellor, the governing council, the senate, distinguished professors, academic and non-academic staff and the students in general.”
Adama noted that the MOUAU branch of ASUU was “very vibrant…until a one-time branch chairman was indicted by the university’s Investigation Committee and Disciplinary Committee at different times.”
The group endorsed the indictment and urged ASUU to stand by the truth.
Edeoga is relieved that the Federal Government has stepped in to resolve the crisis.
The panel, he said, would ensure that the truth is known and also afford him opportunity of defending himself.
Edeoga refused to respond to the allegations against him, claiming that he had been warned by the governing council to stop speaking about the ASUU matter.
“The council has started looking into the matter and will come out with its findings very soon. It is like a matter being placed before a court, so I am not going to speak until the case is dispensed of,” he said.
The Pro-Chancellor and chairman of council, Prof Anya Oko Anya, who ASUU accused of supporting Edeoga said the case was being investigated.
“The council has received their petition and we are looking into the matter and when we are through we will make our findings public,” he said.
On the accommodation fee controversy, the Student Union Government (SUG) president, Comrade Benedict Obiajulu, said the problem arose because of a break in communication between the bank and the hostel’s allocation committee
“When the students involved approached me, I went to the school management and found out that it was not a deliberate action,” he said.
Obiajulu said the cost of bed space in the new hostels, which have constant light and water, is N60,000. The old hostels, he added, are cheaper.
He said the students who paid the N60,800 but were allocated spaces in the old hostels, would have the excess carried over to the next session.
He said off-campus, the most expensive hostel, Siege hostel, goes for N120,000, adding that it does not provide regular power supply and water.
A student, who does not want to be named, said he got a refund when he was not allocated space in the new hostel.
“When I could not get a bed space at the hostel, my money was returned to me complete. However I cannot speak for others; though most of them told me they got their money back,” he said.
A member of the Non Academic Staff Union (NASU), Ikechukwu Okwor, said as a pioneer staff of the institution, allegation of over-staffing of the school with non-indigenes always comes up whenever a new VC comes on board.
He explained that investigation has shown that Abia State has the highest number of workers employed as the catchment area of the university.
Edeoga, he said, is innocent.
“The VC is being attacked by the cabal who has for years been holding the school to ransom, and after the end of their tenure they want to remain on seat which Prof Edeoga has refused to do,” he said.
However, some parents do not agree with Okwor.
The parents, in a statement signed by their Chairman, Obinna Nwosu, and Secretary, Tony Okoro, claimed that their petition to the governing council over the excesses and recklessness of the management has been ignored.
“When we openly demonstrated against the academic and financial fraud in the university, the management arrested some of us and tortured us in their secret chambers until the police rescued us, some of the scandalous activities we complained against have been thriving since then,” they alleged.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has appealed to President Muhammadu Buhari to check the excesses of the Vice Chancellor of the Micheal Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU), Abia State, Prof Hillary Edeoga, for introducing obnoxious levies among practices regarded as unacceptable.
At a press conference, Coordinator of the Sokoto Zone of the union, Dr Lawali Alkali Argungu, in solidarity with the university’s ASUU branch?, lamented that the vice chancellor was disregarding the law in running the institution.
He said: “MOUA today, represents a public institution where impunity, recklessness and lawlessness are the order of the day.
“This is because the current Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Hillary Edeoga? appears more interested in pulling down the university to satisfy his personal interest as clearly indicated by the manner he is managing the affairs of the institution.
“For the 2014/2015 admission exercise, the VC instructed that all new students in the university must buy a bed space at the rate of N60,800, which he deliberately refused to refund those who could not get the accommodation.
“The Vice-Chancellor, in flagrant violation of the University laws compelled prospective applicants seeking jobs with the university to pay a non refundable application fees of N3,800, a practice that is alien to the university system.”
Argungu further alleged that the Vice-Chancellor had “approved and supported” some programmes that are not approved by the NUC, despite several warning by stakeholders.
He claimed that the vice chancellor’s wife trained in one of the programmes, Human Resources Management, up to M. Sc level.
Argungu also alleged that Edeoga “unilaterally approved” the appointment of Assistant Lecturers and Lecturer 1 as Directors in violation of the university regulations and that 30 of the 34 professors he appointed are not suitably qualified.
“It is of course worth noting that all these atrocities are facilitated by the complicit behaviour of the university governing council, headed by Prof. Anya O. Anya, who could not control the reckless violation of the laws of the University.
“This has necessitated the need for the visitor of the university, the President of Nigeria, to urgently intervene in order to forestall further destruction of the academic and moral culture of the University.
“The President can do this by way of sending an investigative panel to the University with the view of taking appropriate action thereafter,” the Zonal Coordinator urged.
