Below is a text of ASUU’s letter to the committee chairman: The Chairman Presidential Committee on the Implementation of the CNANU Report Dear Sir, DISTORTION OF THE REPORT OF THE TECHNICAL SUBCOMMITTEE OF CNANU IMPLEMENTATION COMMITTEE Recall that the Committee of Needs Assessment of Nigerian (Public)Universities, CNANU, was set up by Government as a resultof the dispute between Government and ASUU in respect of the funding requirements needed to arrest the rot and reverse the decay in the Nigerian University System. Recall also that the Committee submitted its report to Federal Executive Council, FEC and National Economic Council, NEC and a Technical Committee was set up by NEC to draw up the action-plan to guide government in implementing the recommendations of the Report. Recall also that the Technical Committee had submitted its report to NEC, which was approved and sent to FEC. Recall also that FEC had approved the report and the President had also approved the memo sent to him in respect ofthe Report of the Technical Committee. For our Union, the setting up of a committee to implement the recommendations is a very welcome development. We are however alarmed by recent developments in the work of the Committee. We therefore wish to makethe following observations with regards to the workings of the Committee. We find it necessary to make the observations in order to stop the Committee from derailing from itscore mandate and creating even deeper crises in the University System. ESTABLISHMENT OF OPERATIONAL FRAMEWORKAND METHODOLOGY 1. We are worried that the Committee is yet to start working on the Technical Report of the NEC Committee that was approved by the NEC and FEC. We believe that the approved report together with the Main Report and theIndividual University Report should form the basis of what the Committee will be doing. 2. We are concerned that the Committee, fourweeks after its inauguration, is yet to come up with a roadmap for implementation of the CNANU Report. We are worried that thereis no plan on the ground on what to do with the other numerous recommendations besides the ones that the Committee had chosen to commence with. 3. While we believe that the committee must start from somewhere, a general plan of action is necessary for the success of the committee. SOURCE(S) OF THE FUND 4. Our Union is very apprehensive of the manner in which the sources of the initial N100billion to be used for the stimulation of the process are shrouded in secrecy. We believe that monies that already belong to the university system should not be blocked and recycled. This will not only be counterproductive but will brew even deepercrises in the system. ASUU will not accept this. QUANTUM OF THE FUND 5. We observe that the Committee is so far mentioning only N100billion. If the implementation is to be related to the funding requirements in the 2009 ASUU/FGN Agreement and the Jan 2012 MoU, what is due for 2012 and 2013 is N500billion not N100billion. Only the provision of this sum will meet the immediate needs of the universities. DISBURSEMENT 6. We are also concerned that a clear procedure or process for assessing the funds by the universities is yet to be defined. This concern is even more germane given the statement of the Chairman of the Committee (during the last meeting on Monday 19th Aug. 2013) that the Committee is taking some documents to the Due ProcessOffice. We hasten to add that while due process must be followed, it is the sole responsibility of benefitting universities to respect all the provisions of the Procurement Act. The meaning of your Committee going tothe Due Process Office is that it is the one that will be responsible for awarding contracts. We want to make it clear that this will never be acceptable to our Union. We believe that monies meant to fund projects in Universities should be sent to the Universities just as it is the practice with TETFund, Capital appropriation, etc. MUTILATION OF THE DISBURSEMENT OF THE FIRST TRANCHE 6. We are also deeply concerned about the rationale of mutilating the report of the technical subcommittee of your Committee by the Secretariat. For instance the entire structure of allocation to universities as well as to projects has been grossly distorted without any clear justification. The index of enrolment used to classify the universities has been set aside. The number of benefitinguniversities has also been changed without justification. ASUU will not accept this
Posted on: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 05:58:57 +0000
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