By Peter Duru, Makurdi
The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has alleged that the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government has failed to keep to the promise it made to Nigerians and the union to ensure an end to strikes in public universities.
Speaking Wednesday shortly after leading its members on a solidarity walk from its secretariat to the main entrance of the Joseph Sarwuan Tarka University Makurdi, JOSTUM, former Federal University of Agriculture, Makurdi, FUAM, the ASUU Branch Chairman of the institution, Comrade Paul Anyagh regretted that the present administration had gone into hiding to avoid fulfilling its commitment to Nigerians and ASUU.
He recalled some of the perennial issues in the public universities that the Federal Government had failed to addressed including the non-payment of the four months withheld salaries of lecturers, the signing and implementation of the renegotiated Draft 2009 Agreement, Payment of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) accruing to its members and the University Transparency Accountability Solutions (UTAS) and IPPIS.
Others include the funding for the Revitalisation of Public Universities, Proliferation of Universities, re-instatement of Council members whose tenure had not elapsed among others.
He said “it is regrettable that the Federal Government is yet to take action on the issues raised above which are also in the MoA signed on December 23, 2020. Instead, government finds it more convenient to go incommunicado to avoid keeping its promises with ASUU.
“One wonders why this Tinubu government will resort to ‘hiding’ instead making conscious efforts to actualize his inauguration promise of making strike in the country unnecessary.
“University lecturers in Nigeria are still the worst paid in Africa. This is also occasioned by government refusal to sign the negotiated agreement which the Nimi Briggs committee reached with ASUU.
Blatant refusal to pay the balance of salaries earned by ASUU members during the strike period even when the works have been done and the students graduated.
“The University Miscellaneous Act of 2003 provides that the Visitor of Public Universities can dissolve a governing council if there is an established case of infractions or incompetence. However, this government did not have any such reason but went ahead to dissolve governing council such that even those with years remaining from the tenure were sacked.
“ASUU demanded for reinstatement of such governing councils, rather than doing that, government went ahead with an outright reconstitution of all governing councils. This should be reversed.
“We urge Federal Government to stop this seemingly elusive promises and become courageous enough to honour its agreement with the Union to save the University System for the sake of the Nigerian child.”
Source: Vanguard