Seven public universities in the South-West and South-South geopolitical zones have threatened to embark on strike over outstanding disputes with the federal and state governments.
Newspot reports that the universities, under the aegis of Benin Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, issued the threat at a press conference on Thursday in Benin City.
The universities are University of Benin, Benin City (UNIBEN), Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma in Edo State, Adekunle Ajasin University (AAUA), Akungba-Akoko, Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Okitipupa in Ondo State, Delta State University (DELSU), Abraka Federal University of Petroleum Resources (FUPRE), Effurun and University of Delta, Agbor in Delta State.
The press conference titled, ‘On the unresolved issues between Federal, State governments and ASUU: Government is begging ASUU to go on strike’, was addressed by the Zonal Coordinator, Benin Zone of ASUU, Professor Monday Igbafen.
Igbafen said the need to embark on strike by the union was occasioned by the failure of the federal and state governments to meet the union’s outstanding demands after the prolonged nationwide strike between February and October 2022.
He said the failure of government to resolve the union’s demands as well as lacks of sincerity on the government’s part have worsened the living and working conditions of academic staff in the public universities across the country and the zone.
He enumerated some of the unresolved issues as the stalled renegotiation of 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement, funding for the revitalization of public universities based on the FGN-ASUU MoU of 2021, 2023, and the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA), of 2017.
Others include the illegal dissolution of Governing Councils in Federal and State universities, withheld salaries in Federal and State universities and unpaid salaries of staff on sabbatical due to Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
He also listed the non-release of third- party deductions, non-payment of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA), proliferation of public universities, non- implementation of the reports of Visitation Panels and the refusal to adopt the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) in place of IPPIS.
Igbafen, who noted that the Federal Government had hastily reconstituted controversial governing councils of Federal Universities after 11 months of their illegal dissolution, added that some state governments have remained adamant on the issue.
He opined that the absence of governing councils in the universities had led to unthinkable aberrations with the introduction of obnoxious polices that are antithetical to university culture.
“A classic example is Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma a state university in the Benin Zone of ASUU where there has not been a governing council for 3 years with a strange body supposedly playing the role of a governing council.
“At the last count, AAU, Ekpoma is the only university in the country without a Governing Council and with attendant assault on the University’s autonomy, high-handedness, impunity, illegal recruitment and discipline of staff as well as the management of university finances without regard for transparency and accountability.
“Related to the aforementioned issues is that the Federal and State Governments have also bluntly refused to address the problem of victimization and persecution of our members at the Kogi State University (KSU), Anyingba; Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Abakaliki; Lagos State Universities (LASU), Ojoo; Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma; Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University (COOU), Igbariam,” he said.
He posited that in the aforementioned universities, while some members have been illegally sacked, others have had their salaries withheld for unjustifiable reasons.
The union, however condemned the intransigence of some state governments in failing to allow state universities to operate in accordance with the laws establishing them.
The zonal coordinator, Benin zone of ASUU, noted that the refusal and/or neglect by government to satisfactorily address these issues in contention was an invitation to industrial disharmony in our public universities.
He, however, urged the Nigerian public, especially the critical stakeholders of the Nigerian University System, to hold the Nigerian Government responsible if peradventure the union proceed on strike any moment from now.
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