ASUU STRIKE: ASUU Gives FG New Conditions To Call Off Strike

ASUU STRIKE: ASUU Gives FG New
Conditions To Call Off Strike
Members of the Academic Staff Union of
Universities have given the Federal Government
certain conditions to be met before the union could
call off its four-month old strike.
Part of this condition, Saturday PUNCH learnt, is
that all federal parastatals in charge of fund,
labour, and education must sign the agreement
purportedly reached between its leadership and
the Federal Government on Tuesday.
A prominent member of the union, who craved
anonymity because he was not authorised to
speak on behalf of the union, told Saturday PUNCH
that doing this would give the association the
confidence that “the Federal Government knows
what it is doing when it signed the agreement.”
He said, “I must tell you that our mandate remains.
The only mandate we have is that 2009 agreement
must be met. We have not reached any agreement
with the Federal Government.
“Since the Federal Government wants to be
releasing N220bn every year for five years, then
all monetary and regulatory agencies must sign.
The Central Bank of Nigeria, Ministries of Finance
and Labour, National Assembly, Office of the
Presidency, National Universities Commission,
Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Trade Union
Congress and our umbrella body, the Nigeria
Labour Congress, must sign with consequences
stated.
“The reason we will ensure this is that we don’t
want argument tomorrow that the agreement was
entered in error or that they don’t know the
implication of signing the agreement. If possible,
documents that will provide for automatic
deduction of the agreed money at a particular/
agreed date must be provided.”
The leadership of the union had engaged in a 13-
hour marathon meeting with government
delegation led by President Goodluck Jonathan in
Abuja between Monday and Tuesday.
Though it was generally perceived that both ASUU
and the Federal Government achieved
breakthrough in negotiation for the first time after
the lengthy meeting with the President, Saturday
PUNCH learnt that the lecturers might not be in a
hurry to go back to class.
Another source close to ASUU who was also part
of the marathon meeting with the President in
Abuja, said there was nothing new in what the
President promised members of the union.
According to him, government had always failed in
implementing agreements reached with ASUU. He
said, “Truly the President sat down for more than
13 hours with us. He told us that we were not
leaving the venue until the issues were resolved.
The Federal Government also promised to inject
funds into the system, but a promissory note is
not enough.
“Where would the money come from? There is no
assurance that government will provide money
especially with the mop-up policy in place that
ensures that unspent money is refunded to
government’s coffers at the end of every year.’’
Asked when the lecturers would call off the strike,
he said, “I doubt if the strike is ending soon. The
problem is with the Finance Minister. Where is
government getting N1trn from? A government
that could not implement agreement between 2009
and 2013, what is the guarantee that they would
honour this agreement.
“It is all politics. We are still awaiting directives
from our branches. We have told them the
outcome of the meeting with the President but we
are waiting for them to tell us what they think of
government’s proposal.
“Imagine the Minister of Education has travelled
out of the country.
He was appointed Vice President for UNESCO
General Assembly. How can he travel out of the
country without resolving the crisis in the
education sector?’’
He said the Federal Government should spend the
trillions of dollars in its Sovereign Wealth Fund to
finance university education and improve
infrastructure in the country.
A key component of the agreement reached by
both ASUU and the Federal Government was that
government would inject N1.1trn into public
universities in the next five years. Government is
expected to inject N220bn yearly into the public
university sector beginning from 2014. But
government said it could only release N100bn this
year, noting that the amount had already been
processed.
The Federal Government also indicated that the
N1.1trn would be domiciled at the Central Bank of
Nigeria to show its commitment to the agreement.
The money is expected to be released on quarterly
basis to the universities so that there won’t be any
problem about funding the deal.
The National Universities Commission and the
Trade Union Congress will be the joint guarantors
of the agreement while the Minister of Education
will be the implementing officer. Government,
according to sources at the meeting, also agreed
to revamp public universities by ensuring that all
the issues that always lead to strike are dealt with
once and for all.
Asked to confirm if lecturers were planning to call
off their strike, ASUU Chairman, University of
Calabar branch, Dr. James Okpiliya, said the local
chapter was yet to get formal briefing on the
meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan.
He, however, said the union would make its
position known to the press on the President’s
offer after the end of a meeting scheduled for mid-
night Thursday.
Also, Chairman of ASUU in Obafemi Awolowo
University, Ile-Ife, Prof. Adegbola Akinola, said that
members must be properly briefed on the
resolution between the Federal Government and
representatives of ASUU in the last marathon
meeting.
He said the only condition that could make its
members accept any offer would be the provision
of necessary documents.
He said, “The NEC meeting may not hold now. It is
the local congress that is expected to hold first
which is either tomorrow or Monday.
“Our members are not yet briefed about the
details, so it is when we meet that we will know
the details and then discuss whether what we got
is sufficient enough to justify our action or
demand.
“I can’t really pre-empt the mind of other
members. But if we are to accept any offer, there
must be document to back that up. We need to
obtain documents on that. Maybe if there is a
document, people may look at it critically.”
However, the Federal Government said it would
include the N1.1trn promised ASUU in the
education budget starting from next year. It also
said it was waiting for the union to know the next
step to take.
The Director, Press and Public Relations of the
Ministry of Education, Mr. Olu Lipide, told one of
our correspondents on Thursday that government
was waiting for ASUU to take the necessary steps.
Meanwhile, the Dean of Social Sciences,
University of Lagos, Prof. Omololu Soyombo, has
said that the general ASUU body must agree
before the strike could be called off.
He said, “It is difficult to believe the President but
we give him the benefit of doubt.
We believe that the President is noble, the ASUU
president promised to give him a feedback. If this
had been done earlier, the strike wouldn’t have
extended for so long.”
Corroborating his view, the Chairman, Lagos State
University, ASUU, Dr. Jamiu Oluwatoki said, “It
won’t be long again. By next week there should be
a NEC meeting and subsequently the congress
meetings before the president can call off the
strike.”