For years, the government and university teachers met. The thrust of the meeting was to find a solution to the problem of university education. The teachers complained that universities are underfunded; that they are no longer known for researches and that the academic staff are not well paid.
In 2009, the government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) reached an agreement. But since then, the government has refused to implement the agreement, leading to strikes almost yearly. The union is on another strike, which enters its 57th day today. The strike may yet linger because of the government’s stand. On August 13, the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala said government could not pay the N87billion extra allowance being demanded by ASUU. Her reason: “The government has no resources to meet the demand.”
Last week, the government reversed itself and offered the teachers N30 billion. ASUU swiftly rejected the offer and withdreaw from further talks with the government which it accused of “insincerity”. Does it mean that there is no way out of the government -ASUU debacle?
Why did it take government four years to realise that ASUU’s demand on allowances cannot be implemented? What next after the government’s offer of N100 billion for infrastructural development and N30 billion for earned allowances
ASUU maintains that the being raised were same issues it has canvassed since the 80s and 90s but were never implemented by the government. It insists that unless there are improvements in funding, condition of service and academic freedom universities are doomed.
Terms of the 2009 pact
After meeting for three years (2006-2009), the re-negotiation committee that had representatives of the government, ASUU and the Nigerian Universities Commission, NUC, on October 21, 2009, voluntarily signed a pact with the terms and conditions binding on the parties.
The agreement, which was entered into at the instance of the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, after he decried the state of the universities, was conceived in the context of making the varsities respond effectively to the challenges of a knowledge-driven economy.
To achieve this, parties agreed that there was need to critically look into the condition of service of academic staff; funding of universities; and university autonomy/academic freedom, as well as other matters. In all, nine issues were raised and agreed upon by the parties. Under the condition of service, a new salary structure for academics in the universities was approved; set of earned allowances (PG supervision, teaching practice/industrial supervision/field trip, honoraria for external/internal examiners, PG study grants, responsibility and excess workload allowances etc) for entitled academic staff per annum; and non-salary conditions of service (fringe benefits, vehicle/car refurbishing loan, housing loan, research and other leaves, injury pension and staff schools) were agreed on.
Others included pension for university academic staff and compulsory retirement age of 70 for professors; formation of the Nigerian Universities Pension Management Company (NUPEMCO) and modalities for the operation of the National Health Insurance Scheme in the universities; funding that will inject N1.5183 trillion between 2009 and 2011 into federal universities.
On the sources of funds, both budgetary and non-budgetary sources, were recommended. It was agreed that a minimum of 26 per cent of the annual budget of federal and state governments be allocated to education, which shall be progressively reviewed in line with Vision 20:2020, with at least 50 per cent of the 26 per cent channelled to the universities. It was also recommended that education be put on the ‘first charge’ by the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, while the Federal Government should appropriate and provide assistance to both states that own universities and those who do not but need such assistance in the area of higher education in accordance with Section 164(1) of the 1999 Constitution, among others.
The parties further agreed on the restructuring of the governance and leadership structure in the universities; the need to amend the NUC Act of 2004, the Education (National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institution) Act, 2004, as well as the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board, JAMB Act of 2004.
To ensure the implementation of the agreement, priority areas; reinstatement of the University of Ilorin 49 lecturers that were sacked; machinery for implementation monitoring; effective date; and periodic reviews were stated. It was agreed that the agreement took effective from July 1, 2009 save for the retirement age of professors, which was set at January 1, same year.
While waiting on the government to keep its part of the bargain, the union between 2009 and 2011 had issued communiqué after each National Executive Committee meeting to draw attention to government’s failure to implement the essential components of the agreement other than salary and warned of an impending crisis.
To drive home their point, the body on September 26, 2011 embarked on a two-week warning strike, which forced the government to call the union for a meeting, where the MoU of January 24, last year was eventually signed and parties agreed that discussions on the implementation of the agreement shall be concluded by November 2011, but the government again reneged.
Again, the government in the MoU agreed to meet funding requirement for revitalising universities; Federal Government’s assistance to state universities; progressive increase of annual budgetary allocation to education to 26 per cent between 2009 and 2020; earned academic allowances; transfer of landed properties to universities; budget monitoring committee, and setting up of research and development units by companies operating in Nigeria, among others.
What went wrong?
According to ASUU’s President, Dr. Nasir Isa, after the union had worked for an agreement that will transform the education sector, it realised that the government was insincere. ‘‘The government developed cold feet after signing the agreement. ASUU had to embark on warning strikes and an indefinite one to get the government to commence implementation of the agreement with only the salary component.
‘‘Virtually all other components that are indispensable for repositioning the universities so as to be internationally competitive were neglected. On the basis of the salary component alone, Nigeria cannot attain a globally competitiveness system; neither can the universities conduct research to produce knowledge for propelling the country to advanced science, technology, knowledge-based economy and improve quality of life for the citizenry,’’ he said.
Of the 10 items agreed by both parties in the MoU, the government in the past 16 months has only fulfilled the reinstatement of the Governing Councils of universities and the compulsory retirement age of 70 for professors
Although ASUU waited till 2011 to embark on series of strikes after the agreement, Isa recalled that ‘‘it took 50 letters, a series of warning strikes, a total and indefinite strike and over 200 meetings to get the government to renegotiate the 2001 agreement’’.
Isa said the union has lost confidence in the government, especially since it has taken the Federal Goverment since 2009 to implement the decisive provisions of the voluntary agreement, which was due for renegotiation in June last year. The confidence between ASUU and the government, he insisted, has reached a crisis point, adding that the union will not bulged unless the government fully implements the 2009 agreement.
However, the Federal Government through the Labour and Productivity Minister, Emeka wogu, had said it cannot meet ASUU’s demands and wants a renegotiation to amend contentious issues in the pact.
He had stated that the 2009 agreement was entered into by ‘another administration’, hence, making it difficult for the Goodluck Jonathan’s government to succumb to its terms.
Wogu had insisted that since the agreement predates the current administration, there was need for a renegotiation as the terms of the agreement were problematic even to the Yar’Adua’s administration. ”What we are doing now will be long standing if ASUU will give us the opportunity to continue with these negotiations that have been on-going. We made an offer to ASUU it was not acceptable to them. So the right thing for everybody to do is to come back to the negotiation table.”
Implications of the strike
The continuous strike and the near nonchalance of the government have reignited the call for the amendment of chapter two of the constitution to make socio-economic rights justiceable. Some observers believe that the incessant ASUU strikes have little or no effect on government officials and politicians, most of whom either have their wards in choice universities across the world or good private universities.
Also, these students who have been forced back home and are mostly idle may be pushed by untold hardship to crimes, thereby becoming a threat to the peace and stability of their communities.
Although the ASUU/FGN 2009 agreement is binding on the parties and can be presented before an industry court or court of competent jurisdiction if a party feels cheated, the union has refused to explore that option.
ASUU according to the chairman, University of Lagos, UNILAG chapter, Dr. Karo Ogbinaka, had explored legal options when the union took the University of Ilorin sacked lecturers’ case up to the Supreme Court and got judgment.
‘‘After so many years, the matter got to the Supreme Court and the judgment favoured ASUU because the school was ordered to reinstate the lecturers. But till date, the Federal Government has not compelled the school to obey the court ruling. As a trade Union ASUU has her legitimate right to embark on strike action as provided in labour laws. Again, the Federal Government can challenge the agreement in Court if it feels it is contentious rather than ASUU.
‘‘The Union will wait till a time the Federal Government is ready for qualitative university education. Government also has an option to sack all lecturers as Gowon did in the past, or the FG can as well remove budgetary provisions for education,’’ he said.
Another lecturer from University of Lagos, who does not want to be named, said ASUU was mindful of government’s influence on the judiciary as well as the snail pace of court proceedings.
He said: ‘‘Yes, we have an option to go to court but are not utilising it because, firstly, if we are to go to court, it will be the industry court and the first thing the court will tell us is to resume work while the matter drags on. You never can tell the number of years it will take for the matter to be concluded.
‘‘We know parents are worried and want their children back to school. My children and those of most lecturers are also at home. Parents should look beyond their children graduating in the shortest possible time but consider the quality of education they receive.
‘‘Most of the facilities, including hostels we have in UNILAG were donated by private individuals or corporate bodies. What has the government done? Lecturers go to teach with their own material and equipment, those who do not have will just go to the classroom and theorise. Is that what we call education?’’ he queried.
The way forward
In as much as citizens cannot drag the government to court for the enforcement of their rights to qualitative education, they have constitutional backing to engage in non-violent protest to demand such rights.
To former Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Edo State, Dr. Osagie Obayuwana, the agreement though binding, was beyond a contract, the breech of which can simply force a party to court for enforcement or one that is subject to the scriptures of the Trade Dispute Act.
‘‘Nigeria is our own, it is ours to transform. The questions are why not now and why not start with education which is all important?
‘‘The constitution recognises the right to protest in favour of good governance, non-violently, which is what ASUU is doing by withdrawing its services. More groups I believe should add their voices and support ASUU rather than appeal to the union to have a rethink because it will mean telling them to love Nigeria less.
‘‘If the agreement between ASUU and the government, which took so much effort to be drawn and signed was intended to be implemented, one would have expected that since 2009, various budgetary allocations would have been made to address aspects of the agreement incrementally
‘‘To reduce the issues to allowances as some public officials have done is to cheapen the call for a fundamental change in attitude to matters most important to national redemption,’’ he said.
Obayuwana noted that important as the issue of earned allowances are, the more fundamental issues raised by the union relates to job satisfaction, as those who chose to work as lecturers did so in order to contribute to the much needed manpower development for the country.
‘‘Other aspects of the agreement relates to environment like research facilities, lecture halls and conditions under which students, who are the immediate beneficiaries of services rendered by the lecturers live and learn. Having to do with hungry students, who live in overcrowded hostels, who cannot for lack of water, take their bath before coming to receive lectures in poorly lit, overcrowded and dilapidated halls while standing.
‘‘The ASUU strike is thus, a crying out in anguish by committed patriots because the situation in the education sector certainly does not need to be like this. It does not require rocket science or any form of wizardry to address the issues raised. All that is needed is the will and commitment on the part of government,’’ Obayuwana added.
