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Tag: staff schools

  • Union opposes planned restructuring of staff schools

    Union opposes planned restructuring of staff schools

    The Senior Staff Union of Nigerian Universities, Lagos State University (SSANU-LASU) has urged the state government to halt the planned de-harmonisation of its staff in primary schools.

    The plan include severing the  primary schools from the university’s administration and giving it workers a different salary scale. This, the union warned, may plunge the university into a fresh crisis.

    SSANU said the planned exercise amounted to a breach of the 2009 agreement with the Federal Government.

    In an exclusive interview with The Nation, SSANU-LASU Chairman, Comrade Saheed Oseni,  described the plan as uncalled for, saying no state university has embarked on such action since the signing of the agreement about six years ago.

    ”We are using this opportunity to call on the state government not to truncate the peace that has gradually returned to LASU.  SSANU rejects this policy in its entirety because it will inflict more hardship on our members. This means our members will now be moved away to earn a new salary structure, which will no doubt be less.

    “Government should know that this is a university and not a civil service. Our members are paid on Consolidated University Non-Academic Salary Scale (CONUNASS) and we want that to remain,” Oseni said.

    He said the Union was suprised when the university management reached out to them a fortnight ago, drawing their attention to the memo from the state with the title: ‘De-harmonisation of Staff Salary School Teachers from University Salary Scale’

    He recalled that in December, three federal universities embarked on such action, adding that the national SSANU promptly rose against it, embarking on a strike, which was later ‘suspended’ last month on the directive of the National Administrative Committee of SSANU, which met with the Federal Ministry of Labour & Employment, which referred the matter to the National Industrial Court.

    ”So, what we are saying is: ‘Why can’t Lagos State Government wait for the outcome of the matter at the industrial court before rushing to pass the directive on our members? We are all awaiting the interpretation of that agreement, which will be binding on all parties,” Oseni said.

    He said there was no gainsaying the fact that staff school serves as demonstration school to the universities’ Faculty of Education, and most of those teachers there have no less than masters degrees, while some are doing their Ph.D.

    His words: “Government says they want to de-harmonise staff schools because they are on CONUNASS, but they forget that many of them have trained and graduated children some of whom have today earned their Ph.Ds or even become professors.

    “Now let’s assume a child graduated from staff school primary school and later came back to join the service of the university, rose through the ranks and became a professor, while those teachers, who made him what he is several years ago are still in the system and are now earning peanut,  won’t that bring inferiority complex on those teachers?”

  • Staff schools’ status row deepens at FUTA, others

    Staff schools’ status row deepens at FUTA, others

    •Protest rocks institution over sacked workers

    Since  the Federal Government issued the directive last June, its universities have known no peace. It asked the universities to sack workers of their staff primary and secondary schools, because it could no longer pay their salaries.

    The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU); Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Allied Institutions (NASU) and Federal Universities Staff Schools Association of Nigeria (FUSSAN) kicked against the directive.

    The associations argued that the schools, which charge minimal fees, are for the workers’ benefit, noting that the teachers were employed by the universities, not by the schools.

    The workers had hoped that the matter would be resolved before the December 2015 deadline given to the vice chancellors (VCs) of the 30 federal universities to implement the directive.  But, with some universities, such as,  Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), and Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), issuing staff schools’ workers letters, the fear of sack has gripped their counterparts in other institutions.

    There has been disquiet in FUTA,  since its staff schools were shut.  The institution’s SSANU and NASU chapters and teachers have protested on three occasions since December 18 when the sack letters were issued to 45 workers of the staff school.  The SSANU leadership participated in one of the protests held last January 15.  The union has taken up the fight of the staff school workers and has been on an indefinite strike since December 24 that its President, Samson Ngwoke, said would not be called off until the government rescinds its decision.

    Since schools resumed for the second term of the 2015/2016 academic session on January I1, the FUTA Staff School has not run smoothly.

    One of the sacked workers, Mr. Olabisi Olurotimi said following the protests, the university has shut the school.

    He also said though the sacked workers resume daily, they are not allowed into the premises.

    “We have been resuming to our work by staying around the school gate as early as 7.30 a.m and also leave the place by 1.30pm.

    “The management has denied us entrance into the school. We are in pain and we are praying that God listens to us,” he said.

    On why he did not re-apply for the job, Olurotimi said the workers were directed by their lawyers not to do so since the matter is still pending in court.

    “Our lawyers said we should not re-apply for the job; that doing that will make us to lose the case in the court because we are under government not a private sector,” he said.

    The  FUTA Public Relations Officer, Mr. Sulaiman Adegbenro however confirmed that the Head Teacher and Deputy Head
    Teacher of the Staff School re-applied for their posts immediately the management published a vacancy advert in the dailies.

    Prof Daramola
    Prof Daramola

    The Vice Chancellor (VC), Prof Adebiyi Daramola’s explanation about the university establishing a board to run the school and the directive to the sacked workers to re-apply have been described as excuses to run the school to serve his own purpose.

    Ugwoke accused Daramola of being overzealous.  He also called for the immediate sack of the Executive Chairman of National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (CNSIWC), Chief Richard Egbule, and the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof Julius Okojie.

    He said the sack was contrary to the agreement the union had with the government in 2009 and faulted Okojie for directing VCs to stop the salaries of Staff School teachers despite the provision for a re-negotiation of the said agreement.

    He said: “The directive negates the spirit and conditions of the SSANU/Federal Government agreement of 2009, where it was agreed that the full capital and recurrent costs of University Staff Primary Schools would be funded by the Federal Government through the universities Councils.

    “It appears FUTA has taken the lead in implanting this evil project conceptualised by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission because of the morbid and sadistic disposition of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Daramola.

    “The Vice-Chancellor of FUTA may talk away his misguided action by saying he is only implementing government directive. Is he the only Vice-Chancellor in Nigeria? Why haven’t other universities gone the way of FUTA? Why is FUTA in the forefront of this evil?”

    SSANU President, Ngwoke
    SSANU President, Ngwoke

    The FUTA SSANU Chairman, Mr Benedict Chukwudi, questioned why the Federal Government wants to sack 2,000 staff school workers nationwide when it is still funding schools run by security agencies.

    “I don’t know why the government has decided to pounce on the University Staff School workers because the Navy, Police and other staff schools are still being paid by the government,” he said.

    On his part, NASU Chairman, FUTA Chapter, Mr Adebayo Aladerotohun, claimed that the FUTA VC had ulterior motive.

    He said: “It appears that Prof. Daramola has ulterior motive in this matter beyond what the Federal Government asked him to do because it is only FUTA that has taken this matter to the extreme.

    “He has advertised to Nigerians that he wants to recruit another set of teachers there but we learnt that he has employed his relatives to take up the jobs. We asked him to let the union dialogue with the government but he refused and went ahead to sack the teachers so as to employ inexperienced ones.”

    However, the Vice Chancellor refuted the claim. He insisted the university followed due process.

    Daramola said: “The issue is not a matter peculiar to FUTA.  It is a national matter and in handling it the Management of FUTA has followed due process in the implementation of a directive from the Federal Government relating to the discontinuance of funding of primary schools being run by Federal universities and allied Institutions.

    “A circular from the Federal Government to this effect was conveyed to the management of FUTA.  After a thorough appraisal of the Federal Government Circular which precluded personnel/teachers of primary school affiliated to institutions/agencies from being included in the nominal roll as from January 2016, FUTA management sought the approval of the Governing Council to make the primary school independent of government funding in order to ensure that it is in a position to pay the salaries of teachers and personnel in its employ.”

    While saying that the university management provided a soft landing for the affected teachers as they were allowed to re-apply for their jobs, the VC lamented that the union ordered them not to re-apply.

    Daramola also said that the union rejected the Governing Council’s approval that the university pays the salaries of the workers while they continue their work.

    He warned the disengaged teachers not to cause unnecessary crisis in the university.

    At the UNILORIN Staff School, The Nation gathered that the pupils were being taught by students of the university’s education faculty.

    One of the affected teachers (names withheld) said about 86 of them were served sack letters December 1, 2015.

    He was, however, hopeful that SSANU would intervene

    “With the intervention of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), we are hopeful that the federal government will reverse its directive on that issue.

    “I am aware that Federal Government may have a rethink on the matter. What is curious is that management of the University of Ilorin said we should reapply for our posts.  The retrenchment has affected my financial situation,” he said.

    The Nation also learnt that university has advertised for new teachers replace those sacked.

    But the university authorities dismissed the allegation, arguing that the sacked teachers agreed to work in the school in the next one month hoping that the Federal Government would rescind its decision.

    At the UDUS, The Nation learnt that the university management sacked workers of its primary and secondary schools about seven months ago and recruited fresh hands to be paid with its internally generated revenue.

    “The workers had been sacked since seven months ago but they decided to take the matter to court through SSANU. As I am talking to you now, the matter is in court”, a source said.

    Workers at the University of Calabar Staff School have not received sack letters, but the Deputy Head Master (Administration), Deacon Mbu Moses Mbu says they are worried.

    “I know that some teachers have been sacked in some schools, but it has not affected us here in Calabar.  The situation is a bad one. We are very uncomfortable. Our morale is down because we know there is nothing the politicians cannot do, even when they do not have the right.

    “We always say that we were employed like any other staff in the university, but the jungle justice these days is that if they push you out, you will not have enough strength to fight them. The ones sent are struggling and I don’t see them overcoming, because it may sum up to spending a lot of money hiring lawyers they cannot pay. We hope it does not degenerate to a point where we would be thrown out.” he said.

    On his part, the President, Federal Universities Staff Schools Association of Nigeria, Rev Chidi Nwakpa, urged the government to reverse the decision as he said the workers involved are not many.

    “I believe it is not a proper thing. It is not good because if the Federal Government is talking about recruiting 500, 000 teachers, promoting primary education and encouraging education at the primary school level, I don’t think it is right for anyone to issue any sack letters.

    “I would want to plead with the Federal Government to look at this at once. We are not so many. But when you talk about the level of corruption in the system, the money being paid to these teachers is not up to what one person has taken. We did not commit any crime to be employed in the staff schools. The Federal Government should withdraw that letter, recall all the teachers they sacked and let us have some peace in our schools and university system, because the current strike action is not helping anybody and not helping matters,” he said.

    SSANU Chairman, University of Lagos chapter, Mr Adekola Adetomiwa, said with the Treasury Single Account (TSA), the staff schools would lose more if disarticulated because he said the Federal Government would collect the revenue generated from the schools, which, at UNILAG, runs into millions yet refuse to pay salaries.

    He said: “All the money has been taken by government in the TSA. It was a directive of the Jonathan administration, but Buhari is implementing it. So Buhari now has access to N1.4 trillion. How will you now take the money of staff schools, which is about N400 million and put it in Federal Government’s account; take N650 million from International School, put it in Federal Government’s account?  This is money paid by parents. You would now say the Federal Government would not pay their salary! That is a poor tradition.

    “Before, the government did not have access to the Ministry Departments and Agencies (MDA) fund and they were paying salaries of these people. Universities are under agencies. Now that you now have N1.4 trillion, you don’t want to pay the salaries. The question is how much do you pay these people within a year? It is about N3 billion – compared to the entire N1.4 trillion; compared to the budget of the National Assembly which is about N175 billion; compared to the nation’s budget which is N6.01 trillion.

    “So, you see the government is about to make a very serious mistake. That is why we are calling on the president and the minister for education, Adamu Adamu to make sure that staff are not removed from the payroll.”

    The SSANU leadership is expected to meet with the Minister on the matter this week.  Only time will tell how the issue will be resolved.

  • Contentious staff schools

    •Universities should learn to make staff schools fend for themselves

    The imminent crisis between universities and the Federal Government over staff schools can be averted. The National Universities Commission (NUC), as the regulatory body that oversees the affairs of universities in the country has reportedly, through a recent circular, signified government’s plan to withdraw from paying salaries of teachers of staff primary schools in the nation’s universities.

    The NUC, in its bid to achieve this goal, has directed the National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWG), to stop allocating, forthwith, monies from the Federation Account for staff schools’ teachers of the various universities. The decision is to curtail Federal Government’s huge spending of over N4 billion salaries of universities’ owned primary staff school teachers.

    The NUC’s decision has incurred the wrath of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU). The two unions are demanding the withdrawal of the policy; otherwise, they go on strike. Both are claiming the idea to be against a 2009 FG/SSANU agreement and the law establishing the staff schools. They also believe that it could lead to loss of jobs for over 2,000 teachers. But the NUC affirmatively responded that their host institutions should fund the staff schools, established by ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) as private enterprises.

    The contentious issue bothering the tertiary institutions’ trade unions is government’s transferred burden when payment of salaries of their staff schools is stopped. The implication isthat the universities will now have to source for funding, on their own, to sustain the schools as private enterprises. But it may not be entirely true that without these staff schools, the universities will not be whole in activities, substance and autonomy.

    We agree that the current practice of funding university staff schools from the public till dates back to pre-independence era. It is also true that other institutions like NIPSS own such staff schools funded by government. The university union’s argument could only jell if they had fought for the withdrawal of the Federal Government’s involvement in the payment, also from the public till, of similarly owned staff schools. The only exception being military and police staff primary schools in the Army, Navy, Air Force and police barracks because of their being creations of special laws.

    The universities, rather than engage in another needless tango with government, should exploit one option: Because of sustenance of standards in the schools, they should seek for means of taking up funding of their teachers’ salaries by raising money from, say collection of fees.

    The universities should be aware that for a society to make progress, its institutions of which they are a salient part, must be able to identify with its public policy reforms from time to time. And more importantly, for them to also develop the capacity to absorb the shocks from whatever becomes the aftermath. We want ASUU and SSANU to see the decision of NUC on withdrawal of government’s involvement in payment of universities staff schools’ salaries as a wake-up call to attune universities to the need to take up responsibility over what they own and should control.

    The point has been made that the wards of the university teachers should enjoy the privilege of these schools. That line of thought is too self-serving in a way that contradicts the university as an institution that forbids elitism.

    The argument that the university is removed from the society as a sort of Joycean island does no credit to the ivory tower concept as society’s great monitor.

    The new order should inspire a creative approach that members of that comunity have always asked of government.

  • Teachers to govt: don’t kill staff schools

    Teachers to govt: don’t kill staff schools

    Will federal universities’ staff schools survive if the government stops their funding? This is the puzzle to which the workers are seeking an answer. To protect its members, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has taken up the fight for the government to continue funding the schools.

    The association’s chapters nationwide have taken to the streets in protest.  Tagging it a ploy to privatise the schools, they fear that it would lead to workers’ downsizing fee hike and hardship for the communities they serve.

     

    Effect on workers

    With the teachers on the same salary scale with universities’ non-academic staff, salary cuts, and or sack, would be inevitable if the plan sails through.  Some of the schools have no fewer than 100 workers, while fees charged on the average is less than N10,000 per term.

    Faulting the plan, Federal Universities Staff Schools Association of Nigeria, President  Rev Chidi Nwakpa said the government would be throwing into the labour market highly qualified people who are productive – unlike many civil servants.

    “You talked about the issue of the loss of jobs. All the dependants of those who will be affected would suffer. So I think it is a bad idea. The Federal Government should think about it and allow it. After all, how much is it? There are federal civil servants who are just there. They go to the office twice or thrice a month and still collect their salary. But these people are training the future generations of tomorrow. A lot of people that have passed through the staff schools are doctors, professors, lecturers and many other areas of life. Why must it be the staff schools that are singled out for this kind of punishment?

    Chairman of SSANU, University of Ibadan chapter, Comrade Wale Akinremi added that the job loss would not only affect the teachers but the quality of education in the schools.

    “If the school is run independently, it will lead to hike in fees and the staff strength will be downsized, which means that staff will be sacked and even the quality of education in the staff schools will be weak,” he said.

    Describing the plan to privatise the schools as unfair to the workers, Nwakpa explained that many staff school teachers were interviewed like lecturers but posted to the staff school.

    “We have the same qualifications as our colleagues in the university system. Some of us even have higher qualifications. We have those with Masters and PhD. We were all interviewed at the same time and then sent to the staff schools. We did not commit any crime to be posted to staff schools. The Federal Government should have a rethink. By the time they do that, there could be disharmony and problems and it would not be a good thing for our universities,” he said.

    Lending credence to Nwakpa’s claim, Deacon Mbu Moses Mbu, Deputy Head Master (Administration), University of Calabar (UNICAL) Staff School, said the staff schools are regarded as extensions of the universities and their workers should continue being treated as such.

    “The least teaching staff in this school has a first degree. We were employed same as those teaching in the university, because this school is an integral department of the University of Calabar. We are employed by NUC as our colleagues who are lecturers,” he said.

    When it came to how much staff school workers earn, many interviewed declined talking about their salaries.

    Volunteering some information, however, SSANU chairman, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU) chapter, Comrade Ken Njoku, said teachers of the staff schools are engaged under the salary structure of universities on the same cadre of non academic members of staff.

    He said the condition of service of the teachers would no longer be the same if the Federal Government removes them from the management of the university structure.

    Giving specific figures, Mbu said salaries range between N84,000 and N300,000.

    “A first-degree holder who is a starter here is placed on CONTISS 7. If it is step one, I think it is a minimum of N84,000. Also, it depends on how long the person has been here and his level. The highest is CONTISS 13, who goes home with almost N300,000 everything put together,” he said.

    UNILAG SSANU Chairman Mr Adekola Adetomiwa added that salaries of the 82 teaching staff at the UNILAG Staff School range from N110,000 to N236,000 per month.

     

    Effect on fees/universities

    To sustain the kind of salaries they presently earn if privatised, Mbu said the staff schools would have to charge higher fees.

    “You can imagine how high fees would be if the school is privatized,” he said.

    However, increasing the fees would likely make it difficult for the schools to attract enough pupils given that they were set up to provide quality but affordable education for children of workers and members of the host communities of institutions.  Another factor is their location – faraway from city centres where many of the upwardly mobile who can afford the fees reside.

    Underscoring this point, Njoku said removing the schools from the universities would lead to fee hike beyond the reach of average university worker.

    “Now you know that most universities are separated from the city centres in many places. They are far from cities. And now you have these schools specially for them and the immediate environment where they are located and it is subsidized.

    “Talking about the schools running themselves would mean making education beyond the reach of parents, just like in the private schools where they charge a lot of money. If you say it should be independent, it would mean a hike in school fees and that would mean a lot of children would not have the opportunity of going to school. It would come at a high price,” he said.

    Save for a development levy of N5,000, Adetomiwa said children of the workers do not pay fees at the UNILAG Staff School. Outsiders pay N25,000 per term.  With privatisation, he said the fees would be unaffordable.

    He said: “The primary schools are funded by the federal government, 100 per cent, both in recurrent and capital expenditure. That is SSANU’s agreement with the government. But for the International School, UNILAG (ISL), the recurrent expenditure is borne by parents, according to our agreement with them, while the capital expenditure is funded by the government.

    “In secondary school, outsiders pay N150, 000, lecturers that have children pay N45,000 and retired staff members pay N125,000, which is 75 per cent of the school fees.

    “ISL can run on its own. But the Staff School is completely funded by the government. They do not pay any fees but the development levy of N5,000 for the staff with children there, while outsiders pay N25,000, each per term.

    “The issues to consider is that now, the staff are not really paying fees, but if the privitisation takes place, this benefit enjoyed by the staff would be eliminated and they would be paying the same amount as outsiders. That means that the staff school, which is the primary school, staffs would pay close to N30, 000.”

    Another argument the workers are putting up against the privatization of staff schools is that their role as demonstration laboratories for education faculties would end.

    Without such Federal Government funding, they would die, said UI SSANU chair, Akinremi.

    “No university staff schools can stand on its own. It was established by the university council to also serve as a laboratory for student of faculty of education,” he said.

    A senior member of staff of the UNILAG Staff School (names withheld), told The Nation that it would be a great loss to students studying education in the university.

    “The staff school serves as a demonstration laboratory for students of the faculty of education, which is an integral part of their degree.  Hence, separating the schools from the universities would deter the system,” the source said.

     

    Effect on the schools: The NINLAN case study

    Njoku warns that if Federal Government’s plans sail through, many staff schools “most of the schools may be forced to close down”, arguing that they would not break even.

    Mr. Adibe Chukwudi, Principal of the National Institute of Nigerian Languages (NINLAN) Demonstration Secondary School, New Umuahia road, Aba, Abia State, understands what Njoku is talking about as his school is facing difficulties without government funding.

    Though owned by the Federal Government, NINLAN Staff School has been funded by the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the institute in the past 15 years, which is grossly inadequate.

    Speaking on behalf of the principal, Dr I. J Amajuoyi, the Vice principal of the school, said that the fees charged (N30, 000 as boarding fees and N35, 000 as tuition fees per term) is inadequate to cater for 54 teaching and 26 non-teaching staff on its pay roll.

    With the difficulties in running the school, he said it would be better the Federal Government continues funding staff school.  He also appealed to the government to take over funding of the school like in the past so it can expand facilities and pay better wages.

    He said: “I don’t subscribe to the running of the school through IGR because the IGR is not really carrying the school. For a very long time, we have been static.  There has not been any form of promotion. Some of the legitimate demands of the staff have not been met because we have always been told that the school doesn’t have money. If we say, let us increase the fees in such a way that it will carry some of our demands, most students will drop out.

    “Our members of staff have also developed themselves such that you have people with higher degrees, but what you are paid at the end of the month is not commensurate with the present qualification. If I should tell you my salary as a doctorate degree holder, you will be shocked.

    “To further tell you the need for federal government to take over this place, as it stands now, all of us; both old and new staff are placed on the same salary. The only difference for people like me that have put 19 years in this job with the ones newly employed is just one step with N2000:00 difference.

    “My school in particular has been looking forward to the federal government taking over the running of the school because severally we have talked to the Executive Director of the main institute to integrate the staff of the administration secondary school into the institute’s pay roll because presently, we are paid from the IGR the school generates.

    “Our school from the inception was part of the institute; we were pay rolled together until 2000 when we were separated from the institute with a separate salary structure being prepared for the secondary school and as years goes by, we seems to remain where we have been.

    “We have been lobbying and talking to the executive director to reintegrate us because some Demonstration staff schools like Michael Okpara, University of Uyo, UNN, UNEC amongst others have been integrated. So our case here is very different. So, we are championing for the taking over the running of the school by the federal government”.

    Head Teacher Lagos State University (LASU) Staff School Mrs Adeoloa Aribike, sees the government’s proposed action as a clarion call for universities staff school nationwide to resist what she fears might trickle down to state-owned universities if it eventually succeeds.

    “What is the problem they have with us (teachers), what crime have we committed?” Aribike asked rhetorically.

    “Is it not the same certificates that we have that people in other professions also have? We even have some of our colleagues doing their PhD yet prefer to stay put here. Now having put in many years into service, government suddenly woke up and said they should go. Does government want to be carrying corpses on the road?

    Aribike a foundational member of the 28-year-old school, thanked LASU management for paying the salary of workers whose population she said, currently stands at 31. “Management also places workers’ salary with the same salary structure of the university,” she added.

  • SSANU protests privitisation of staff schools

    SSANU protests privitisation of staff schools

    THE Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has staged a protest against the proposed government circular to remove University Staff Primary Schools from the nominal payrolls of the universities and government’s treasury.

    Members of the union met yesterday at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) multipurpose hall, where they held a congress, displayed placards and sang solidarity songs to express their stand on the issue.

    Addressing the union and chairing the congress, National Vice President of SSANU, Comrade Alfred Jimoh, said implementation of such directive would translate into privitisation of the universities’ staff schools, which meant a threat to the jobs of the staff of the schools.

    He said: “SSANU took its stance on the report. It is repugnant, in bad taste and offensive to the background, history, establishment and mandates of educational institutions in Nigeria and all over the world.

    “The implementation of such a directive would not only run contrary to the purpose of the creation of universities, but would undermine the prevailing industrial peace existing in the Nigerian university system and compromise its stability.”

    Jimoh said the directive was a breach of the agreement between the Federal Government and SSANU in 2009, which states that “the university shall bear full capital and recurrent cost of university staff primary schools.”

    He criticised Prof. Julius Okojie and a Federal Ministry of Education’s official, Ebenezer Fayemi, as the perpetrators of the government plans and called for their immediate sack.

    According to the union, the intentions of government concerning university staff schools, was inconsistent with the mantra of the present government to create one million jobs.

    The union declared that it would defend the agreement concerning the funding of the staff schools from the treasury of the universities “with everything within its powers, including protests, and other measures of industrial action.”

    The Chairman of SSANU, UNILAG, Comrade Adekola Adetomiwa, said since the staff schools of the Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Police Affairs and Ministry of Education’s 102 Unity Schools were also being funded from the treasury, there was no reason to single out university staff schools from doing the same.

    To him, the N2 billion annual budget allocated to the 24 universities that fund their staff schools was of little burden to the government, in comparison with the N100 billion spent on the Army and Police Staff Schools.

    He said about 5,000 workers could be thrown into the labour market, if the directive is followed.