Again, Jonathan asks ASUU to call off strike Category: National Published: Wednesday, 23 October 2013 22:38 Written by From Abiodun Fagbemi (Ilorin), Azimazi Momoh Jimoh (Abuja), Hendrix Oliomogbe (Asaba), Inemesit Akpan-Nsoh (Uyo) and Collins Olayinka (Kaduna) Hits: 501 GEJ-1• Senate directs Mark to intervene • NLC may declare solidarity action • Police stop dons’ protest in Uyo, DELSU teachers dare government PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan Wednesday, again, urged members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call off their ongoing strike. Jonathan told the university teachers that rather than embarking on strikes, they should support the government in turning the country’s universities to centres of excellence. The President added that his administration allocated N55.74 billion to the university sub-sector this year alone. Jonathan, who was represented by the Supervising Minister of Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike, made the appeal in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital, at the grand finale of the 29th convocation of the University of Ilorin. He said: “Apart from establishing 12 new federal universities, government has also increased the carrying capacities of existing universities to address the issue of access to higher education. Government has also increased the budget of education progressively from N234.8 billion in 2010 to N426.5 billion in 2013 with N55.74 billion allocated to the university sub-sector alone. “It is on this premise that I wish to once again call on the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to allow reason to prevail by immediately calling off their ongoing strike action in the interest of the nation and our children while government systematically continues to address the myriad of challenges facing our university system. “Furthermore, barely a month ago, the Federal Government released the sum of N130 billion to universities for infrastructural development and payment of earned allowances to members of staff. It is also pertinent to mention that government is seriously considering the best ways to ensure the implementation of the report of the Needs Assessment Committee for Universities. “The Federal Government is leaving no stone unturned in the quest to transform Nigerian universities to make them globally competitive. With 129 universities and several other higher education institutions, the country has no reason to lag behind in the quest for technological development. “Although public funding of universities has been on the upward swing in the last few years, it is important to emphasise the point that government alone is incapable of providing all the funding required for the effective and proper running of our universities. “Therefore, while government will continue to provide the necessary legislative and policy initiatives to enhance good governance and improve funding for higher education in the country, the society and the universities must bridge the funding gap by complementing government effort.” He continued: “The problem of funding should be tackled from all fronts and all stakeholders must be involved in cost-sharing for us to have the universities of our dreams. Let me, however, state unequivocally that adequate funding alone will not place our universities among the best in the world. “If our universities must survive in the future, they must adopt new approaches to doing things in order to be relevant to the needs of the population, which they serve and the constantly-changing society. They have a responsibility to align their priorities with that of the country. “Our universities must be agents of change. The situation whereby a large number of the graduates produced by our universities lack the relevant skills due to poor training and are therefore unemployable is intolerable. “University teachers must re-orient themselves and avoid distractions at work occasioned by unnecessary strikes which remain the bane of our educational system with its attendant consequences.” He praised the university for avoiding strikes, noting: “Permit me to acknowledge the effort made by the governing council, management, members of staff and students of the University of Ilorin in ensuring a stable, uninterrupted academic calendar for several years now. “I enjoin you to keep it up and resolve not to be dragged into avoidable strikes which are clearly detrimental to the growth and development of our educational system. We have it on record that this positive step, which has been the hallmark of this institution, has brought notable achievements to the university in all spheres of its endeavour.” To resolve the lingering crisis, the Senate yesterday mandated its President, David Mark, to immediately engage the leadership of ASUU in a fruitful discussion. After a debate on a motion sponsored by the Senate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba and 106 others, the lawmakers also called on ASUU to suspend the strike and return to work to prevent further devaluation of the country’s educational fortunes. The decision to mandate Mark to mediate between ASUU and government, according to senators, was borne out of the fact that the university teachers would not trust any other government official, especially from the Executive. Senators took their turns to express their bitter feelings about the strike, the agreement between the Federal Government and ASUU and the deteriorating situations in the country’s educational sector. Mark lamented that it was unfortunate that the Federal Government was made to sign the agreement, which he said, had become too difficult to implement. The Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, Uche Chukwumerije, had briefed the Senate on the agreement and the efforts made so far made at resolving the crisis arising from it. He said the total monetary value of the commitment which the Federal Government entered into by signing that agreement amounted to N1.5 trillion which was supposed to have been taken care of within two years. The allowances demanded by the university teachers, according to Chukwumerije, include post-graduate allowances and grants, industrial training allowances, external excess workload allowances, housing loans, sabbatical leave allowances, sick leave allowances, injury allowances, provision of office accommodation, car allowances as well as proper funding of universities. According to Mark, it had become clear that those who signed that agreement for the Federal Government never knew the implications of what they signed. “The agreement showed the level of ignorance and incompetence on the part of those officials who entered into the agreement for the Federal Government. I think ASUU took advantage of the shortcomings of those officials of government and overwhelmed them. But once it was signed, there is a moral duty on the Federal Government to implement it.” Mark, however, appealed to both the Federal Government and ASUU to shift ground in the interest of the country’s development, pointing out that with a very poor situation of the educational sector, the country would achieve very little development. Piqued by the crisis, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) has warned that it may consider declaring a solidarity strike in support of ASUU. The President of the congress, Abdulwaheed Omar, who gave the warning yesterday in a statement issued at the end of a National Executive Council (NEC), said if all efforts at resolving the industrial crisis failed, the NLC would then be left with no choice than to declare its solidarity strike. He revealed that Labour would be meeting with Vice President Mohammed Sambo in Abuja today with a view to resolving the logjam. Omar also decried the alleged non-payment of entitlements of disengaged PHCN workers, saying: “We will resist this move because it is against the privatisation law that stipulates the settlement of all labour matters before privatisation of any public utility.” The Labour leader also called for the probe of Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, over the alleged purchase of bulletproof cars for her. Meanwhile, a rally by the ASUU chapter of the University of Uyo was stalled yesterday by the police in Akwa Ibom State as the university gate from Ikpa Road was barricaded with about four police vehicles. However, this barricade did not deter ASUU members from singing their solidarity songs and displaying their pamphlets and placards. And undisturbed by the threat of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan to stop the payment of their salaries, the teachers of Delta State University, Abraka (DELSU), yesterday reiterated their determination to continue with their strike. In a telephone interview, the local Chairman, Dr. Emmanuel Mordi, agreed that the teachers might face hard times should Uduaghan carry out his threat, but that he and his colleagues were determined to carry on with the struggle until the Federal Government fully honoured the 2009 agreement which it signed with the union; the 2012 Memorandum of Agreement (MoU) and the 2013 technical report of the needs assessment of public universities. Mordi said that they were ready to weather the storm just like their colleagues in federal universities whose salaries had been stopped since October.
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 22:00:21 +0000
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