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End In Sight For ASUU Strike As FG Reviews ‘No-Work No-Pay’ Policy

The federal government yesterday took a major step towards finally resolving its faceoff with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) by setting up a tactical committee to review the no-work no-pay policy which the striking lecturers have kicked against.

The lecturers’ union insists that its members have to be paid for the period they were on strike before they return to work.

The setting up of the committee followed a meeting by the minister of education, Adamu Adamu, with pro-chancellors, chairmen of Councils as well as Vice Chancellors of universities.

The meeting held behind closed-doors was part of efforts to resolve the seven-month industrial action by lecturers of public universities.

The director press and public relations at the Federal Ministry of Education, Ben Goong, disclosed this to journalists after the meeting which lasted for over two hours.

He said the committee is to also look into issues of increase in the salaries of the university lecturers and come up with workable solutions.

The spokesman for the ministry did not give a specific timeline for the 14-man committee. He, however, said the committee is expected to come up with its findings in no distant time, and that its report will be forwarded to President Muhammadu Buhari for action.

The federal government help the meeting with vice chancellors and pro-chancellors of its universities in the renewed efforts to end the ongoing strike by ASUU.

After exhaustive deliberations, the stakeholders set up a committee to review the recent report of the Prof. Nimi Brigg’s Committee, which engaged ASUU on its demands from the government.

The minister of education, Malam Adamu Adamu, at the meeting, described the indefinite strike by ASUU as anguish and internal turmoil to him.

Adamu said he wanted the parties to reach an amicable resolution of all the issues contained in the 2009 agreements because the past two weeks had been a very dark period in the nation’s education sector.

The Briggs’ committee renegotiated the controversial 2009 agreement between the government and the university-based staff unions.

The unions include ASUU and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, among others. The 14-man committee was composed of some pro-chancellors, vice-chancellors and other stakeholders.

The government had in March 2022 constituted a seven-man team, chaired by Briggs, to speedily bring to a conclusion all outstanding issues in the 2009 Agreement in order to achieve the desired industrial peace on the campuses but after over seven months, its engagement failed to yield result as the lecturers continued with the strike.

However, the spokesperson for the Federal Ministry of Education, Ben Goong, who briefed journalists after the meeting, said the committee would be chaired by Adamu.

He said Adamu inaugurated the 14-man committee to look into the recommendations on the resolution of the ASUU strike.

Goong named the members of the committee as Professor Olu Obafemi, Professor Nimi Briggs, Udo Udoma, Bashir Dalhatu, Professor Kayode Adebowale (University of Ibadan), Professor Kabir Bala (Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria), Professor Lilian Salami (University of Benin), Professor Charles Igwe (University of Nigeria, Nsukka), registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, Professor Ishaq Oloyede, representatives of the Academy of Letters, Science, Medicine and Social Sciences.

During his presentation, Adamu said he had been in a dark period of personal anguish and internal turmoil following the strike.

Adamu also said the government had done all it could with regard to the ASUU strike, saying that the meeting was to share the details of what the government had done and what remains to be done.

He stated that the main challenge in meeting ASUU’s demands had been the dwindling resources available to address all the concerns of the citizenry.

“For me, this is a position I would have wanted us to reach after an amicable resolution of all the issues contained in the 2009 Agreements. It appears that we are running ahead of the negotiations but not for the right reasons. The president of ASUU has been reported to have said the union would no longer negotiate with the current federal government.

“This position must be resisted. Government and ASUU have no option but to continue talking until our universities have reopened their doors to students, who clearly are the principal victims of the seemingly unending strikes. In the circumstances, therefore, all Councils and Senates of our universities are enjoined to rise up to their responsibilities.

“We must, together, continue to work to restore our public universities to where they were in the 60s and 70s. As the most important officers in our university system, pro-chancellors and vice-chancellors must demonstrate more commitment to ending the ongoing strike.

“As chairmen of councils and Senates – the highest policy and academic bodies in the system – you must consider it your paramount duty to promote policies and actions that will discourage industrial disputes in our campuses. Government will continue to support the physical and academic development of its universities.

“Government will continue to reasonably enhance the working conditions of all university staff, academic and non-teaching. The main challenge, as you are fully aware, is dwindling resources available to address all the concerns of the citizenry. We thank you for your support, understanding and sacrifices,” he said.

Adamu outlined the government’s efforts to resolve the industrial action embarked upon by ASUU on February 14, saying that the government had offered the union a 23.5 percent salary increase “for all categories of the workforce in federal universities, except for the professorial cadre which will enjoy a 35 percent upward review.”

He also said the government promised that a sum of N150 billion “shall be provided for in the 2023 budget as funds for the revitalisation of federal universities, to be disbursed to the institutions in the first quarter of the year.”

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Academics Peace-building Team which is made up of some former vice-chancellors and pro-chancellors, alongside senior academics in the university system, has pleaded with ASUU to accept some of the offers by the government and end the strike.

The academics, who stated this in a communique, called on the government and the union to find a common ground on the issues at stake.

It also said the deployment of a centralised payment platform for universities negates the principle of autonomy.

Some members of the team include a former Vice-Chancellor of the University of Maiduguri, Professor Jibril Aminu; a former VC of the University of Ibadan, Emeritus Professor Olufemi Bamiro; a former Pro-Chancellor of the University of Calabar, Dr Nkechi Nwagogu, among others.

The communiqué reads in parts, “The struggle for university autonomy that formed the major point of dispute since 2003 has to be contextualised in conversation over the IPPIS or UTAS.

“The centralisation of salary payment and approval of establishment figures and academic staff recruitment from the office of the Head of Service all negate the core principles on which university governance and administration are founded.

“We make bold to submit that these incursions/features hurt the Nigerian university system very badly.

“While the Federal Government and ASUU both agree that the funding to universities is inadequate, they differ radically on how to fund the shortfall. Both parties need to be very creative and demonstrate the resolve to solve the funding challenge. Government should explore and adopt blended financing options with a strong mix of tax credits for any actors that support tertiary education.

“This way, more money will flow into the system and the fear of education being priced out of the hands of the poor will be mitigated. ASUU’s hardline ideological stand on the matter of non-payment of tuition fees must be moderated to accommodate this possibility as long as the government puts in place the framework to accommodate intelligent but indigent students.

“For the government, it is a matter of political will, which, like many strategic decisions, will be painful at its introductory stage but will translate to long term gains. ASUU is correct in stating that the industrial dispute has lasted this long because the federal government has not shown sufficient commitment toward its resolution.”

Two weeks after suspension of the nationwide strike by electricity workers that threw the nation into blackout, indications have emerged of a fresh looming strike over alleged unwillingness of government to resolve issues of unpaid entitlements to former workers of the defunct Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN.

This came as Vanguard gathered that some government agencies, including the anti-graft bodies, are allegedly harassing labour leaders in the sector over the agreements reached with government during the privatisation of the sector.

The issue of unpaid benefits was one of the reasons that led to the industrial action by the workers in the industry, under the aegis of the National Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, and Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies, SSAEC, two weeks ago..

Vanguard gathered that as the committee set up to resolve the issues meets today, the issue of unpaid benefits to some of the ex-PHCN workers had become a stumbling block to resolving the issues.

According to the sources, government agencies including Bureau of Public Enterprise, BPE, that supervises the Federal Government privatisation programme are shying away from the payment of the benefits, among other pending entitlements.

It was gathered that though other issues are progressing well, the issue of unpaid benefits might spoil the works of the committee at its last meeting today.

A source said: “The government agencies including the BPE are shying away from taking the responsibility for the payment of the entitlements. They are passing bucks and this is a major hindrance to resolving the issues.

‘’Though other issues are progressing well, the issue of payment will stall the resolution of the issues. The workers are already very restive because the two weeks given to resolve the matter ends tomorrow (today).

‘’There is tension in the sector because the workers are aware of the development and are pushing for a resumption of the suspended strike. So, tomorrow’s meeting is very crucial to either the resolution of the matter or, there will be fresh industrial unrest.”

Similarly, Vanguard gathered that since the last strike of two weeks ago, government agencies including Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, had allegedly been harassing union leaders in the sector over the agreements reached with the Federal Government during the privatisation exercise in 2013.

A source told Vanguard that EFCC and other agencies have written several letters to the union leaders to make available to them all the agreements signed with government during the privatization of the defunct PHCN.

One of the labour leaders told Vanguard that “the harassment is becoming unbearable because the EFCC and other government agencies know where to get the agreements being asked for especially at the Ministry of Labour and Employment.

‘’We cannot be intimidated. Our right to industrial action cannot be denied us and no amount of harassment, intimidation or otherwise can stop us. We are undaunted.”

Meanwhile, electricity workers in Lagos and Ogun zonal council, yesterday said they were ready for the resumption of the suspended strike once the union gave a directive.

At a briefing in Lagos, leaders of the zone, warned that “any threat on the leadership of the union is a threat to workers in the sector and Nigerian workers in general. We are on standby.”

In a joint statement by Temple Iworima and Akeem Ladoja, Assistant General Secretary, Lagos/Ogun) and Vice President (LagosOgun) respectively, read by Iworima, the workers said: “It is an undeniable truth that the power sector privatization has not added value to the lives of the ordinary Nigerians.

‘’The entire exercise which could be described as a charade, has not brought any meaningful impact/improvement of the sector. Rather, it has led the nation to a huge set back.

“The infrastructural development by the new business owners in the power sector has almost gone comatose, while the socio-economic status of the average worker in the sector has continued to decline amid prevailing harsh economic conditions.

‘’The same equipment inherited pre-privatization have remained what drives the sector as there are no visible attempt by the generation companies (GenCos) and distribution companies (DisCos) to upgrade and expand their capacities/networks”

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