ASUU, FG in decisive meeting today Which way forward? by TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE on Aug 1, 2013 | No comments Posted under: Education Today’s meeting by the Federal Government representatives with that of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and relevant funding agencies, including the Central Bank of Nigeria, will determine the next direction for university education in the country. The meeting is expected to determine whether or not the university lecturers will call off their 32- day-old strike, which has paralysed academic activities in the nation’s public universities. This is because the meeting will centre its deliberation on the possible ways to inject adequate fund into the university education to meet the recommendations of the Universities Needs Assessment Committee’s report submitted to the Federal Government last year. The implementation of this recommendation was the focal point of the Memorandum of Understanding between the two parties last year. Speaking with National Mirror on Tuesday, the National President of ASUU, Dr. Nasir Isa said, so far, the Federal Government had not shown enough commitment since the strike to meet the demands of ASUU as contained in their 2009 agreement. He disclosed that the union had met with the government on several occasions since the beginning of the strike but these had not yielded positive result. “But that will not discourage us from attending Thursday’s (today’s) meeting. We will attend the meeting and hear what they will say again,” he said. The Governor of Benue State, Dr. Gabriel Suswam is expected to lead the Federal Government team as the chairman of the implementation committee of the Needs Assessment recommendations with all relevant stakeholders in attendance. However, Isa, who said ASUU this time around, would not take anything less than the implementation of the contents in the 2009 agreement with the Federal Government, stressed that the meeting would give them the opportunity to know if the government is ready to commit enough resources into the system. According to him, part of ASUU agreement was that the federal and state governments should jointly inject minimum of N800 billion to all public universities in the country within two years as a short term approach to turn the university education around and subsequently improving on this on yearly basis. “And if this is done, some of the problems facing the universities in the country that have also been identified in the Needs Assessment report, upon which Thursday’s (today’s) meeting is centred will be addressed,” he explained. “So, there is no renegotiation for ASUU when the previous agreement which is the product of many years’ negotiations and renegotiations before 2009 is yet to be implemented. “So, all that ASUU is interested in now, is the implementation of the agreement before we can sit round the table again and talk about renegotiation on every issue that will be necessary as contained in our memorandum of understanding last year. ASUU members are not fools. We know what we are saying and it is for the good of our university education system and we believe it is doable for government.” The ASUU president also told National Mirror that the union would not shift ground on the ‘Earned Academic Allowances’ which directly affect the members. He emphasised that “the area is also non- renegotiable.” What the agreement said on this issue is that “entitled academic staff shall be paid a particular earned allowance according to their grade levels and types of responsibilities they carry out. “For example, while lecturer 1, senior lecturer and reader/ professor, who is supervising postgraduates shall be paid N15, 000; N20,000 and N25,000 per student per annum, respectively, they shall be paid N60,000; N80,000 and N100,000 per student per annum if they supervise teaching/industrial practice or go on field trips. “Similarly, deputy vice- chancellor/ librarian; provost/ dean/director; deputy/ associate dean or provost; head of department; faculty/ exam officer, hall warden and all other principal officers, shall also be entitled to responsibility allowances range from N750,000 to N150,000 on yearly basis depending on their grade levels.” Another important allowance in this respect is the one addressing excess work load for deserving lecturers. While professor/reader/senior lecturer shall be entitled to N3, 500, those in the lower grades shall be paid N2, 000 per hour. On these and many more, ASUU boss said government would have to implement them first before talking about renegotiation. Agreeing with him, the National Treasurer of the union, Dr. Ademola Aremu noted that virtually all the public universities in the country are faced with problems ranging from inadequate funding, decaying infrastructure, dearth of qualified lecturers, over- staffing of unqualified workers, misplaced priority, policy inconsistency, overcrowded lecture rooms, financial and other forms of corrupt practices, to politicking. He identified other challenges to include poor hostel accommodation, epileptic power supply, insecurity, dearth of safe water supply and sanitary facilities, poor learning environment, poor remuneration and welfare package and so on, saying that governments will just have to address them for the benefit of the public. Aremu, who is also the former chairman of the union, University of Ibadan chapter, said aside the implementation of the upward review of retirement age of lecturers in professorial cadre from 65 to 70 years and the inauguration of governing councils in various universities across the country, all other demands are yet to be met. “This development so far is not acceptable to ASUU and the government on their part is also not serious about revitalising the system as they continue to dodge the vital issues and playing games with the union since the strike commenced. But no matter what, ASUU will do the needful to ensure governments do their part before the union can call off the ongoing strike,” he concluded
Posted on: Wed, 31 Jul 2013 23:56:24 +0000
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