…as Federal government, ASUU agree on four critical issues
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Thursday welcomed the intervention of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rep. Femi Gbajabiamila over its industrial dispute with the Federal government.
Following the threat of a strike by the University trade union due to the failure of the Federal to implement some part of the agreement entered into by the two parties, Gbajabiamila had called for a meeting between the Ministers of Finance and Education and the leadership of ASUU.
At the meeting attended by all parties involved, Speaker Gbajabiamila was able to broker a truce with the Federal government and ASUU agreeing on four major contending issues.
He said: “It will be irresponsible of us, as leaders to sit and watch things deteriorate.
“We have to be mindful of the unintended consequences of strike actions that can be far-reaching, knowing how important education is to the children and the future of our country.
“Whatever the issues, strikes can not continue to be a perennial exercise, strikes can not be the tool we use at all time but only when things finally break down.
“On the other hand, the government should also not go into agreements it can not honour.
“While everybody has an equal share of the blame, how to resolve the issue this the most thing important and that is why we are here”.
At the meeting, the government representatives agreed to make available within one week, the payment of N30b University Revitalization fund.
It was also agreed that the Federal government will sort out the N22b Earned Academic Allowances component from the Education sector budget.
In addition, the Federal government said that it was not averse to the deployment of the proposed alternative payment platform University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) developed by ASUU as opposed to the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
The Minister of Finance, Hajia Zainab Ahmed however informed the Speaker that the government is waiting for the report of the Nigerian Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) before the next step would be taken
The tripartite meeting also agreed that the renegotiation of the 2009 N1.3 trillion agreement between the ASUU and the Federal government would commence a week from today.
Earlier at the meeting, ASUU President, Professor Victor Emmanuel Osodeke said some of the issues in contention have been resolved but for the listed.
He said the union had to call for strike action due to the tradition of reneging on agreements by the Federal government, the last of which was last month, October.
On the other hand, the Ministers of Finance, Hajia Zainab Ahmed and Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba claimed that the government was on the verge of releasing funds for the Revitalization of Universities as well as the EAA.
Having convinced the University trade union to have faith in the promises made by the two Ministers, Gbajabiamila added, “It will be the best for ASUU to please step down the impending strike since there’s no issue that has been left unresolved.
The Speaker hoped that resorting to strike actions over issues will be a thing of the past while appealing that statements that will exacerbate matters would be avoided by all parties”.