All government owned universities in the country estimated to be around 150 under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) may be heading for strike.
This is just as the federal government on Thursday denied claims that it signed an agreement with the ASUU, describing the documents referenced by the union merely as draft proposals.
From Monday this week, various chapters of ASUU had called on the federal government to implement the renegotiation agreement entered into with the union to avoid industrial action, which will affect about two million students nationwide.
The nationwide protest embarked upon by the union on Tuesday across all the campuses paralysed academic activities while members of the union expressed readiness to shut down institutions whenever a strike is declared by its leadership.
Top among a wide range of issues causing rift between the two parties include non-signing of the 2009 renegotiation agreement, non-payment of three-and-half month withheld salaries, non-payment of promotion arrears and non-release of revitalisation funds to make the university environment conducive.
Some branches of the union are also protesting the non-remittance of third-party deductions, the renaming of the University of Maiduguri after late President Muhammadu Buhari, N150,000 monthly retirement benefit to the professors, which has been described as a “national embarrassment”, and the Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Loan Scheme among others.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities, Kano Zone, on Thursday, also called on the federal government to expedite action on the renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement.
The zonal coordinator, Mr Abdulkadir Muhammad, made the call at a news briefing in Kano.
He listed the issues of concern to include the sustainable funding of public universities; victimisation of ASUU members of LASU, and Prince Abubakar Audu University; and non-payment of 25/35 per cent salary arrears.
Muhammad also said the union was demanding the immediate signing and implementation of the report of the Yayale Ahmed-led Committee to avert a looming industrial crisis in public universities.
He said that the government’s refusal to review salaries and improve the working conditions of lecturers for over 16 years had pauperised, demoralised and demotivated lecturers across the country.
“The lecturers have run out of patience and evidently we cannot guarantee industrial harmony in our public universities.
“We call on our students, parents, civil society organisations, media and other well-meaning Nigerians to join hands with ASUU to save Nigerian public universities from imminent collapse,” he said.
Muhammad also expressed concern over what he called worsening insecurity; high cost of living; rising poverty and widening wealth inequality in the country.
He said that Nigerians were being kidnapped, maimed and killed almost on a daily basis by bandits, kidnappers and insurgents, leaving thousands internally displaced.
“Many communities and property of innocent citizens had been vandalised and destroyed by criminal elements.
“We remind governments at all levels of their constitutional responsibility to protect lives and property of citizens,’’ Muhammad said.
FG denies signing agreement with ASUU
Meanwhile, the federal government has denied claims that it signed a binding agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) stating that the documents referenced by the union were merely draft proposals.
The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, made the disclosure on Thursday, during a press briefing in Abuja, amid growing tension over ASUU’s threat to embark on a nationwide strike.
“The documents ASUU has been referring to as agreements were just proposals that were never signed,” Alausa alleged.
The minister explained that the government had held an expanded meeting with stakeholders to review the contents of the draft agreement line by line.
He said a technical committee, chaired by the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, had been tasked with refining the proposals before forwarding them to the Yayale Ahmed-led renegotiation panel.
Alausa emphasised that the Tinubu administration was committed to resolving the lingering issues in a sustainable and constitutionally backed manner. “We are not interested in bogus or unsustainable agreements. We want an accord that is implementable,” he said.
He said President Bola Ahmed Tinubu had mandated the ministry to find a lasting solution that would keep Nigerian children in school.
He stressed that ASUU’s recent protests would not degenerate into strike action, as government had engaged the union “continuously and meticulously.”
“President Bola Tinubu has mandated us to solve this problem once and for all. It will be done truthfully, honestly, with full mutual respect to ASUU and other trade unions. We have to do this, not create an agreement that is not tenable, that is not sustainable, that the government does not have the funding to back.
“We will not work with ASUU to create a bogus agreement. We will create agreements that every component is actionable, feasible to implement, and sustainable”, he said.
He added: “The government side met today at the highest level. Myself, Minister of State for Education, Minister for Labour and Productivity were all at the meeting. We had the Solicitor General of the Federation. As I told you, we are going to do this thing once and for all. Previous agreements that had been made with ASUU by the government, the Ministry of Justice was not involved. We want this to be done in a constitutional manner; that every single agreement that we reach with them will be within the context of our constitution. I will continue to tell the people that were at that meeting this morning, the Solicitor General and the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Justice, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Education, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Labour and Productivity, the Executive Secretary of the Nigerian University Commission, the Executive Secretary of the TETFund, the Chairman of the Salary and Wages Commission, and the Director General of the Budget Office. The proposal that ASUU has given us, we went line by line to discuss, deliberate what the government can afford, what is within the constitutional purview of the federal government. We’ve reviewed all those proposals that he gave to us, line by line. We’ve decided on a counter-proposal to them. We are now close to setting up a high-level technical team to clean up our proposal, and come with a clean document. And that technical team is being chaired by the Permanent Secretary of Education.”
The minister further emphasized that there was no agreement with ASUU, saying, “But let me clear this point of correction out. The Solicitor General looked into the agreement. The government has never signed any agreement with ASUU. This was a draft agreement. The 2021 agreement was not executed by the government. So I need to be honest and truthful to Nigeria. ASUU might have an impression that they have an agreement with the government. There was no signed agreement with the government. But ASUU; they’re good people. … But we now have a responsive government that is being led by President Bola Tinubu and you know this president, once he makes his promises, he fulfils every single promise that is made. And he has mandated us to do the same. We’ll have a clean agreement, agreement that is actionable, where every content is actionable, implementable in a sustainable manner”.
Union flays FG over comments on 2009 agreement
But in a swift reaction to the development last night, the leadership of ASUU berated the federal government for saying the 2009 agreement was a mere draft.
The union said it wasn’t surprised that the government said so because it “lacks the act of keeping records and vital documents”.
The President of ASUU, Prof. Chris Piwuna, in a telephone interview with Daily Trust, said the government could hardly produce any document made available to it after six months.
He said, “In all our dealings with the government, there is one thing that stands out. It’s their lack of keeping records. I want you to say it the way I’m saying it.
“In all our dealings with the federal government, one thing stands out. Their record keeping is very poor in all our dealings with them.
“There is hardly any record that you share with the government that in six months’ time, if you come back, they will tell you they have that document. And so, it’s not surprising that the government is saying no agreement was signed.”
‘2009 document used for Academic Allowance payment’
Speaking further, the union leader wondered why the minister was not informed that the then Permanent Secretary of the Ministry, Mr MacJohn Nwaobiala, signed on behalf of the government while Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie signed on behalf of the union.
He added that the 2009 document was what the government used to pay Academic Allowance for the universities in the past, arguing that the union had never made any agreement with the government appending its signature.
The university don added, “But let me just remind them, it was a document, that was signed on our behalf by Professor Awuzie, the former ASUU president in 2009.
“That document was what they used to start paying the Academic Allowances because it captures it.
“It is that document they the universities used to pay external examiners, internal examiners, and all the defence of masters and PhD programmes.
“It is that same document that allows us to elect our heads of department. So, it should be noted that heads of department are not appointed by the VCs because there was that agreement.
“But because the government does not keep records and the government does not study the records they have, they could very easily think such things exist. That is all we can say.
“But my suspicion, and I may be making an excuse for the Minister here, my suspicion is that he was mixing the documents that we have with Munzali Jibrin, the document we had with Nimi Briggs, and the current document with that of Yayale Ahmed as proposals, and he wouldn’t be right if that is what he is referring to.
“If he is referring to the draft agreement with Munzali Jibrin, the one with Nimi Briggs, and the current one with Yayale Ahmed, if those are the documents he is referring to as proposals and were never signed, then he would be correct.
“But if he is saying that there is no document, no agreement that has ever been signed, then I think we have a problem.
“One Mr MacJohn Nwaobiala signed then. He was a permanent secretary of the Federal Ministry of Education at the time. I’m telling you the one that I know. There were many other signatories to the agreement which Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie signed on behalf of our union.
“Prof. Rukayyat from Bayero University, Kano (BUK) was the Minister of Education then. I just don’t want to join words with the minister to say he doesn’t know what he’s saying or something.”
When asked what the next line of action would be if the government fails to engage them as expected, the ASUU President said their branches would decide as it is the usual practice of the union.
“Nothing yet, we haven’t decided,” the professor said.
He also clarified that they were yet to give deadline on when the nationwide strike would commence.
“No, we never gave deadline. We only said government was meeting on the 28th, which is today (yesterday) and that we would wait for the outcome of their meeting before we know what we will do as a union. That’s all we said,” he added.
The union leader also explained that they did not shun yesterday’s (Thursday) meeting, saying the meeting was primarily meant for only the government officials to deliberate among themselves.
He, however, described the information released by the government representatives that they would meet with ASUU leadership as lack of coordination.
“No, the meeting is not ours. It is part of the lack of coordination in the ministry, I believe, because we are not supposed to be part of their meeting.
“It is their meeting. It’s indirectly connected to us because it is about our demands. But we are not supposed to be at the meeting. It’s their meeting.
Students express concern as lecturers threaten strike
University students have expressed concern over a possible strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). They fear that if the union proceeds with the action, their academic calendar will be disrupted.
Ofodile Chisom of the University of Jos said, “If ASUU decides to go on strike, I think it’s going to affect our academic calendar because we are already far behind due to previous strikes.
“Adding another strike is not something any institution will want. What ASUU is asking for is not something the federal government cannot do. It is well within their jurisdiction, so they should just give in to the demands. It’s not too big or too much for them to handle.”
Another student, Pius Moses, said: “The strike is really going to cause a lot of backwardness in my studies, and I would like the government to accept whatever ASUU is demanding.
“They should look into it because student life and education are very important. The strike has already caused us several setbacks, and we wouldn’t like that to happen again.”
Pam Derek said, “Most of us are already preparing for our teaching practice. Many of us have even started applying to schools, and with this strike, it will disrupt not only the students but the university as a whole.
“Please, the federal government should meet ASUU’s demands so that we, students can enjoy our stay in school. Most of us planned to graduate in four years, but with these strikes, we can’t tell when we will finish.”
Mahmud Jega writes on ASUU/ FG impasse: “After 32 years, back to valid but not binding”
Reacting to the development, a renowned journalist and columnist, Mahmoud Jega, said, “With members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities [ASUU] threatening to embark on another round of nationwide, total and indefinite strike action, what Minister of Education Dr. Tunji Alausa said on Thursday threatens to take us back to January 1993, when a similar stance by the federal government led to a strike that lasted nearly nine months.
“The minister said at a press conference that contrary to ASUU’s claim that government has never implemented any of the agreements that it signed with the union, there is actually no agreement between Federal Government and ASUU. He said that contrary to the impression given to Nigerians, government had never signed any binding agreement with ASUU and that the documents ASUU is claiming to be agreements were just drafts that were tabled for discussion.
“Which reminds me. That as Assistant Editor of the defunct Citizen magazine in the early 1990s, I reported on the FG-ASUU tango for two years. In late 1992, after an ASUU strike that lasted many months, the Babangida military regime signed an agreement with ASUU that included a hefty salary increase and major concessions on university autonomy and financing. Five government ministers and three other agency heads signed the agreement on behalf of government, as did ASUU leaders then led by its President, Dr. Attahiru Jega. Babangida publicly endorsed the agreement and government actually started implementing it.
“But then, in January 1993, when Babangida inaugurated the Transitional Council headed by Chief Ernest Shonekan, its Secretary for Education, Prof Ben Nwabueze, publicly repudiated the agreement. He said it was “valid but not binding” because the government could not surrender its sovereign power to spend money through an agreement with a section of its citizens. ASUU countered, that five ministers signed the agreement, Babangida endorsed it and government actually started implementing it, so the legal principle of estoppel applied; implementation is proof that there was indeed a binding agreement.
“ASUU is now saying there were agreements signed and the minister is saying those were drafts, not agreements. After 32 years, we are exactly back to where we were in January 1993. God help Nigerian students and their parents.” 21stcenturychronicle.com
Key provisions of the 2009 ASUU–FG agreement
- Funding of Universities
Federal universities were to receive N1.5 trillion between 2009 and 2011.
State universities were to receive N3.6 million per student within the same period.
The agreement recommended that 26% of Nigeria’s annual budget be allocated to education, with 50% of that going to universities.
- Earned Academic Allowances (EAA)
ASUU members were entitled to EAA for teaching, supervision, and other academic duties.
The agreement proposed mainstreaming EAA into monthly salaries to ensure consistent payment.
- Conditions of Service
Revised salary structure for academic staff. Provisions for staff loans, pensions, overtime, and moderation of examinations.
- University Autonomy and Academic Freedom
Protection of university autonomy in governance and administration. Strengthening of academic freedom in teaching, research, and publication.
- Legislative Amendments
Proposed amendments to:
JAMB Act (2004)
National Universities Commission Act (2004)
Education (National Minimum Standards and Establishment of Institutions) Act (2004)
- Renegotiation Clause
The agreement included a clause for periodic renegotiation to reflect changing realities in the education sector.
Background
On Tuesday, 15 October 2024, the federal government inaugurated a seven-man Re-negotiation Committee on the 2009 Agreements with university-based unions, including the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to resolve all the pending issues.
The then Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, while inaugurating the committee, said it was tasked with producing a realistic and workable agreements that would holistically tackle the challenges confronting the Nigerian university system and reposition it to effectively play its role in national development.
He recalled that the re-negotiation of the 2009 agreements between the federal government and the university staff unions (ASUU, NAAT, SSANU, and NASU) commenced on Monday, February 13, 2017.
He said: “Regrettably, this had lingered for this long due to a number of unforeseen circumstances. However, it is important to state that the immediate past leadership of the Renegotiation Committee under Professor Nimi Briggs, produced draft report with significant areas covered, and agreed on, that would be a spring board to hinge on going forward to conclude the exercise.
“There is no gain saying that the earnest desire of every stakeholder in the Nigerian University System (NUS) and, indeed, at large, is to conclude this re-negotiation exercise within the shortest possible period,” he said.
The minister said the committee is to liaise and consult with relevant stakeholders to guide the position of the federal government on the issues in the draft proposed FGN/University based Unions Renegotiated Agreements.
Other terms of reference is to renegotiate in realistic and workable terms the 2009 agreement with other university-based unions and recommend any other issue the committee deemed relevant to reposition the NUS for global competitiveness and submit proposed draft agreements within three months from the date of inauguration.
The minister, however, noted that some of the issues had been resolved while they were working on others.
The Chairman of the Committee, Prof Yayale Ahmed, said the whole issue since the 2009 agreement, the unconcluded Nimi-Brigs agreement and other issues that affect and constrain the performance of the university system were well known over the years.
He added that the task should be based on patriotism and sincerity of purpose.
To ASUU, he said, “I still recall my appeal to you in 1998. I said, can you please initiate and develop an alternative to strikes so that we do not lose the beauty of educating our children, but at the same time we always make our points very clear that the federal government or the state government will know that we are not joking”.
“I am appealing to us and all the other unions that we are here to learn from you and as messengers of the federal government, take your message and return with positive replies in a very short time.”
In his remarks, the then President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, prayed that the new committee should not be like all the previous committees which failed to resolve the issues. (Daily trust)
