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Tag: ASUU

  • Will govt, ASUU change gear?

    Will govt, ASUU change gear?

    Next Monday, the Federal Government’s ultimatum to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call off its five-month old strike will expire. The teachers say they will not comply except the government fulfils certain conditions.  Will the parties sheathe their sword and seek an amicable resolution of the crisis?

    THE Federal Government’s ultimatum to the Academic Staff Union of Universities [ASUU] to call off its five-month strike expires on Monday?

    So far, ASUU members have shown no signs of yielding ground. Save for a few universities, lecturers did not sign the attendance register opened for them; neither did they teach. And most of the students also stayed away.

    However, more drama is likely to play out between the two parties, especially with the Federal Government threatening to sack lecturers that default on the resumption order.

    Last week, the supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, urged the lecturers to heed the warning in their own interest or new lecturers would be employed to take their places.

    Since then, the teachers have accused the minister of further worsening the situation. They argued that if the government attempts to carry out its threat, the recruitment process of new lecturers would only elongate students’ forced stay at home.

    The lecturers are already mocking the possibility of sacking all of them at the same time, especially at a time the country lacks the number of qualified academics needed to teach in the 78 public and 51 private universities.

    According to the report of Needs Assessment of Nigerian Universities, there are 37,504 lecturers in public universities teaching 1,252,913 students. The report put the student/lecturer ratio at 1:114 at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) and 1:122 at the University of Abuja compared with one lecturer to four students at the Harvard University and Yale University in the United States.

    Chairman of the University of Ibadan (UI) ASUU chapter Dr Segun Ajiboye said if new teachers were coming to take over their jobs, then schools would likely remain closed until June next year.

    Speaking at a rally to encourage ASUU members not to break rank, Ajiboye said: “The Supervising Minister has shown he does not understand how many months it takes to recruit lecturers. The Federal Government is designing a plan to keep students at home till the middle of next year after the recruitment must have been completed.”

    Chairman of the University of Lagos (UNILAG) ASUU chapter Dr Oghenekaro Ogbinaka said it would take twice as long.

    “They are talking about sacking and employing new lecturers. It will take more than one year to employ new lecturers. They will check their curriculum vitas, screen, and interview the lecturers before they are employed. Then, will he start all over again? How will he know where the old lecturer stopped? All this will take time,” he said.

    With the Federal Government unwilling to invest money in education, chairman of ASUU at the Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, Dr Adekunle Idris, said the threat of sack showed that the government does not appreciate the worth of the lecturers. He said when compared to those carrying out their trade in western universities, Nigerian lecturers do not earn much. So, if they are sacked, the government’s wage bill would only become higher.

    He said: “You need to ask yourself whether you could easily enter Alaba Market and recruit 10 professors. We are professionals in the knowledge industry who cannot be readily replaced. If government wants to know our worth, let them go abroad and recruit and see whether it will be cheaper for them or not.”

    Supporting Idris, the Chairman and Secretary of ASUU chapter at the Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), Dr. Alex Odiyi and Kola Adegbie, said in a statement that Nigerian lecturers are forced to work in a not-so-conducive environment.

    “By all means let the Minister and Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof Julius Okojie, do so and let us see how lucrative and conducive lecturing is in Nigeria by the responses. You might as well recruit PhD holders from Zuba and Gwagwalada motor parks,” they said.

    Addressing newsmen after an ASUU congress at the Federal University of Technology (FUT Minna) on Monday, the branch Chairman, Dr. Abdulfatai Jimoh, said the threat of mass sack was laughable and against the set rules of engagement and disengagement of lecturers.

    “It is shocking that a democratic government would issue threats of mass sack like this. It is laughable; the congress is not worried or bothered about the threat. The Minister is not our employer so he cannot sack us.

    “There are procedures for engaging and disengaging the staff in the university. The Minister needs to be enlightened on the manner universities are run”, Jimoh said.

    National ASUU President Dr Nassir Fagge has also said rather than sack, the Federal Government needs to employ more lecturers.

    Quoting the Needs Assessment Report at a briefing in Abuja on Monday, he said: “Generally speaking, teaching staff distribution in the country, by qualification and rank, indicates that Nigeria’s university system is in crisis of manpower. Instead of having no less than 80 per cent of the academics with Ph.Ds only about 43 per cent are Ph.D holders. And instead of having about 75 per cent of academics to be either Senior Lecturers and Professors only about 44 per cent are within the bracket.

    “Gross inadequate number of teaching staff compared to student population (is) resulting in the production of ‘educated illiterates’ that lack the requisite skills and training to bring about the much-needed development in the country as well as to take over the mantle of leadership of the country in future.

    “Given the inadequacy of teaching staff in the university system, it is recommended that government shall have a deliberate policy of improving the national teacher-student ratio to 1:20 within the next two years. Using the present figures of students’ enrolment; this translates to increasing the number of full-time academic staff in Nigerian universities to 50,000. This means the recruitment of additional 23,000 lecturers on the basis of 50:50 ratio between the Federal and State universities.”

    A 300-Level Civil Engineering student of FUTA, who calls himself Adeleye, faulted President Goodluck Jonathan on the sack, urging the government to embrace dialogue.

    “We believe the Federal Government was only acting because we have spent five months at home. But it will be wrong for the government to use force on the lecturers. They should encourage dialogue rather than victimising the lecturers,” he said

    Rather than trying to intimidate the lecturers, Fagge said the Federal Government should meet the four conditions agreed upon when they met with President Goodluck Jonathan so ASUU can call off the strike. The conditions are:

    • That the N200 billion agreed upon as 2013 Revitalisation Fund for public universities shall be deposited with the CBN and disbursed to the benefitting universities within two weeks.

    • That the renegotiation of the 2009 Agreement in 2014 be included in the final document as agreed at the discussion with Your Excellency.

    • That a Non-victimisation clause which is normally captured in all interactions of this nature be included in the final document and

    • That a new Memorandum of Understanding shall be validly endorsed, signed by a representative of government, preferably the Attorney General of the Federation and a representative of ASUU, with the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) as a witness.

    Supporting the teachers, a lawyer and human right activist, Femi Aborisade,, called on the Federal Government to walk its talk by committing itself to clear dates when the payment of N1.1 trillion it promised would be effected.

    He blamed the government for the protracted strike for failing to demonstrate good faith in collective bargaining.

    In a statement, Aborisade said rules of collective bargaining usually stipulated time frame when such agreement would be implemented.

    He said in countries like Zimbabwe and South Africa, a breach of such agreements are always considered unfair labour practices, noting that any acts of strikes arising from such development are viewed as lawful.

    Aborisade said: “Elementary rules of collective bargaining state that the timeframe for the implementation of collective agreements should be clearly stipulated. Therefore, if Mr. President agreed with the ASUU Bargaining Committee that N1.1 trillion would be paid to Federal Universities over the next five years from this year, it is only rationale, as ASUU has done, to demand that the share for the current year be paid. In the alternative, the Federal Government could commit itself to clear dates when payments for each of the five years would be effected.

    “In other climes, including some African countries, particularly South Africa and Zimbabwe, breach of collective agreements, violation of legislations, bad-faith bargaining, and so on, have been judicially held to be unfair labour practices and any strikes over such condemnable conducts by the employer, including the government as an employer of labour, tend to be declared as “lawful” or “protected”.

    “In principle, the Nigerian labour law outlaws strike. But section 30 subsection (6), (b), (c) and (e) of the Trade Unions Act, as amended by the Trade Unions (Amendment) Act, 2005, recognises that lawful strikes could be declared over disputes of right, violation of collective agreements or fundamental breach of contracts of employment. And dispute of strike is defined by section 30 (9) of the Trade Unions Act, as: ‘…any labour dispute arising from the negotiation, application, interpretation or implementation of a contract of employment or collective agreement under this Act or any other enactment or law governing matters relating to terms and conditions of employment.

    “The ASUU had negotiated an agreement with the Federal Government since 2009. The strike of ASUU to enforce the 2009 Agreement is therefore lawful within the subsisting legal framework.

    “We call on the Federal Government to meet the terms of the renegotiated Agreement recently reached between Mr. President and ASUU and to which ASUU magnanimously conceded. It is only if ASUU refuses to call off its strike after the Federal Government has fulfilled its part of the bargain that Government may convince Nigerians that ASUU has a ‘political agenda’ rather than pursuing pure employment or trade dispute matter.”

    However, Wike said the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education, Abuja, has signed ASUU’s resolution with the Federal Government.

    A statement issued on Tuesday and signed by his Special Assistant on Media, Mr Simeon Nwakaudu, reads: “The Federal Government has already opened a dedicated account for the revival of infrastructure in the Universities, while the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education has signed the resolution that the Federal Government will commit N1.3trillion into the revival of infrastructure in the universities.”

    Though the statement was silent about the sack threat, the Minister noted that the current recruitment effort is to address the deficit in the number of academics in the universities.

    “The advertisement of internal and external vacancies is part of the process to address the shortage of manpower in the nation’s universities,” the statement reads.

    Wike also said the Federal Government extended the resumption deadline from December 4 to 9 in honour of Prof Festus Iyayi, who died in an auto crash on November 12.

     

     

     

  • ASUU vs Govt: Hide and seek game at ABU

    ASUU vs Govt: Hide and seek game at ABU

    The management of Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria and members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities in the institution are currently playing hide and seek with the directive by the Minister of Education for the striking lecturers to resume teaching or be sacked.
    Also, the local chapter of the union is however distributing relief materials to its members to cushion the effect of the lack of payment of salary for the past five months, while there are pressures on some of the lecturers from their family members to respond positively to the government ultimatum.
    When The Nation visited the institution on Wednesday, the school was still empty as the lecturers were yet to comply with the directive, while the university was yet to issue a circular directing the resumption of lectures by the students.
    It was gathered that the University Governing Council has been meeting since Monday to find a common ground and an amicable resolution of the impasse.
    A highly placed source close to the Council told The Nation that the council is trying to ensure that the issue is resolved amicably so that we will not have another strike locally when the national strike is called off.
    The source said “you see, majority of those in the Governing Council are elected members from the Senate and the Congregation. Ordinarily, those people are not supposed to attend the meeting as long as the strike is on. But ASUU looked the other way so that they will attend the meeting.
    “They met on Monday and could not reach any resolution and had to adjourn. The meeting has since resume. But I want to say that they are being careful in carrying out the directive because they are aware of the impact it will have.
    “In any case, the school was never closed. Students are enjoying all the privileges they are supposed to enjoy except the absence of lectures. But the question is, who will bring the lecturers to come and teach?
    “Even if the school was closed, the only body that is empowered by law to reopen the school is the Senate of the University. In view of the period that has been wasted, a new calendar has to be drawn up and it is the Senate that will do that and members of the Senate are members of ASUU. So, who will draw up that calendar?
    “But we are looking forward to a peaceful resolution of the crisis. But the right thing should be done and done fast. I also want to blame ASUU for keeping quiet and not properly explaining the current issue concerning their meeting with the President to the Nigerian people”.
    However, the local branch of the union has asked their members to remain resolute and committed to the strike to its logical conclusion and not to resume any academic activity or sign any register that may be opened by the university management.
    In their resolution signed by its Chairman, Dr. Kabiru Aliyu at the end of its congress, the branch condemn the threat and intimidation by the government through the Supervising Minister of Education, Nelsom Wike to sack all academic staff and advertise their positions if they failed to return to work by December 4, 2013.
    Dr. Aliyu however confirmed to The Nation on phone that the branch was distributing relief material such as rice, semovita, vegetable oil and cash ranging from between N20,000 to N50,000 to its members.
    He noted that the union was not unaware of the pressure from family members on the striking lecturers to resume work in accordance with the government directive, “we are aware of that. But I can assure you that the number is negligible and not enough to have any impact on us.
    “However, I am not sure that any register will be opened here. But even if they did, we are also aware that some people will go and sign. But that will not help the situation”.

  • UNIPORT reopens, resumes lectures December 9

    The University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) has reopened and will resume academic activities on December 9 in spite of the ongoing strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

    The university’s spokesman, Dr. Williams Wodi, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Port Harcourt.

    Wodi said the university’s reopening was in compliance with the directive of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors, which was endorsed by the university’s Senate during its emergency meeting on Tuesday.

    “The Committee of Pro-Chancellors met and directed Vice-Chancellors to reopen their universities. Our Senate approved the directive and we have complied.

    “We didn’t call off the ASUU strike; rather, we reopened the university for academic activities and lecturers who return to classes will get their full entitlements.

    “Some lecturers, irrespective of the ASUU stance, have indicated interest to resume work and so, we are not saying that every lecturer must return to class,” he said.

    Wodi noted that on many occasions, students had called for a resumption of academic activities, even as the ASUU leadership continued its negotiations with the Federal Government.

    However, a source, who craved anonymity, said the move to reopen the university for academic activities was partly due to the rising public opinion, which queried the rationale behind the prolonged strike.

    He also said that most ASUU members were also unhappy with the intransigent posture of the union’s leaders despite the Federal Government’s willingness to resolve the crisis.

     

     

  • ASUU to members: remain resolute

    ASUU to members: remain resolute

    •‘Ultimatum now Monday’

    The Federal Government shifted yesterday its ultimatum for the reopening of universities till Monday.

    The deadline of its resume-or-be-sacked-directive to striking teachers would have been today.

    Supervising Minister of Education Nyesom Wike, who gave the much criticised directive, announced the shift of date.

    He said since the family of the late Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) ex-President Prof. Festus Iyayi informed the ministry of funeral rites for weekend, the resumption date had to be shifted to enable the government participate in the ceremony.

    Wike said: “The decision to shift the date of the compulsory resumption of federal universities for academic activities is now Monday, December 9. This decision has been taken as a result of the respect we have for the former ASUU President.”

    He said the Federal Government took the decision to re-open the universities in the interest of Nigerians and not to engage in a showdown with ASUU.

    Wike said Nigerians should appreciate that the pro-chancellors and chairmen of the federal universities Governing Councils took the decision to re-open the schools, pointing out that the Federal Government’s directive was to the vice chancellors who are expected to comply with the decision of the pro-chancellors.

    The Minister said the Federal Government had already opened a dedicated account for the revival of infrastructure in the universities.

    The Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, has signed the resolution that the Federal Government will commit N1.3trillion into the revival of infrastructure in the universities, he said, adding that the advertisement of internal and external vacancies is part of the process to address the shortage of manpower in the nation’s universities.

    According to Wike, the Federal Government has implemented over 80per cent of the issues contained in the 2009 agreement, with only the payment of earned allowances and revitalisation of infrastructure pending.

    “The Federal Government appreciates the need to revive infrastructure in our universities and other tertiary institutions, hence the government has put in place the process to effectively address the challenges identified by the NEEDS Assessment report voluntarily initiated by President Goodluck Jonathan,” the minister said.

    National Universities Commission (NUC) Executive Secretary Prof. Julius Okojie is displeased that ASUU members are yet to call off the strike.

    He said the deadline was not a threat but a call to go back to work.

    But ASUU restated its rejection of the ultimatum, issuing yesterday a 14-point guideline to its members on why they must sustain the strike.

    It also said no external force was behind its action and spurned sack threats because, according to ASUU, such a measure is against the Labour Act and the International Labour Organisation’s Convention.

    The union made its position known in Strike Bulletin No. 14, signed by ASUU National President Dr. Nasir Isa Fagge.

    ASUU said: “Our union, as you know, derives its strength from members. Government fallacy of ‘external forces’ behind our union only betrays its desperation to distract our genuine cause. You know better!

    “Do not believe in the falsehood being peddled by certain persons as regards some fictitious ratio of branches that voted for suspension of strike.

    “ASUU operates strong internal democracy and is capable of taking critical decisions on matters of concern to the Union. Your Union will always do your bidding.

    “Our struggle is on course; the threat of sack for failure to sign resumption of duty register is part of the oppression that failed in the past. It will fail again.”

    The union came up with 14 guidelines signaling that it is prepared for a long drawn battle with the Federal Government.

    The guidelines read in part:

    •Do not sign any resumption of duty. Government is out to humiliate us. Hold your head high. This too shall pass!!!

    •If you receive any query on account of the ongoing strike, failure to sign resumption of duty register, etc, bring such to the attention of the branch chairperson immediately for guidance.

    •It is a general knowledge that members of ASUU are on a national strike. It is against the Labour Act and the ILO convention to sack anybody on account of participation in a strike, no matter how remotely related.

    •Remain resolute and refrain from violating the ongoing strike. Our Union is capable of protecting its members.

    •Meanwhile, be security conscious. Do not visit security agencies alone. In case of difficulties, always consult your Chairperson.

    •With our collective resolve, we can again brush off this unwarranted and provocative onslaught. Stand to be counted on the positive side of history. Do not betray your union.

    The leadership of ASUU also justified its struggle and insisted that it is in the public interest.

    It said: “Our collective national struggle to save the future of public system has entered yet another critical phase. The National Strike Coordinating Committee(NSCC) commends all members for their steadfastness and commitment to this patriotic cause.

    “When we commenced the strike, we were clear as to the possible antics of Government, such as attack on our Union, stoppage of salaries, harassment through security agencies, opening of resumption of duty registers, sacking , etc, all aimed at breaking our resolve

    “For five months, we have weathered the storm of persecution, oppression, media attack, manipulation of public opinion by government and its agent against our cause, stoppage of salaries, etc. With our sacrifice and dogged determination, we have remained standing.

    “In our interactions with government, we craved for better funding, but arrived at a resolution upon which it offered to begin the process of revitalising the Universities by making available N200bn in 2013 and follow with a release of N220bn annually for another five years.

    “Our congresses considered the offer by Government and resolved that the strike be suspended after incorporating the ‘non victimisation clause’, ‘the commencement of renegotiation of FGN/ASUU Agreement by 2014’ and the endorsement of the new MoU by representatives of Government and ASUU with NLC President as witness. We have not made a fresh demand.

    “For a Government that recently raised question on the validity of its own document (MoU) even when it was signed by the Permanent Secretary for the Minister of Education, have we done anything wrong by insisting that the MoU be duly endorsed?”

    Lecturers of the states and Federal universities in the Southwest said they remained resolute.

    They described as “primitive and derogatory”, the threat of the Federal government to sack them, should they fail to return to the class, saying a government that could hurry to inject over two trillion naira into ailing banks that are privately owned should not find it difficult to infuse N200bn into public universities across the country.

    Addressing reporters on the main campus of the Olabisi Onabanjo University(OOU), Ago – Iwoye, Ogun State, the local ASUU chair, Dr Adesola Nassir, said the Ibadan Zone of ASUU comprising University of Ibadan, University of Lagos, Lagos State University, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta and Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, would sustain the strike.

    Nassir said: “Not Nyesom Wike, Doyin Okupe, Julius Okojie was given the mandate to manage the affairs of this country, education sector inclusive.”

    Nassir said: “We just want Nigerians to know that ASUU is not going to be cowed. We are very strict as to the reason why we embarked on strike, we want our universities to be repositioned so that they can churn out the type of graduates that would fit into roles that will power the development of this country.

    “We cannot continue to be accomplices in the process of producing the half-baked graduates, as we have been accused of.

    “Our position is very clear: the Federal government said it was going to infuse N200bn into the universities in 2010, we are barely three or a little over that today in 2013 and our union is saying, government must live by what it has said it would do.

  • ASUU: Blackmail won’t work

    ASUU: Blackmail won’t work

    Hardball is often torn between frustration and pity for President Goodluck Jonathan. Frustration because he cannot seem to get the country going and pity because though he means well, in his incapacitation, he cannot muster the requisite acuity, charm and even wiles to cut through crap and get the kind of critical results that define administrations. Few examples will help explain. In the Boko Haram affair, it took him an age to understand that the very sovereignty of Nigeria was being threatened and there was an urgent need to stem the insurgence. But he has been incapable of doing the needful and Nigeria has continued to be held by scruff of her shirt by a band of desert militia men.

    Another example is the oil industry (including the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB) which has been in the mire since he took office. Now remember that this is Nigeria’s most strategic asset which ought to be the president’s top priority. But what do we have? A rotten state oil corporation; comatose refineries; fraudulent products import scheme; mindboggling fuel subsidy scandal and suddenly, oil theft racket. Nigerians don’t hear any good news anymore from our most prized sector. One can mention half a dozen other telling instances of k-legged inertia but what is the point?

    Back to ASUU, the issue of the day which is a raging example of presidential doodling, one is pained that Goodluck Jonathan could not gather up all the presidential powers at his disposal to break the six-month old impasse. The Academic Staff Union of Universities has been on a protracted strike. When it seemed all had failed, the president intervened personally, sitting through several meetings with senior members of ASUU executives. The last meeting reportedly lasted 13 hours yet came to naught. This has, apparently, enraged the president who in obvious frustration, reached for the rod: return to work or get sacked. But Hardball must advise that force and violence are the tools of stupid and cowardly people. They are, of course, not instruments for construction.

    Constructive engagement has been thrown out the window in place of arm-twisting, threats and blackmail. In a barrage of propaganda, ASUU leaders are being painted as recalcitrant, as saboteurs and enemies of Jonathan. Some columnists (some of who carry the tag of ‘professor’) make such loose argument that ASUU ought to go back to work just because of the fact that it sat at a meeting with the president for 13 hours. What did the president offer anew? It is calamitous, to say the least that Jonathan could not wring out some agreement from the lecturers at this critical moment in this ASUU affair; we had hoped that he wouldn’t fail after all else had failed.

    Hardball could have thrown in the entire country (including ASUU) if that was what it required; if he had it to do. And for heavens sake where is the presidential chutzpah? If the salaries of the last four months were the issue, the president could have ordered it paid immediately. Everything but trying to force the lecturers back to the classrooms would have been smarter.

    And whose advice was it to draw a line in the sand with the lecturers? Who thought it through? It is obvious that the Education Minister, Nyeson Wike is out of his depth here. He simply lacks the capacity to handle this one. Being a political weasel, he would insist and advise accordingly that ASUU members are ‘political enemies’ and that instantly drains the matter of all logic. But ASUU has a good case, they are simply asking government to live up to one of its promise and responsibilities; that is not too much to ask.

    As you read this, the lecturers would have defied the ultimatum of the presidency; the president has bungled it all up once again.

  • Omar unhappy with govt over bad Lokoja-Abuja road

    Omar unhappy with govt over bad Lokoja-Abuja road

    •Condoles with Oshiomhole, Iyayi’s family

    Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President, Comrade Abdulwaheed Omar, has criticised the Federal Government for its inability to fix the Abuja-Lokoja road, which caused the death of former National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof Festus Iyayi.

    Omar spoke in Benin, the Edo State capital, during a condolence visit to Governor Adams Oshiomhole and the family of the late academic.

    The NLC president described the late Iyayi as a committed activist who added value to the labour movement in the country.

    He said: “We believe that certain factors led to the demise of Prof Iyayi. The Federal Government is highly culpable on the issue of the criminal neglect of the Abuja-Lokoja road, whose contract was awarded over 10 years ago. While other roads have been completed, the Lokoja-Abuja road is uncompleted.

    “We believe that if not for the criminal neglect, this accident would not have happened. Also, the executive recklessness on the part of the Kogi Government is glaring. This is said to be the third time that the same convoy was involved in accidents.”

    The NLC president urged Nigerians to ensure that things are done well to avoid a repeat of such incident.

    Omar said the death of Prof Iyayi is not only a loss to his family and the state but also to the labour movement and Nigeria.

    He hoped the late Iyayi’s legacies would not be allowed to die with him.

    The NLC President recalled that the late writer and activist did his sabbatical at the NLC.

    Omar described him as a committed person who added value to the labour movement.

    He said the NLC would not forget the late Iyayi’s invaluable role in the last negotiations with the Federal Government.

    Oshiomhole said there were several lessons to be learnt from the death of the late Iyayi.

    He said: “The fact that he retired as ASUU president many years ago and yet always identified with ASSU was even part of their struggle decades after he ceased to be their president, is a testimony to the level of his conviction.

    “The way we generally drive on our roads is not good enough. Convoys are generally bad. It was not once, not even twice have I dismiss drivers in my convoy. It is a challenge. Some people think the best way to show power is to oppress. I think all of us must work to get our drivers and security detail to respect the right of the citizens.

    “I hope the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), beyond the symbolism of changing licences every year, should really get back to work and justify the huge resources the government spends on it.”

  • ASUU strike: Whose interest really?

    ASUU strike: Whose interest really?

    SIR: They say when two elephants fight the grass suffers. On July 3, academic life in Nigerian public universities was interrupted as ASUU commenced their indefinite strike. It’s the fifth month now and we’ve observed daily as ASUU and our government play hardball over who’s right or wrong, while students – the grass in this case – languish at home, hoping that the two elephants will have mercy on them.

    For those who do not know, ASUU is on strike again because Federal Government has not yet implemented all the terms of the agreement it ‘willingly’ entered with ASUU in January 2009 and subsequently re-negotiated in 2012.

    Well, as a product of the university system, I fully understand ASUU’s plight. Over 2000 engineering students squeezed into a 750 capacity lecture theatre, listening to a single lecturer and still expected to assimilate and pass is a sham. Having obsolete equipment in a technical workshop, or teaching a technology student to make a hoe and write computer programs using FORTRAN 1977 in the year 2013 is simply iniquitous.

    So in essence ASUU seems to be saying: Our schools are underfunded; our allowances must be paid; our union must be respected and our demands met.

    The Federal Government on the other hand has said neither it nor ASUU knew the exact cost implications of their agreement before signing. Yet 66 capable hands from both sides worked on that agreement!

    As this catfight goes on, the third and the most important party in this university business, the students have been conveniently forgotten! They’re not in the negotiation committee; they’re not involved in the debate!

    In chapter 2 of the 2009 agreement, the issues for renegotiation were clearly stated by ASUU as Conditions of Service, Funding, University Autonomy/Academic Freedom and then Other matters. Under conditions of service they stipulated their salary and listed lots of fringe benefits by way of welfare packages and earned allowances (e.g. graduate supervision allowance, field trip allowance, etc); allowances that represent payment for rendering the very service that makes them lecturers! There wasn’t much about the students and their welfare demands. My question is; is ASUU really fighting because students are having a substandard education or is this all about ‘unionism’ and monetary benefits? In any case, their salaries will still be paid for the months they did not work, unless the government is keen on implementing the no-work-no-pay policy which ASUU will definitely reject. Theirs is sweet vacation.

    What is in it for the students? How come students pay huge fees and still register courses manually, pay ICT dues, health insurance etc. A pre-degree student pays roughly N50,000 as school fees, and another N25,000 as acceptance fee in a federal university. My alma mater takes N10,000 to send a transcript to an institution abroad, and N5000 within Nigeria. Where are all the post UME fees and the IGR, the TET fund, PTDF fund, ETF, alumni dues, private sector contribution; what are they used for? And with all the injustices listed above, students have not shut down their schools. Their union has not held ASUU and federal government by the jugular to demand better education. Should ASUU not learn from the students? Now who is ASUU really fighting for?

    • Anyiam Nnaemeka,

    Abuja.

  • FG, ASUU’s tango

    FG, ASUU’s tango

    For several months, the cloud gathered. Now, the bubble has burst with devastating tremor. And so, last week, the five-month-old dispute between the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, and the Federal Government finally degenerated into what might be a major conflagration. The new twist in the lingering dispute is the ultimatum handed down by the government, which directed all federal university vice-chancellors   to reopen their institutions for academic and allied activities. The government also declared that lecturers who fail to resume on or before today, December 4, risk losing their jobs.

    This development has elicited mixed reaction in the polity. Not only this. It has also put spanners in the works of progress made on the truce meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and ASUU leaders. The meeting had raised the hope of students and parents on the final resolution of the impasse before the latest development. A gory accident on the Lokoja-Abuja Road on November 12, in which Festus  Iyayi, a Professor and former President of ASUU, lost his life, possibly delayed the suspension of the strike after the President met with ASUU leaders. Iyayi and some   members of the University of Benin chapter of the union were on their way to the Bayero University, Kano, for a meeting where the outcome of the meeting with Jonathan was to be tabled before the National Executive Committee members for consideration when he met his untimely death.

    ASUU had called off that meeting in honour of Iyayi. It later reconvened in Kano   to harmonise its position on the   offer made to it by the government. The meeting later came up with conditions for calling off the strike. Part of it was its demand for the payment of its members’ salary arrears and a commitment on   the part of the government to review the agreement in 2014.

    On November 25, the union wrote a letter which was addressed to the President through Nyesom Wike, the Supervising Minister of Education and demanded that the N200 billion agreed upon as 2013 revitalisation fund for public universities should  be deposited with the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN , and disbursed to the benefiting universities within two weeks;  that the renegotiation of the 2009 Agreement in 2014 be included in the final document as agreed at the discussion with the President; that a non-victimisation clause, which is normally captured in all interactions of this nature, be included in the final document; and that a new memorandum of understanding shall be validly endorsed signed by a representative of government, preferably the Attorney-General of the Federation, and a representative of ASUU, with the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress as a witness.

    But as students, parents and other stakeholders eagerly awaited the government’s decision on the demands, an over-enthusiastic Wike addressed a press conference last Thursday and ordered ASUU members to resume today or be sacked. To rub it in that the government meant business, Wike, who was blowing hot and cold at the conference, ordered the vice-chancellors to advertise the positions of those who failed to resume at the specified date. The supervising Minister said the government took the decision in the best interest of the country.

    If the past history of ASUU’s strikes is anything to go by, it is certain that this latest action by the government aimed at arm-twisting the striking lecturers could not have been done in the interest of the country. If anything, it has worsened an already bad situation. The ultimatum had shown that the government might not have been totally committed to the implementation of any of the resolutions it earlier reached with the union. That the lecturers could be so shabbily treated under a democratic government with a former university lecturer as head of that government shows the depth of political insincerity and lack of determination on the part of the government to rescue the nation’s education sector from the abysmal abyss it has sunk for many decades. This level of decadence is manifested in the poor turnout of university graduates who are not properly intellectually equipped for the challenges of their future careers.

    The result is that many of these graduates permanently roam the streets looking for jobs which are elusive in the first instance, and if available at all, they may not have been adequately prepared for them. That is why it has almost become the norm for employers of labour to conclude that many of our graduates nowadays are unemployable. It might sound ridiculous, but those who are in positions to employ these graduates know better.

    Anyway, now that the government has decided to clamp down on the lecturers, it is left to be seen how this threat would hinder ASUU’s determination to ensure that the universities are well funded and standards raised. It is a pity if the federal government is not willing to perfect the resolutions reached with the union. This is why people find it difficult to trust Nigerian leaders. How can the government be threatening to sack lecturers when, in actual fact, the universities are said to be short-staffed by almost 60,000? This was probably why Professor Osarieme of the University of Lagos who spoke on Channels TV main news hour recently, said that the government’s ultimatum reminded her of the military era which ended 14 years ago.

    Perhaps, Osarieme could not fathom the reason the government ordered them back to the lecture rooms with fiat like Kindergarten School children. That type of a setting was under the military dictatorship which terminated in 1999 with the ushering in of this democratic dispensation, which the country is still struggling with. No thanks to our politicians whose attitude and behaviour have placed them among the world’s worst, selfish, visionless leaders in history. The military tried the same arm-twisting tactics and it failed many times. I am sure this one will go the way of the previous ones.

    With the latest development, the government’s commitment to its promises has come under serious doubt. Even if ASUU says since it was agreed at the meeting that N200 billion is for 2012 and 2013 revitalisation, the government should, therefore, deposit the money in the coffers of the CBN, the government should have found a more decent way around it. ASUU is also saying that a non-victimisation clause should be inserted as agreed while the renegotiation of the 2009 Agreement should be included as agreed with the President. I do not, by any stretch of imagination, see the conditions as being too much for a sincere government to agree to.

    The problem, as I see it, is not Jonathan per se, but the colony of wheeler-dealers in government who will stop at nothing to hoodwink him to toe their selfish path. The combative position adopted by Wike on this matter, though consistent with his behaviour in recent times, especially in the frosty relationship between the Presidency and Rotimi Amaechi, the governor of Rivers State, is both reprehensible and condemnable to say the least. With a person like Wike as a minister, we are doomed in this country. And to discover that Julius Okojie, a Professor and Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission, was comfortably seated where the Minister was reeling out his abominable vituperations on the lecturers in what many have termed an ‘Area Boy’s show’, smacks of collusion with the government to ridicule the lecturers. I thought Okojie should have known better and appropriately advise the government on how to go about the whole issue.

    I am lost as to how Wike concluded that ASUU was making outrageous demands from the government. The onus is on government to address the issue ASUU sent to it in the letter, and from the contents that have been made public; they are not demanding anything extra. Wike and his cohorts should know that under successive military dictatorships, such threat to sack lecturers   did not work. What the government has simply done is to set the stage for another tortuous path to prolong the strike that should have been called off by now if the government did not engage in unnecessary bravado.

  • NBA to FG: Rescind sack threat to ASUU

    The Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) on Tuesday urged the Federal Government to rescind its decision to sack striking university lecturers who failed to return to the classes on or before December 4.

    The call is contained in a statement signed by the President of the association, Mr. Okey Wali (SAN),) in Abuja.

    “Our attention has been drawn to the seven-day ultimatum to return to work or be sacked, given by the Federal Government to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) due to the ongoing strike action by ASUU.

    “The NBA implores the Federal Government to rescind the said ultimatum, as that evidently will not resolve the crisis.

    “While we call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to set aside the ultimatum given to ASUU, we also call on ASUU to hearken to the appeals from several segments of the society and call off the strike action,’’ the News Agency of Nigeria quoted the NBA statement as saying in the statement.

    According to the statement, calling-off of the strike will ensure that students, who have been away from school for so long, can go back to school.

    “Besides the harm and dislocation of academic work, the enormous anti social problems associated with keeping children away from school for this long cannot be over-emphasised.

    “We encourage both parties to continue discussions and negotiations while the schools are in session in earnest.

    “ Negotiation is about give and take. The interest and welfare of the students must at all times remain paramount,’’ the statement added.

     

  • ASUU insists on agreement

    ASUU insists on agreement

    •Pro-chancellors get order to enforce ultimatum

    VARSITY teachers told the government yesterday that their strike will continue, despite tomorrow’s deadline for them to resume or get sacked.

    The stage appears set for a long-running battle, with President Goodluck Jonathan reportedly directing pro-chancellors to ensure compliance with the deadline.

    Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) President Nasir Isa Fagge told reporters in Abuja that the teachers, who started their strike on July 1, will not back down, “until the government implements the agreement”.

    He described the government deadline as “just a threat”.

    Jonathan has told pro-chancellors to ensure that willing lecturers and students return to the campuses without fear.

    A highly-placed source in government, who confirmed this directive to our correspondent, said the pro-chancellors were told to ignore ASUU, adding that all Dr. Jonathan, a former teacher, wanted was positive result from the campuses.

    The source said Jonathan warned the pro- chancellors not to compromise the government’s position to terminate the strike.

    Most of the pro-chancellors, the source said, are on their way to their campuses to carry out the presidential order.

    He said: “We were told by President Goodluck Jonathan to take charge of the universities, meet with vice-chancellors and ensure that all the affected institutions are opened for lectures on December 4 (tomorrow). That is the directive and I, like many other pro-chancellors, are on our way.

    “I do not know if this is the best solution to the disturbing crisis in our tertiary institutions, but I think we need to do something to stop the drift. We have been given a directive and, as parents, it is our responsibility to see that students are back in schools after four months of staying at home.”

    The ASUU President said: “The strike will end when government implements the agreement reached with President Jonathan. We were given the assurance before that the agreement will not be renegotiated just as Jonathan promised us when we interacted with him in that 13-hour duration. We thank Mr. President for his patience, but let us also do what is right.”

    ASUU said it requested at its meeting with the President that he should facilitate the resolution of the issues as a way of concretising their understanding of the agreed position.

    The agreed positions are that the:

    •N200 billion agreed upon as 2013 revitalisation Fund for public universities shall be deposited with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and disbursed to the universities within two weeks;

    •renegotiation of the 2009 agreement in 2014 be included in the final document as agreed at the discussion with Jonathan;

    •non –victimisation clause which is normally captured in all interactions of this nature, be included in the final document; and that

    •a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) shall be validly endorsed, signed by a representative of government, preferably the Attorney General of the Federation and a representative of ASUU, with the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) as a witness.

    Isa said: “Upon any sincere stretch of interpretation, it would be unreasonable to suggest that this is a new demand. ASUU NEC’s position that the funds for revitalisation due to universities in 2013 should be released within the first two weeks of December 2013 is not a new demand. It is a sensible suggestion to guard against implementation failure.

    “On the renegotiation of the agreement in 2014, there was an agreement at the interaction with the President that the renegotiation of the ASUU/FG agreement of 2009 shall be undertaken in 2014. ASUU’s position that this shall be included in the “resolutions” is a correct report of what actually transpired and was agreed upon, and should be reconsidered. This is important, especially in view of the fact that this agreement took place at the meeting with the President and was pointed out to staff of the Ministry of Education who were recording the agreements.”

    Isa stressed: “The resolution to end a strike since 1980s has always included the provision that no one would be victimised for participating in the strike in question. This is the position of the International Labour Organisation (ILO).”

    He accused Supervising Minister of Education Nyesome Wike of incompetence.

    Past government leaders, Isa said, also declared war on ASUU and the union did not succumb.

    He said a pro- chancellor had been lying to President Jonathan that “the University of Uyo shared the money sent by government to the university as earned allowance- to all staff and still had enough to return to the government. We found that this person lied.”

    His words: “The threat to sack all lecturers for exercising their right to strike was made in 1993-1996 by Generals Babangida and Abacha regimes. Professor Ben Nwabueze, who was the Minister of Education in General Babangida’s regime and who was instrumental to the military assault on the right of Nigerians to strike, is still alive. It is unfortunate that close to 20 years of national life have not taught politicians and their government the simple lesson that the job of lecturers is bound by the University statutes, which stipulate conditions for employment, promotions and dismissal of lecturers at all levels. There are, at present, in Nigeria over thirty thousand (30,000) academic staff, each of whom has certain rights that cannot be pronounced away by any government or Minister. That a Minister of Education would pronounce a threat of mass sack of academic staff is a tragedy of huge proportion for Nigeria and Africa.

    “While ASUU has been struggling for conditions in which Nigerian students would benefit from a very much enhanced academic environment in teaching and research facilities, the Minister of Education is thinking of a thoughtless mass sack as a solution to the problems arising from government’s non- implementation of an Agreement reached with ASUU as if Nigerian rulers have made no intellectual progress since Abacha!

    “To be clear: Nigerian lecturers – from Graduate Assistants to Professors – are not begging anybody for jobs. It is now well known that since 2003, successive governments have told the Nigerian people, repeatedly, that the solution to Nigerian’s social and economic crises is to kill public economic and educational institutions and institute the reign of private control of the economy and education, whereas the constitution of Nigeria states clearly that the commanding heights of Nigeria’s economy shall be publicly owned. The President of Nigeria in 2003, Chief Obasanjo, told ASUU that the solution to Nigeria’s university crisis is massive privatisation. From all indications, the Minister of Education, on behalf of the present Government, is set to carry out in the sphere of education what one of its predecessors did with the Universities. Transcorp and the Airways. The way is being paved for privatisation of education. Academic staff have a duty to defend the right of Nigerians to sound public education. To succumb to the present threat by the Minister of Education on behalf of Government is to give up on Nigeria. We in the academic profession have no such intention.

    “We resisted Abacha’s dictatorship. We refused to succumb to Obasanjo/IMF attempts to weaken public in favour of private universities. We convinced the late President Umaru Yar’adua to keep faith with the interests of Nigerian youth and desist from privatising education. We remember Obasanjo’s position that the solution to ASUU’S resistance is to flood Nigeria with private universities.

    “In spite of all these, stretching from ASUU’s principled resistance since the military, we have noticed with disgust how easy it is for ministers and governments to take refuge in political blackmail. We shall never succumb to this. Our country is our Union’s constituency.

    “According to the Needs Assessment Reports, here are the needs of Nigerian public universities for academic staff: There is a total of 37,504 teaching staff across all Nigerian universities.

    The majority of the universities are grossly understaffed. Generally speaking, teaching staff distribution in the country, both by qualification and by rank indicates that Nigeria’s university system is in crisis of manpower. Instead of having not less than 80% of the academics with Ph.ds, only about 43%. And instead of having about 75% of academics to be between senior lecturers and professors, only about 44% are within the bracket while the remaining 56% are not.”

    Asked if ASUU is willing to return to the negotiation table, Isa said: “There was never a time we failed to come and discus. It is only where it becomes clear to us that the dialogue has become a dialogue between the deaf and the dump. Under that circumstance. no meeting.”