By Ahmed Rufa’i, Dutse ,
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Federal University Dutse (FUD) chapter has given the federal government three weeks ultimatum to positively respond to the union’s demands or else it will mobilize it’s members on the next action.
The chairperson of the union, Comrade Salim Ahmed gave the ultimatum during an emergency press conference in the ASUU secretariat in Dutse.
He said “the Members of the Expanded Executive of ASUU Federal University Dutse met today, Wednesday, 19th June 2024, to consider and take a look at the patriotic engagements of the Union with the Federal and State governments on how best to address all the lingering problems bedeviling Nigerian Public Universities”.
According to him “The Union has observed with dismay that the government has deliberately and completely ignored the leadership of the Union since the current government mounted the saddle on 29th May 2023. All efforts and pressure put in place by the leadership of the Union to get the government to convene a meeting and listen to ASUU in order to iron out the contending issues, as contained in the International Labour Organization ILO’s principle of collective bargaining, have failed”.
Comrade Salim explained that ASUU reviewed the deteriorating working and degrading living conditions of its members and the continued deplorable condition of public Universities and academics that are so pathetic, appalling and in a terrible and sad situation, such that it has even translated into an alarming and dangerous decline in the quality of university education in the country.
He said some of the specific and peculiar instances are so embarrassing to be released to public domain, “it is disappointing reports of the government’s failure to tow the path of honour and respect an agreement it met which was reached willingly between the previous government and the Union, and its failure to honour all the memoranda that were willingly signed with the union”.
The chairperson maintained that “This government has deliberately refused to meet with our Union to flesh out the core issues as contained in the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU 2019), Memorandum of Action (MoA2022) and the upward review, signing and the implementation of the late Professor Nimi Briggs Committee’s draft agreement on the Renegotiated FG/ASUU 2009 agreement.
Salim noted that the agreement reached between the union and federal government in 2009 are funding for the revitalization of public universities for global reckoning, respect for University autonomy as enshrined in all the enabling laws that govern the administration of universities globally, and the proliferations of public universities without adequately funding the existing ones.
“The renegotiation of the FGN/ASUU 2009 agreement contained all the core issues of ASUU Members welfare, University Autonomy, Funding for Revitalization of Nigerian Universities, Proliferations of Public Universities has been a continuous and persistent core issue and a bone of contention between the government and ASUU. At every stage of this renegotiation ASUU is forced to take the last option of embarking on an action to get it done”.
“In 2017, the FG constituted a committee to renegotiate the agreement in line with its provisions under Wale Babalakin, deliberately wasted three years with no result and was removed and replaced with Prof. Munzali Jibril whom appreciable progress was made within a short period of time, but Prof. Jibril was later replaced with the Late Professor Emeritus Nimi Briggs”.
He added that the Late Prof. Emeritus Nimi Briggs led committee produced a draft agreement and unfortunately, the renegotiation process was unjustifiably and dishonestly truncated at the point of signing the draft agreement, “This unpatriotic act of some agents of the government not only rendered all the efforts, resources and time put in getting a produced document useless and futile, it also crushed a golden opportunity of salvaging the public universities from rot”.
ASUU reiterated that the core issues that pertain to the condition of service includes all the contending issues as contained in the FGN/ASUU MoU 2012,2013, and the MoA of 2017, Illegal disso lution of Governing Councils in the Federal and State Universities, Release of three and a half (7) months of the outstanding three and a half (7 ) months withheld salaries for a work that was already done.
Others are Release of the unpaid salaries of our members on sabbatical, adjunct, etc. due to IPPIS inadequacy and inefficiency, Release of third party deductions by IPPIS, Payment of Earned Academic Allowance (EAA), implementation of the report of the visitation Panels and adoption of UTAS in place of IPPIS.
“Based on all these, the members of our great union in this branch, like those of the other branches, are believing that the Federal Government is unwilling to decisively address the outstanding issues with the union.
“Therefore, in line with the directives from the National secretariat, we resolved to hold a press conference and let the parents, the stakeholders in university education know of the situation and to be sensitized and well informed of the failure of the government to address these lingering issues.
“The general public should be aware of the true state of affairs”.
Comrade salim disclosed that Within the next three weeks, the union has set machinery in motion to further mobilize its members and sensitize them for further action.
The union called on all well-meaning discerning minds to prevail on Nigerian Government to attend to these outstanding issues and meet with our Union leadership so as to avert an unnecessary and avoidable industrial crisis in our already frail and weak university system.