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Tag: ASUU

  • ASUU leaders adamant on strike

    ASUU leaders adamant on strike

    Following threats from the Federal Government, leaders of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) yesterday relocated from Abuja to their various campuses in readiness for expected crackdown.

    It was gathered that President Goodluck Jonathan might no longer be directly involved in negotiation with the lecturers because he is angry angry with ASUU leaders for three reasons, namely their contempt for the office of the President, their decision to issue new conditions and their alleged backing by some external forces.

    Investigation revealed that after spending almost a week in Abuja for the resumption of talks, the ASUU leaders were left with no option but to go back to their various campuses.

    It was learnt that the leaders felt disappointed that in spite of the fact that they had avoided making the negotiation talks a media affair, the Federal Government bungled the opportunity to wrap it up.

    A top leader of ASUU, who spoke in confidence, said: “Our leaders have returned to their campuses. They were disappointed with the Area Boy or Agbero method adopted by the Minister.

    “The military style of the Minister of State for Education will only compound the situation.

    “So, we are back to our trenches as it was the situation during the military era. We are ready for the worst now.

    “If the situation becomes uncontrollable, we will also go underground and resort to guerilla tactics.”

    There were indications yesterday that the Federal Government might level sabotage allegation against the lecturers if they remain unyielding and the strike paralyses universities.

    A senior government official, who confided in THE NATION, said: “We hope that they will not overreach their bounds, because what they have done in the last four months amounted to economic sabotage.

    “If they continue to take the law into their hands by paralysing activities in the universities, we may try them for economic sabotage. This is also the extreme end the government may go too.

    “Let them study the enabling laws to see what they have been violating. We are not yet disposed to wielding the big stick, but if the government is pushed to the wall, it will invoke relevant laws to manage the situation. We are waiting for what they will do.”

    Top ASUU leaders were said to have been placed under security watch at the time of filing this report.

    A different source said: “All the security agencies have been directed to protect lives and property on all the campuses nationwide, especially in the universities that have reopened.

    “Union leaders are also under watch to prevent recourse to self-help, which may lead to wanton destruction of property.

    “The government will not tolerate any intimidation or harassment, and any violent union leader risks being arrested. But those who restrict themselves to the confines of the law have nothing to fear.”

    A government source yesterday said that President Goodluck Jonathan might no longer be directly involved in negotiation with ASUU to preserve the Office of the President.

    A government source said: “We are trying to insulate the Office of the President from further negotiation with ASUU if at all the union will allow such or there will be room for such.

    “We think relevant ministers and the Committee of Pro-Chancellors/Vice-Chancellors should be able to handle the rest of the talks/negotiation.”

    According to investigation, the December 4, 2013 ultimatum given by the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, followed the directive of the Presidency.

    The government source added: “The President is angry because he over-indulged ASUU leaders. It is only in Nigeria you see the President sitting for 13 hours with union leaders on any issue and at the end of the day, there will be no courtesy from the union.

    “While the President was expecting feedback from ASUU leaders within 72 hours, they kept him in suspense for two weeks or more.

    “And instead of feedback on where the talks stopped, ASUU leaders came up with fresh conditions when even during the negotiation, they admitted that some of the clauses in 2009 agreement cannot be implemented.

    “The President is human. He now has every cause to believe that the strike action seems to have the backing of external forces seeking to bring his administration down. That was why he decided to come down hard on ASUU too.”

  • FG/ASUU Faceoff: Students react

    FG/ASUU Faceoff: Students react

    These are not the best times for most students of government-owned universities in the country. They have been reacting to the latest happenings. While some support the directive of the federal government, others are against such directive.

    “Giving ASUU an ultimatum might just serve to heighten the scepticism of ASUU towards FG’s promises,” Although I am vexed the students are not considered. Mary Scott, 400level student, University of Lagos said.

    “Are we back to the military era? Where threat and command language are used?” Maurice David asks on a social media platform.

    He said: “I pity this govt that lack sane people in position as ministers. How can government move ten steps backward only at the point of signing agreement? Just at the point the agreement is to be signed government begins to issue fiat and threats to scatter the table. This is shame!”

    For Joel Otuyelu, a student of UNILAG “This is a serious sensational movie. I can’t wait for the next episode. How Jona wan turn democracy to autocracy?”

    “An agreement is supposed to be honoured if the federal government cannot sign and seal an agreement it reached with ASUU on November 4 2013, then the future of Private universities is bright in this country, ”Akinpelu Tolulope, UNILAG student said.

    Tolulope further stated “The goal for ending the strike should not be to save parents anxiety or to take pity on students or to save lecturers’ job or to graduate students: it is to save the university system so that it becomes what it is supposed to be.

    “In this, ASUU should not fear an empty threat by the federal government but rather see itself as a vanguard-probably the only active one-dedicated to making the government begin to tread the path of responsible good governance in the administration of tertiary education in Nigeria .”

    For Hassan Aliu, an undergraduate, “What we have in this administration are not leaders but bunch of criminals who think we are in the military era. Who think their threat will put fear in ASUU to call of the strike. This shows the insincerity of this government. The question here is that is Jonathan worth to be trusted and called a leader.”

    However, Ugwu Henry is of the opinion that ASUU has bitten more than they can chew.

    “ASUU has provoked the Federal Government. It is a pity that after so much capitulation by the FG, ASUU is playing with the future of Nigerian students. ASUU has failed to be considerate. Why should one demand for salary when one has failed to work? I honestly hope the FG comes down hard on ASUU and resists any pressure to pay wages not earned.”

    In the same vein, Justin Ebaretonbofa has this to say: “Federal govt should do whatever they want. Nigerians are fed up with ASUU. When you ask federal government for anything you don’t expect them to give u 100 per cent of your needs.

    “It has never happen that way and it won’t happen now. ASUU is playing politics with the future of students. The lecturers who refuse to resume should be sack and new ones employ. After all there are millions of more qualified PhD holders looking for lecturing job. Haba !”

    According to Peremobowei Amakama, “I appreciate the FG directive to ASUU. ASUU has over-stressed the patience of FG and also mortgaging the future of Nigerian youths for their selfish reasons. Let the ones that believe we must move forward resume to class and account for their patriotism to Nigeria.”

  • Kogi government not involved in Iyayi’s burial – Family

    Kogi State Government will not take part in the burial activities of former President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof. Festus Iyayi, the family has said.

    Prof. Iyayi died in a road accident involving the convoy of Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada, while on his way to Kano for the ASUU National Executive Committee.

    The family had earlier refused audience with a delegation of Kogi State government led by the Secretary to State Government when they came on a condolence visit.

    They were reportedly told that it was not safe to visit.

    The family made its stand known at a press briefing held on Friday to announce Iyayi’s burial activities.

    The Chairman of the burial committee, Sir Lawrence Ohiowele, said ASUU, some good spirited individuals and the University of Benin provided funds for the burial.

    Sir Ohiowele said the burial would commence on December 5 with a vigil mass followed by commendation service at UNIBEN.

    According to him, late Iyayi will be taken to his hometown for interment after funeral service on Saturday.

     

     

  • ASUU’s fresh demands, sabotage – UNICAL don

    A lecturer at the University of Calabar, Dr. Edidiong Ebitu, has described the new demands by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) as an act of sabotage of the education sector.

    He made the declaration on Friday in Uyo in a chat with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).

    Ebitu, who is a senior lecturer in the Department of Marketing in the university, said he was in support of the Federal Government’s directive that lecturers should resume classes.

    “The various branches of ASUU had already voted to resume classes. The over four-months strike has done enough damage to the system.

    “The president had made reasonable concessions, so ASUU should resume for other things to fall in place,” he said.

    However, reacting to Ebitu’s views, the Secretary of the University of Uyo Branch of ASUU, Dr. Aniekan Brown, debunked the claim that ASUU was making fresh demands.

    “ASUU is not making fresh demands, ASUU is asking for the implementation of the 2009 agreements.

    “If any ASUU member says ASUU is making fresh demands, I doubt if that person is an ASUU member, that person is not informed,” Brown said.

    NAN reports that ASUU is demanding among other things, immediate payment of all outstanding salary arrears and allowances of members withheld during the strike.

    The union is also demanding a written commitment from the president that N225 billion will be committed to funding universities annually for the next four years.

    The Federal Ministry of Education had on Thursday directed the authorities of federal universities to re-open classes immediately and to treat lecturers who refused to resume work as having resigned.

     

     

  • ASUU adamant as govt orders varsities reopening

    ASUU adamant as govt orders varsities reopening

    After months of fruitless talks, the universities are set to reopen – by government fiat.

    Uiversity teachers who requested for a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan, got a shocking reply: the government ordered Vice Chancellors to open the campuses.

    Lecturers are to resume duties immediately or get sacked, if they fail to resume on Monday.

    Supervising Minister of Education Nyesom Wike handed down the immediate resumption directive yesterday as he accused the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of intransigence and sabotage.

    He said the government had met all the conditions that ought to have made the teachers to immediately call off the strike, which started on July 1.

    Wike said the continuation of the strike, despite several meetings, especially with President Goodluck Jonathan, is an attempt by ASUU to sabotage all efforts by government to address the issues.

    He told reporters that the government had directed that all Vice Chancellors of Federal universities should immediately reopen their campuses for academic and allied activities as directed by their pro-chancellors.

    The teachers’ strike is on the failure of the government to implement the Federal Govt/ASUU agreement signed in 2009.

    Wike said the government had met all its commitments and obligations with respect to the agreement.

    The government, Wike said, took the decision to reopen the universities following ASUU’s new conditions, which he described untenable.

    He said: “Consequently on November 4th 2013, in a 13-hour meeting, President Goodluck Jonathan met with ASUU executive, the Labour Union leaders from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) , where all the issues were resolved and firm commitments made to address the lingering issues.

    “It is noteworthy that Mr. President’s gesture was more than sufficient to guarantee the commitment of government to address all issues as resolved at the meeting with Mr. President.

    “At the end of the meeting with Mr. President, the ASUU Executive promised to meet with its NEC to present the resolutions reached and report back by Friday November 8, 2013. It is unfortunate that while travelling to attend the NEC meeting in Kano, we lost a key member and former president of the union, Prof. Festus Iyayi. Government sympathises with the family of the late Iyayi and ASUU.

    “It is amazing, however, that three weeks after the meeting with Mr. President, ASUU responded by giving new conditions for suspending the five-month old strike. I have never seen anywhere in any country where you sit down with Mr President. That is the highest level of discussion. If you cannot believe Mr. President, then who else will you believe?

    “Government has reviewed the entire situation and came to the conclusion that the continuation of the strike is an attempt by ASUU to sabotage all efforts to address the issues.

    “As a responsible government, we cannot allow the continuous closure of our public universities for this length of time (five months), as this poses danger to the education system, the future of our youths and national development.

    “Consequently, the Federal Government has directed as follows: All vice – chancellors of Federal universities that are currently on strike should immediately reopen for academic and allied activities as directed by their pro-chancellors.

    “Vice-Chancellors should ensure that staff who resume for work are provided with the enabling environment for academic and allied activities.

    “Any academic staff, who fails to resume on or before the 4th of December, 2013 automatically ceases to be a staff of the institution

    “Vice-Chancellors are also directed to advertise vacancies (internal and external) in their institutions.

    “The National Universities Commission is hereby directed to monitor the compliance of these directives by the various institutions.

    “The Federal Government has met all its Commitment and obligations with respect to the FG/ASUU 2009 Agreement. We appeal to all stakeholders to appreciate the position of government, which is in the best interest of our dear country.”

  • Threat is empty basket, says ASUU

    Threat is empty basket, says ASUU

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) yesterday described the Federal Government’s threat to sack lecturers as an “empty basket” that could not hold water.

    The union said it was vindicated that the government was not committed to implementing any resolutions it reached with the union.

    The union said the threat would fail, adding that Nigerian public universities needed 60,000 lecturers owing to the government’s failure to employ.

    ASUU said the government was wasting the time of Nigerians and youths by failing to perfect the resolutions and get the strike suspended.

    The union said it had reasons to be wary, following the government’s failure to honour its promises to the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), resident doctors and health workers who have suspended their strikes.

    To ASUU, the threat is an insult to the sense and sensibilities of Nigerians who were waiting on the government for positive reaction.

    ASUU National Treasurer Dr Ademola Aremu said that the threat confirmed the fears that the government cannot be trusted.

    His words: “With the latest action, the Federal Government has shown that they are not committed to all they have been saying. We are saying that since we agreed at the meeting that the sum of 200billion is for 2012 and 2013 revitalisation, the Federal Government should deposit same in the Central Bank of Nigeria. We are already in November and December is around the corner. If they don’t do that now, when do they want to do it? We are saying the non-victimisation clause should be included as agreed while the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement should be included as agreed with the President”.

    “It is a pity, if the Federal Government is not willing to perfect the resolutions reached with the union. This is why we find it difficult to trust our leaders by their words. How can someone be threatening to sack lecturers when universities are already short-staffed by almost 60,000. We are not in military era. The military tried it and failed. This one will fail again. They can re-open the school. ASUU did not shut down the universities. It was the school management that ordered the students to go back home.”

    Aremu said it is only when ASUU proceeds on strike that funds get to universities which are then presided over by political appointee tagged “committee of pro-chancellors”.

    Aremu lashed out at the supervising Minister for Education, Nyesom Wike, saying the government was not responsible if it could wait for four months to take any step and scuttle it through military orders.

    “We are saying show commitment to the resolutions. They should address the issue we sent to them in the letter and we are not demanding extra kobo. Under the military it did not work. This is another long path to make the strike linger more than necessary,” Aremu said.

    The University of Abuja chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) yesterday said nobody can intimidate the teachers.

    Its Chairman Dr. Clement Chup said: “We have not seen anybody that will intimidate us to go back to work. The strike continues. Government is calling for trouble.

    “It has shown clearly now that government is not willing to implement the 2009 agreement. This is another bad move by government. We are not afraid of sack which can never happen. It is just a threat. We are ready for the outcome of this action by government and I hope government can bear it.

    “No retreat, no surrender until the 2009 agreements are met. They can re-open the school. ASUU did not shut down the universities. It was the management of the schools that ordered the students to go back home. Let us how this will play out.”

    Prof. Fred Esumeh, chairman of Ambrose Alli University ASUU said the Minister could only give directives to university management and not to union members.

    “If they consider it wise to open the university, they should have made arrangement to recruit teachers to complete the session.”

    “It shows the government is not sincere towards implementing the agreement. Why did the president find it difficult to put our agreement at the 13 hours meeting in black and white.”

    Chairman of UNIBEN-ASUU, Dr. Tony Monye said the government could keep its job because they have resolved that they could not continue working under present conditions.

    “They can’t force us back. The Minister did not send us on strike. Let us see how they are going to enforce it.”

  • FG’s directive, an empty threat – ASUU

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Thursday described the threat by the federal government to sack lecturers if they don’t return to classroom as empty threat that could not hold water.

    The union said it is vindicated that the Federal government was not ready to implement resolutions reached with the union.

    ASUU said the threat will fail, adding that Nigerian public universities need 60,000 lecturers due to government’s failure to employ more capable hands into the system.

    The union said federal government is wasting the time of Nigerians youths by failing to perfect the resolutions and get the strike suspended.

    The union added it had reasons to be wary following the failure of government to honour their promises to Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, resident doctors and other health workers who have suspended their strikes.

    The ASUU National Treasurer, Dr. Ademola Aremu, while responding to the government’s directive, said the threat does not hold water as it has confirmed the fears that the federal government cannot be trusted.

    The don said, “With the latest action, the federal government has shown that they are not committed to all they have been saying. We are saying that since we agreed at the meeting that the sum of 200 billion naira is for 2012 and 2013 revitalisation, the federal government should deposit same in the Central Bank of Nigerian. We are already in November and December is around the corner. If they don’t do that now, when do they want to do it? We are saying the non-victimization clause should be included as agreed while the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement should be included as agreed with the presidents”.

    “It is a pity if the federal government is not willing to perfect the resolutions reached with union. This is why we find it difficult to trust our leaders by their words. How can someone be threatening to sack lecturers when universities are already short-staffed by almost 60,000. We are not in military era. The military tried it and failed. This one will fail again. They can re-open the school. ASUU did not shut down the universities. It was the management of the schools that ordered the students to go back home.”

     

     

  • FG orders ASUU to resume lectures

    FG orders ASUU to resume lectures

    … Strike an act of sabotage – Minister

    The Federal Government on Thursday ordered the Academic Staff Union of Universities to reopen the institutions within one week.

    The supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja.

    He described the ongoing varsity teachers’ strike as “act of sabotage.”

    “The continuation of the strike despite several meetings, especially with President Goodluck Jonathan is an attempt by the union to sabotage all efforts by government to address the issue, “he said.

    Wike stated that government has directed that all Vice Chancellors of Federal Universities that are currently on strike to immediately reopen for academic and allied activities.

    ASUU embarked on the strike on July 1 to protest government’s non-implementation of the 2009 agreement signed by both parties.

    The minister disclosed that government has met all its commitments and obligations with respect to the agreement.

    According to Wike, government took the decision to reopen the universities following ASUU’s new conditions which are “not tenable. “

    His words: “On November 4, 2013 President Goodluck Jonathan met with ASUU executive,  labour union leaders from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), where all the issues were resolved and firm commitments made to address the lingering crisis.

    “It is noteworthy that Mr. President’s gesture was more than sufficient to guarantee the commitment of government to address all issues raised at the meeting with Mr. President. At the end of the meeting, the ASUU team promised to convene a meeting of its National Executive Committee to present the resolutions reached and report back by Friday November 8, 2013. It is unfortunate that while travelling to attend the NEC meeting in Kano, we lost a key member and former President of the union, Prof. Festus Iyayi.

    “Government sympathizes with the family of the late Iyayi and ASUU. It is however amazing that three weeks after the meeting with Mr. President, ASUU responded by giving new conditions for suspending the five month old strike. I have never seen anywhere in any country where you sit down with Mr. President. That is the highest level of discussion. If you cannot believe Mr. President then who else will you believe?”

    “Any academic staff who fails to resume on or before December 4 automatically ceases to be a staff of the institution. Vice-Chancellors are also directed to advertise vacancies (internal and external) in their institutions.
    “The National Universities Commission is hereby directed to monitor the compliance of these directives by the various institutions. The Federal Government has met all its commitment and obligations with respect to the FG/ASUU 2009 Agreement. We appeal to all stakeholders to appreciate the position of government which is in the best interest of our dear country.”

     

  • ASUU can call off strike in 24 hours, if…

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) yesterday said its strike can end within 24 hours, if the omissions in its agreement with the Federal Government are corrected and reflected in the new resolution with President Goodluck Jonathan on November 4.

    The union, however, described the statement credited to the Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike – that ASUU was making outrageous demands – as untrue.

    The union said it wanted President Jonathan to facilitate the endorsement of the resolutions it reached with him and signed by a high-ranking government official, preferably the Attorney-General of the Federation, and not a permanent secretary.

    ASUU said one of its representatives, including the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), should be witnesses to the agreement.

    It said the N200 billion agreed upon as this year’s revitalisation fund for universities should be warehoused with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and disbursed.

    The union’s position was conveyed by its National Treasurer, Dr Ademola Aremu, in an interview yesterday with The Nation in Ibadan, Oyo State.

    He said the union appreciated the intervention of President Jonathan but noticed that some of the resolutions reached with him were not in the letter sent to the union.

    Aremu said the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, was economical with the truth by not telling Nigerians that besides the N30 billion earned allowances, the government had not released the N100 billion it publicised to Nigerians.

    Dr Aremu said as intellectuals, ASUU was being cautious because the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, had undermined the 2012 Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) because it was signed by a permanent secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education, Prof Nicholas Dimanche.

    He said: “We are not making fresh demands. In fact, the National Executive Council (NEC) would have suspended the strike but the concerns of our congresses were that many of the things agreed to with Mr President during the November 4 meeting were not included in the letter signed by a permanent secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education, Dr Mark John Nwobiala.”

    He said the strike could end within 24 hours if the omissions were corrected and reflected in the new resolution.

    Dr Aremu said: “They are interested in wasting the time of Nigerians. What we observed do not require an additional kobo to effect. The letter does not include a non-victimisation clause.”

  • Gains of ASUU strike

    Gains of ASUU strike

    Academic activities at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) may have been paralysed because of the ongoing Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) strike, but some students are utilising it for their own good.

    Instead of going home to do nothing, the students turned their hostel to a skill acquisition centre.

    Welcome to Moremi Hostel, the prestigious female hall of residence, where students now learn various vocation including handbag and bead making.

    The students are using the ASUU strike to their advantage, learning skills that could make them potential entrepreneurs without their certificates.

    CAMPUSLIFE learnt that the skill acquisition programme started like a joke when a few students gathered to receive training from an unnamed woman, who taught them in various craft. The trainees, who paid N5,000, later organised free training for their colleagues. The population of the apprentices increased when students called their colleagues to return to campus to benefit from the programme.

    A student, who was trained, said: “It was like a child’s play when I was called by my friends to come to the campus for vocational training. I am happy now because I have learned how to make handbags using local materials such as cardboard, foam, gum and Ankara materials.”

    Odunayo Oshinibosi, 300-Level Computer Science, said: “A lady came from outside the campus to conduct training for a few students on handbag making. So, I joined them. We paid N5,000. Those who were trained then taught their friends and it continues like that in a chain reaction.”

    Another residence of the hostel, who did not say her name, told CAMPUSLIFE: “Most of the students who stayed back in the hostel during the ongoing strike can now make bags of different styles.”

    Some of the students said they could now make three bags per day and sell each for N2,000 or N3,000.

    Many of the students, who hope to make more money from the bag business, said they were not concerned whether ASUU and the government would sheathe their sword and end the six-month strike.