The Academic Staff Union of Universities on Friday called on President Bola Tinubu to take immediate action to prevent public universities from descending into another extended strike.
According to The PUNCH, this plea was made by the ASUU Chairman of the Lagos Zone, Prof. Adelaja Odukoya, during a press conference at the ASUU Secretariat of Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye.
The union urged influential Nigerians to persuade President Tinubu to address the critical state of public universities and the legitimate demands of lecturers regarding university funding and other welfare issues.
According to the union, the government’s failure to meet its financial obligations to public universities is perilous and threatens to further destabilize the education sector.
The briefing was attended by ASUU leaders from various institutions, including Tai Solarin University of Education, Ijagun, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Lagos State University, University of Lagos, and Olabisi Onabanjo University.
Prof. Odukoya expressed deep disappointment that the current administration has neglected adequate university funding, maintaining the insufficient support that has led to the dire conditions within these institutions.
He warned that the universities might soon embark on another prolonged strike due to the Federal Government’s refusal to sign and implement the re-negotiated FGN/ASUU Agreement, non-payment of Earned Academic Allowances, and arrears of promotion.
Additional concerns include the non-release of third-party deductions, the government’s failure to act on the recommendations of the White Papers on Visitation Panels to Federal Universities, and the unresolved issue of unchecked establishment of new universities.
ASUU strongly criticized the federal and state governments for creating more universities without properly funding existing ones, arguing that this only leads to redundant responsibilities and increased overhead costs.
The union suggested that instead of establishing new universities, the government should focus on expanding the capacity of existing institutions to accommodate more students and enhance academic programs.
The union said “Regrettably Visitors of Federal and State universities have turned the establishment of universities into constituency projects.
“This development is obviously harmful, retrogressive, and unacceptable. Our Union hereby calls for the review and strengthening of the NUC laws to arrest the negative trends”.
Odukoya said “The deliberate refusal of the Tinubu-led Federal Government to sign and implement the concluded renegotiated 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement is a criminal violation of the Collective Bargaining principles as enshrined in the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention.
“The renegotiated agreement was concluded in 2021 after five years of renegotiation for which both the Government and ASUU committed massive resources, with the hope of achieving a reversal of the dwindling fortune of our Universities as the apex agency of human capacity development.
“With the deliberate refusal of the Federal Government to sign and implement the renegotiated Agreement, our members have been stretched beyond their elastic limit of patience and our union urges the Tinubu-led Federal Government to without further delay, set in motion machinery for the immediate signing and implementation of the renegotiated Agreement to avoid another round of industrial crises in our public universities”.
The union also called for the abolition of the IPPIS payment system, labeling it a source of centralized corruption that undermines the university’s autonomy and complicates life for lecturers.
Prof. Odukoya remarked that, despite government announcements about removing universities from the IPPIS, the persistent refusal of government and ministry officials to transition the University Payroll System away from this platform is unfortunate, condemnable, and indicative of Nigeria’s drift towards lawlessness.
The union further criticized the Federal Government for failing to pay its members’ salaries for three and a half months and for not settling the outstanding Earned Academic Allowances dating back to 2020.
ASUU highlighted that the government’s failure to meet its financial responsibilities has subjected its members to severe financial hardships, exacerbated by the current economic challenges.
“The issues in contentions do not require rock science to resolve. All the issues in contention can be immediately resolved if President Tinubu as the Commander-in-Chief would perform the functions of his office by immediately interfacing directly with the leadership of our Union.
“The President should make good his promise to the Nigerian Nation that “No child of school age would stay at home due to avoidable industrial unrest in our ivory towers.
“Our union demands that all withheld deductions; unpaid promotion arrears; unpaid salaries of staff on sabbatical, adjunct, etc. be paid in the interest of peace in the Nigerian University System.
“Our union once again as part of her intellectual contribution to national development offers the immediate adoption by the Federal Government of the more economical, robust, and efficient University Transparency and Accountability Solution to replace the illegal, widely rejected, and corruption-infested IPPIS,” Odulaja said.
