Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, on Tuesday, staged protests nationwide and warned of impending strike if the government refused to act on agreements signed with the union.
The union called off its last strike, which lasted eight months, on October 14, 2022, after the National Industrial Court ruled against it and following the interventions by the religious bodies and the former Speaker of the House of Representatives and now Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila.
However, the immediate-past President Muhammadu Buhari administration did not pay their salaries for the period, as it upheld the ‘no work, no pay’ rule and insisted on payment through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.
On assumption of office, President Bola Tinubu promised to look into the payment of the withheld salaries of the lecturers, and, on February 19, 2024, the Federal Government began the payment of four-month withheld salaries to members of the union.
Not satisfied, the union demanded the full payment of their salaries for the eight months, rejected the newly-constituted governing councils and also called on the Federal Government to implement the 2009 Nimi Briggs committee’ renegotiated 2009 agreement.
On Tuesday, ASUU members nationwide marched through their campuses, bearing placards with various inscriptions and asked the Federal Government to return to the negotiating table with the union.
At the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, the lecturers, who carried placards with inscriptions such as, “IPPIS is a scam,” “pay all our outstanding promotion arrears,” “FG give our children proper education,” among others, were led by the ASUU Akure Zone Coordinator, Dr Adeola Egbetokun and the OAU branch chairman, Prof. Anthony Odiwe.
The union warned of impending industrial unrest on campuses unless the Federal Government returned to the negotiation table.
It listed funding for the revitalisation of public universities, based on the FGN-ASUU MoU of 2012, 2013, and the MoA of 2017; renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement; release of the unpaid salaries of staff on sabbatical, adjunct, etc. due to IPPIS; payment of promotion arrears and the payment of earned allowance as some of its demands.
It demanded a stop to the proliferation of public universities, implementation of the reports of the visitation panels, illegal dissolution of governing councils in federal and state universities, implementation of University Transparency and Accountability Solution in place of IPPIS and release of third-party deductions as other demands.
The lecturers also demanded the intervention of well-meaning Nigerians before the current agitations would lead to an industrial action.
Addressing journalists during the protest, Odiwe said the release of four months out of pending months owed the lecturers by the Federal Government was like a Greek gift, as the third-party deductions taken from their salaries were not remitted to the appropriate quarters.
He said even though the union expressed a desire for negotiation, the Federal Government refused to initiate talks with ASUU over pending unmet agreements between the parties.
“We are today compelled to call the attention of Nigerians and the government to the challenges that have been working against the development and progress of university education in the country. It is important to state that all the issues that had always forced our members to embark on strike are still unattended till now,” he said.
He added, “The union was very open and hopeful at the beginning that the government of President Bola Tinubu would address the issues, especially with the posture and utterances of M President that strike will be a thing of the past in our system.
“Unfortunately, the same government has refused to relate with us officially in the last year. Given this, the union has decided to take this matter to the public space again, so that Nigerians will be properly informed.”
Speaking in a similar vein, Egbetokun decried the poor working conditions in the nation’s universities and called for an immediate favourable response from the Federal Government to avert industrial crises.
At the University of Ilorin branch of the union, the lecturers said they would prefer the implementation of the FGN-ASUU renegotiation of the 2009 agreement to accepting the 25 per cent wage award for its members.
The branch chairman, Dr Alex Akanmu, speaking during the protest on the campus, lamented that none of the union’s demands had been implemented by the government since the last strike was called off.
He lamented that moving from Babalakin to Jubril and the late Briggs committees, the union had remained in the same spot of failed promises and deceit from the government.
“The consequences of this needless and prolonged negotiation are, first, the avoidable exodus of scholars and, second, low morale of the workforce who are left behind in giving the very best to the system.
“We, therefore, call on the government to, without further delay, sign and execute the Briggs’s report, which itself will be due for review in a short time from now. Government should be aware that there is nowhere in the world where wage awards replace negotiated wages,” he said.
The union also rejected using the IPPIS system to pay its members salary as it said the system was ineffective and fraught with corruption and fraud.
At the Benue State University campus in Makurdi, some members marched in a peaceful protest within the campus.
Addressing journalists after the protests, the ASUU Secretary, BSU chapter, Terrumun Gajir, decried the neglect of public universities in the country by successive administrations.
Gajir stated that the attitude of the present administration since assumption of office had shown that improving public universities was not a priority, adding that since the Federal Government ordered the removal of ASUU members from the IPPIS, the government had continued to adopt the payment system for its members.
The BSU secretary also called on the government to pay the four months withheld salaries to the lecturers.
The University of Port Harcourt branch of ASUU decried the failure of the Federal Government to review the condition of works for its members, lamenting that 325 of the senior lecturers promoted as professors had yet to receive their promotion arrears for 30 to 40 months.
The UNIPORT ASUU Chairman, Darlington Chima, at a news briefing before the protest in Port Harcourt, called on well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on the Federal Government to avoid another round of crisis in the universities.
Chima, who read the text of the briefing he jointly signed with the Secretary of the union, Salem Ejeba, after a meeting with students, parents and some opinion leaders, lamented that the rot in the universities had continued unabated.
On the campus of the Federal University of Kashere in Gombe State, ASUU members said they were ailing over work-related stress, as they urged the Federal Government to prioritise their welfare by renegotiating 2009 agreements.
After a protest march to the chancellery, where a letter was delivered to the Vice-Chancellor, Prof Umaru Pate, received on his behalf by Prof. S. Kela, the ASUU- FUK chairman, Comrade Shehu El-Rasheed, said the meeting discussed the current state of the unions’ struggle to better the welfare of its members and enhance the working conditions of public universities in the country.
He said it was sad to note that some members were nursing different life-threatening ailments as a result of work-related stress and chronic pauperisation arising from the failure of the government to pay their withheld salaries and earned academic allowance.
He lamented that members of the academics in Nigerian public universities had been on the same salary regime since 2009 when the Naira/Dollar exchange rate was barely N120/$1, adding that today, the Naira/Dollar exchange rate is above N1,500 to a dollar.
He said even with the 25 per cent and 35 per cent wage awards by the government, Nigerian lecturers remained the least paid, compared to sister countries.
