GOOD NEWS:ASUU SETTED DOWN STIPULATED CONDITION TO ACCEPT FG OFFER

Members of the Academic Staff
Union of Universities have given the
Federal Government certain
conditions to be met before the
union could call off its four-month
old strike.
Part of this condition, Saturday
PUNCH learnt, is that all federal
parastatals in charge of fund,
labour, and education must sign the
agreement purportedly reached
between its leadership and the
Federal Government on Tuesday.
A prominent member of the union,
who craved anonymity because he
was not authorised to speak on
behalf of the union, told Saturday
PUNCH that doing this would give
the association the confidence that
“the Federal Government knows
what it is doing when it signed the
agreement.”
He said, “I must tell you that our
mandate remains. The only
mandate we have is that 2009
agreement must be met. We have
not reached any agreement with the
Federal Government.
“Since the Federal Government
wants to be releasing N220bn every
year for five years, then all monetary
and regulatory agencies must sign.
The Central Bank of Nigeria,
Ministries of Finance and Labour,
National Assembly, Office of the
Presidency, National Universities
Commission, Tertiary Education
Trust Fund, Trade Union Congress
and our umbrella body, the Nigeria
Labour Congress, must sign with
consequences stated.
“The reason we will ensure this is
that we don’t want argument
tomorrow that the agreement was
entered in error or that they don’t
know the implication of signing the
agreement. If possible, documents
that will provide for automatic
deduction of the agreed money at a
particular/agreed date must be
provided.”
The leadership of the union had
engaged in a 13-hour marathon
meeting with government
delegation led by President
Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja
between Monday and Tuesday.
Though it was generally perceived
that both ASUU and the Federal
Government achieved breakthrough
in negotiation for the first time after
the lengthy meeting with the
President, Saturday PUNCH learnt
that the lecturers might not be in a
hurry to go back to class.
Another source close to ASUU who
was also part of the marathon
meeting with the President in Abuja,
said there was nothing new in what
the President promised members of
the union.
According to him, government had
always failed in implementing
agreements reached with ASUU. He
said, “Truly the President sat down
for more than 13 hours with us. He
told us that we were not leaving the
venue until the issues were
resolved. The Federal Government
also promised to inject funds into
the system, but a promissory note is
not enough.
“Where would the money come
from? There is no assurance that
government will provide money
especially with the mop-up policy in
place that ensures that unspent
money is refunded to government’s
coffers at the end of every year.’’
Asked when the lecturers would call
off the strike, he said, “I doubt if the
strike is ending soon. The problem
is with the Finance Minister. Where is
government getting N1trn from? A
government that could not
implement agreement between
2009 and 2013, what is the
guarantee that they would honour
this agreement.
“It is all politics. We are still awaiting
directives from our branches. We
have told them the outcome of the
meeting with the President but we
are waiting for them to tell us what
they think of government’s proposal.
“Imagine the Minister of Education
has travelled out of the country. He
was appointed Vice President for
UNESCO General Assembly. How
can he travel out of the country
without resolving the crisis in the
education sector?’’
He said the Federal Government
should spend the trillions of dollars
in its Sovereign Wealth Fund to
finance university education and
improve infrastructure in the
country.
A key component of the agreement
reached by both ASUU and the
Federal Government was that
government would inject N1.1trn
into public universities in the next
five years. Government is expected
to inject N220bn yearly into the
public university sector beginning
from 2014. But government said it
could only release N100bn this year,
noting that the amount had already
been processed.
The Federal Government also
indicated that the N1.1trn would be
domiciled at the Central Bank of
Nigeria to show its commitment to
the agreement. The money is
expected to be released on
quarterly basis to the universities so
that there won’t be any problem
about funding the deal.
The National Universities
Commission and the Trade Union
Congress will be the joint guarantors
of the agreement while the Minister
of Education will be the
implementing officer. Government,
according to sources at the meeting,
also agreed to revamp public
universities by ensuring that all the
issues that always lead to strike are
dealt with once and for all.
Asked to confirm if lecturers were
planning to call off their strike, ASUU
Chairman, University of Calabar
branch, Dr. James Okpiliya, said the
local chapter was yet to get formal
briefing on the meeting with
President Goodluck Jonathan.
He, however, said the union would
make its position known to the
press on the President’s offer after
the end of a meeting scheduled for
mid-night Thursday.
Also, Chairman of ASUU in Obafemi
Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Prof.
Adegbola Akinola, said that
members must be properly briefed
on the resolution between the
Federal Government and
representatives of ASUU in the last
marathon meeting.
He said the only condition that could
make its members accept any offer
would be the provision of necessary
documents.
He said, “The NEC meeting may not
hold now. It is the local congress
that is expected to hold first which is
either tomorrow or Monday.
“Our members are not yet briefed
about the details, so it is when we
meet that we will know the details
and then discuss whether what we
got is sufficient enough to justify our
action or demand.
“I can’t really pre-empt the mind of
other members. But if we are to
accept any offer, there must be
document to back that up. We need
to obtain documents on that. Maybe
if there is a document, people may
look at it critically.”
However, the Federal Government
said it would include the N1.1trn
promised ASUU in the education
budget starting from next year. It
also said it was waiting for the union
to know the next step to take.
The Director, Press and Public
Relations of the Ministry of
Education, Mr. Olu Lipide, told one
of our correspondents on Thursday
that government was waiting for
ASUU to take the necessary steps. Meanwhile, the Dean of Social
Sciences, University of Lagos, Prof.
Omololu Soyombo, has said that the
general ASUU body must agree
before the strike could be called off.
He said, “It is difficult to believe the
President but we give him the
benefit of doubt. We believe that the
President is noble, the ASUU
president promised to give him a
feedback. If this had been done
earlier, the strike wouldn’t have
extended for so long.”
Corroborating his view, the
Chairman, Lagos State University,
ASUU, Dr. Jamiu Oluwatoki said, “It
won’t be long again. By next week
there should be a NEC meeting and
subsequently the congress meetings
before the president can call off the
strike.”