ASUU accuses Tinubu of undue silence over union’s unresolved issues with govt

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has expressed frustration with the Nigerian government over unresolved issues, which it claimed had at different times in the past led to industrial actions.

The union accused President Bola Tinubu of ignoring issues affecting the nation’s university system.

Speaking at a press conference held at Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, on Friday, the Lagos Zonal Coordinator, Adelaja Odukoya, outlined a number of unresolved issues and warned of potential escalation.

Renegotiated agreement

Following an Emergency National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held on 8 June, 2024, the union noted the government’s failure to implement the re-negotiated 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement.

Mr Odukoya described the development as a “criminal violation” of the collective bargaining principle in the International Labour Organisation (ILO) conventions, stressing that the renegotiation, concluded in 2021 after five years of negotiations, and aimed to rejuvenate the country’s universities.

“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.”

Funding, proliferation of universities

For the umpteenth time, the union condemned the “proliferation and mushrooming” of state and federal universities without adequate funding.

The union criticised the trend as a harmful and retrogressive move that exacerbates the already dire conditions in existing institutions.

ASUU described as disturbing the failure of the government at both federal and state levels to adequately fund existing universities due to inadequate subventions, non-release of monthly subventions, irregular-payment of staff salaries, decayed and dilapidated infrastructures, non-payment/release of check-off and other third party deductions, among others.

ASUU said despite the poor funding of existing institutions, the “Visitors of federal and state universities have turned establishment of universities to 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.”

Withheld salaries

The union also decried the government’s continued withholding of three and a half months’ salaries and arrears of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) from 2020.

PREMIUM TIMES reported that the union decry the backlog payment of the EAA which was part of the allowances captured in the 2023 national budget of federal universities.

The union noted that the federal government has still paid the backlog of the Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) which it claimed was part of the allowances captured in the 2023 national budget for federal universities.

According to the union, “the December 2020 MoA between the federal government and ASUU reaffirmed our understanding on mainstreaming of EAA into lecturers’ salaries while the next tranche of the allowances was to be paid in 2021.”

The union added that the scheduled payment was not only aborted, adding that mainstreaming EAA as from 2022 has remained a mirage in federal and most state universities.

Mr Odukoya added that the outstanding three and half months’ salaries withheld during the preventable 2022 nationwide strike action remains unpaid to the members in the federal universities.

“It is no longer news that the federal government is still holding on to three and half months’ salaries of our members in the face of the government intransigence which necessitated the last strike action on the one hand and the current excruciating economic challenges confronting the nation on the other,” the union noted.

ASUU labelled this act as “callous, unprogressive, destructive, anti-labour, and inhuman,” and demanded immediate payment.

IPPIS

In December, the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, a professor, announced that the government has exempted universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education from the use of the Integrated Personnel Payment System (IPPIS) for the payment of salaries and allowances.

However, months after the declaration, ASUU said the government has yet to implement it as its members are still being paid through what they described as “new IPPIS”.

“Government pronouncement on the exit of the universities from IPPIS, the deliberate refusal of corrupt government and ministry officials to migrate the university payroll system away from IPPIS is unfortunate, condemnable and a confirmation that Nigeria is becoming a lawless state. It confirms that certain beneficial elements within government and their collaborators are bent on continuing to defraud our members and the universities,” ASUU said.

Threat

In a stern warning, ASUU called on President Tinubu to engage directly with the union to resolve these issues, emphasising that the current approach risks plunging the university system into further crises.

The union added that 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”.

“This cannot be achieved with the unconscionable contempt, insensitivity, mute indifference, ruinous stances and renewed hopelessness which the government has imposed on the Nigerian University System,” it said.

The union also criticised the government’s student loan approach, arguing that it burdens students with debt and leads to widespread disenchantment among the youth.