FG’s attitude may spark another strike, says ASUU

NUJ urges Tinubu to address minimum wage, ASUU’s demands

ACADEMIC Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has warned that the Federal Government’s lukewarmness and silence in addressing the issues in tertiary institutions may result in another industrial action soon.

This was as Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) appealed to President Bola Tinubu to do all within his power to resolve the minimum wage imbroglio in tandem with present economic realities.

ASUU had issued a three-week ultimatum to the Federal Government over some outstanding demands.

At a joint press briefing by Federal University Dutsinma (FUDMA) and Umaru Musa Yar’Adua University (UMYU) branches of the union in Katsina State, yesterday, it lamented the government’s failure to implement agreements they had reached.

Speaking on behalf of the union, the chairperson of ASUU in FUDMA, Ahmed Omeiza, said the agreement was on issues contained in the FG/ASUU MoU 2012/2013 and the MoA of 2017, as well as release of three and half months withheld salaries for work already done.

Omeiza said additional issues include release of unpaid salaries of members on sabbatical due to the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) inadequacy and inefficiency, release of third-party deductions by IPPIS, and adoption of University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) in place of IPPIS.

Others, he said, are payment of Earned Academic Allowance (EAA), illegal dissolution of governing councils in federal and state universities, and immediate payment of 25 per cent and 35 per cent wage award to members.

Another issue the local ASUU wants addressed, according to him, is the need for review in funding for UMYU by the state government.

He lamented that the N16 million monthly overhead the institution used to receive had been reduced to N7 million, even after the increase in the number of faculties and students’ enrolment.

The union threatened to mobilise its members in the coming weeks for the next line of action, should the government’s silence and lukewarm attitude persist.

It, therefore, called on stakeholders, including Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), to prevail on the government to do the needful to avert further disruption of the academic calendar.

NUJ President, Chris Isiguzo, urged the President to urgently address the pending issues with ASUU before it snowballs into another major crisis.

At the end of its quarterly meeting in Ibadan, Oyo State, the union, in a 17-paragraph communiqué, stated its demands and recommendations.

The union noted that it was important for the government to look into the recommendation of joint labour on the issue of the minimum wage, as well as address the agitations of ASUU to avoid another crisis in the academic sector.

For Isiguzo, the N62,000 approved by the Federal Government as minimum wage is not in tandem with the present economic realities in the country.

As the country warms up for off-cycle elections in Edo and Ondo states, NUJ warned security agents and politicians against attacks on its members nationwide, adding that it would no longer tolerate attacks on its members, either by security agents or politicians anywhere in the country.

The communiqué reads: “National Executive Council (NEC) of NUJ frowns on the lingering insecurity across the nation, especially kidnapping and violent crimes in the Southeast, insurgency in the Northeast, banditry in Northwest and rising militancy in the South-South, as well kidnapping in the Southwest and cattle rustling and attack on farmlands in the North Central by herders.”