By Ken Afor
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has issued an ultimatum to the Federal Government, giving them two months to address all of the union’s demands.
If the demands are not met within this timeframe, ASUU stated that it will employ all legitimate means at its disposal, including invoking the “no pay, no work” principle, to ensure compliance.
During a press conference organised by the Lagos State Zone of ASUU at the University of Lagos (UNILAG) on Tuesday, the Zonal Coordinator, Mr. Adelaja Odukoya, expressed grave concerns about the state of affairs in Nigeria, stating that the country is on the brink of collapse.
Historically, ASUU has frequently resorted to extended strike actions to compel the Federal Government to address its numerous demands, which are intended to improve the university system and the welfare of its teaching staff.
However, despite repeated assurances from the government, these promises have often gone unfulfilled.
According to ASUU some of the unfulfilled promises by the federal government include the renegotiation of the FGN/ASUU 2009 agreement, the non-release of withheld salaries and arrears of Earned Academic Allowances, inadequate funding of universities, the proliferation of universities, and deceptive practices regarding the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
Odukoya said: “At our last NEC meeting on May 11 to 12, held at the Obafemi Awolowo University, we decided to give the government just two months to implement all our demands or else our union will raise powerfully in defence of the Nigerian public universities. Nigeria is on the verge of collapse, and all of its parts are being pulled along with it by the type of leaders who control its political and administrative spheres.
“It should not go without saying that our great and patriotic union will not give up even a single square inch of territory to grasshoppers that want to destroy our country, whose sole objective is the cavalier accumulation of illegal wealth.”
The zonal coordinator noted that ASUU would not fold its hands and watch politicians who prioritised themselves over and above the development of Nigeria destroy the public universities.
He maintained that if things continued as it is, ASUU as a patriotic union, would also rise powerfully in defence of the over-burdened and inhumanly over-taxed Nigerian people.
He revealed that the inadequate funding of Nigerian universities was intentional to keep the country perpetually backwards.
Odukoya stated that ASUU would not sit idly by while politicians, who prioritize themselves over the development of Nigeria, destroy public universities. He emphasized that if the situation persists, ASUU, as a patriotic union, would vigorously defend the over-burdened and excessively taxed Nigerian people.
He further disclosed that the deliberate underfunding of Nigerian universities was intended to keep the country perpetually underdeveloped.
He said: “As you can see, the university’s inadequate funding is intentional. It is in tandem with the neoliberal agenda of the World Bank and International Monetary Fund which is to keep us perpetually backward and underdeveloped.
“No surprise our universities are in a programmatic way being transformed into superfluous entrepreneurial establishments that process bread and pure water, rather than to citadels of innovation and creativity of advanced technology.
“The intention is to make the country a consumer of technology rather than a veritable player in the knowledge and technology industry. ASUU rejects this in all entirety and calls on all well-meaning Nigerians to join in our crusade to force better funding for education and universities as an agent of liberation for our people.”
The union leader clarified that the renegotiated 2009 Agreement has remained in draft form because the government has refused to either sign the document or request a review if there are issues with certain areas.
“The Agreement, as you might be aware from past documents, covers not just conditions of service (salaries and allowances), but funding of universities, university Autonomy and Academic Freedom, and other matters. The refusal of the government to conclude the renegotiation indicates a lack of understanding of the profound nature of the document such that the government is now pretending that giving a salary award has now rested the matter.
“The International Labour Organisation’s (ILO) Convention No. 98 addresses the principle of collective bargaining within which our union continues to engage the government on this topic. The ILO’s C095 Protection of Wages Convention, 1949 provides for “mutual agreement in alteration of wages payable in virtue of a written or unwritten contract of employment by an employer to an employed person” (Article 1) The provisions of ILO’s C095 (Article 2 1 & 2) assert.”
On his part, former chairman, ASUU-UNILAG, Dele Ashiru, added, “In two months, if all of these outstanding issues are not implemented, the NEC will convey to take further actions. We are here to draw government attention and alert the Nigerian people to the lacklustre nature of government response to the unresolved issues between the government and our union.
“We put the people of Nigeria on notice that should there be a crisis in the university system, Bola Tinubu should be squarely held responsible. One year is ample time to begin the process of rectifying the shortcomings of the APC-led Buhari administration.”
