24th May, 2024
By Ibukun Emiola
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has decried the silent treatment of the Federal Government (FG) and called for the implementation of the Late Nimi Briggs-led renegotiated agreement.
The Ibadan Zonal Coordinator, ASUU, Prof. Oyebamiji Oyegoke, said this in the company of other chairpersons in the zone at a news conference in Ibadan on Friday.
Oyegoke said the negotiated salary of its members had not changed since 2009 as the government had yet to commit itself to negotiated welfare packages for the academic staff.
He identified the pending issues as non-completion of the renegotiated 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement; inadequate funding of public universities; and non-release of arrears of the Earned Academic Allowances (EAA).
Others are the albatross of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), the proliferation of universities, the arbitrary dissolution of governing councils of public universities and dictatorship in some Nigerian universities.
Oyegoke lamented the high number of deaths recorded due to overwork and poor remuneration, saying it lost 60 members from Nov. 2023 till Feb. 2024 apart from the attrition being experienced.
“We, therefore, call on the Tinubu-led administration to immediately set in motion the process of signing and implementing the Late Nimi Briggs-led renegotiated agreement.
“ASUU condemns this draconian silence of federal and state governments about this issue that has led to avoidable deaths of many members of our union across the campuses.
“We hope our union will not be forced to take some unpleasant decisions to address these lingering issues,” he said.
The union, via its zonal coordinator, also enjoined the FG to adhere strictly to the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) Establishment Act and ensure proper funding of public universities.
“Government should revert to quarterly releases of university subventions to enable the institutions to design and implement their salary payment plans under the supervision of their Governing Councils,” he said.
He decried the dissolution of governing councils in public universities whose tenure had not been completed, calling for their reinstatement.
Oyegoke also urged both federal and state governments to pay the accumulated promotion arrears, just as it decried nominal promotions without financial backing.
He called for the end of what it termed dictatorship in some public universities and the reversal of injustice against its members as well as reinstating and adequately compensating those sacked.
“For the umpteenth time, our union is calling on well-meaning Nigerians, opinion leaders, traditional and religious leaders, media, labour movements, students’ groups and civil society organisations to prevail on federal and state governments to see through our patriotic demands.
“It is aimed at rescuing the education sector from the abyss into which ‘anti-educational forces’ want to plunge it,” Oyegoke said.