ASUU Rejects N600 Billion Offer

ASUU rejects N600 BILLION
offer
Varsity teachers remained
adamant last night, saying their
strike would go on, despite the
government’s shifting of its
position. The strike has been on
for four months.
More cash has been pledged for
projects on the campuses.
Besides, the earned allowances
due to the teachers have been
increased from the initial N30
billion offer, which the Academic
Staff Union of Universities
(ASUU) rejected. The teachers
are insisting on the 2009
agreement, which they say
President Goodluck Jonathan
was part of. Besides, they say,
they do not trust the
government.
According to a circular by the
Vice Chancellor of the Federal
University, Otuoke, Bayelsa
State, Prof. Bolaji Aluko, to the
staff of the school, quoted
yesterday by the news website,
Sahara Reporters, the
government has pledged to
spend N200 billion on the
universities in the 2014 budget
and the same amount annually
for the next three to four years.
This is in addition to the N100
billion already made available
this year, but which ASUU has
rejected.
The government has also
increased to N40 billion, as a
first installment, funds for the
payment of earned allowances
to the striking lecturers – an
improvement from the N30
billion previously released.
On the earned allowances,
Aluko said: “Government will top
it up with further releases once
universities are through with the
disbursement of this new figure
of N40 million. So, Vice-
Chancellors are urged to
expedite this disbursement
within the shortest possible
time using guiding templates
that have been sent by the
CVC,” the circular said.
Aluko said the latest
development followed meetings
on September 19 and Oct 11 of
representatives of the
Association of Vice-Chancellors
of Nigerian Universities, led by
its Chairman, Prof. Hamisu of
Abubakar Tafawa Balewa
University (ATBU) and ASUU
representatives led by its
President, Dr.Nasir Fagge, with
Vice-President Namadi Sambo
and Minister of Education
Nyesome Wike.
A source in the Ministry of
Education last night also
confirmed that the meeting took
place.
“But the government decided to
leave the announcement of the
decision to the ASUU chiefs,”
the source said.
It was gathered that Sambo
urged ASUU to call off the
strike, as he apologised for the
“take-it-or-leave-it” comments
credited to Minister of Finance
Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at the
beginning of the strike. The
Minister did not seem to have
been involved in either meeting,
perhaps as the government’s
way of soothing the feelings of
the university teachers.
Other points of agreement at the
meetings include:
•Project Prioritisation:
Universities will now be allowed
to determine their priorities and
not be “rail-roaded” into
implementing a pre-determined
set of projects with respect to
the NEEDS assessment.
Decisions are not to be
centralized;
•TETFund Intervention: The
government assured the
teachers that the operations of
the TETFund will not be
impaired, and that the regular
TETFund intervention
disbursement to universities will
continue, unaffected. So the
NEEDS assessment capital
outlays are in addition to
regular TETFund intervention;
•Project Monitoring: A new
Implementation Monitoring
Committee (IMC) for the NEEDS
Assessment intervention for
universities has been set up to
take over from the Suswam
Committee. The new one is
under the Federal Ministry of
Education and chaired by the
Minister of Education. In
addition, to build confidence
and ensure faithful
implementation and prevent any
relapse as before, the Vice
President will meet quarterly
with the implementors to
monitor progress.
.Blueprint: ASUU was mandated
to submit a blueprint for
revitalising the universities to
the Vice President.
Prof. Aluko stated that a signed
document will soon be issued to
itemise the full issues on which
the consensus was reached.
But ASUU last night was
unimpressed with the new offer.
National Treasurer Dr. Ademola
Aremu said the offer failed to
meet the teachers’ expectations.
He said the offer falls short of
the agreement signed with
ASUU by the government.
Aremu insisted that ASUU would
not end the strike until the 2009
agreement is fully implemented
by injecting N500 billion into
the universities yearly to shore
up the system’s quality.
Aremu, who spoke to our
correspondent on the telephone,
said any offer below what is
contained in the signed
agreement, would amount to
unilateral repudiation of an
agreement the government
willingly signed in 2009.
According to the unionist, ASUU
is not making any new demand,
but a mere implementation of an
agreement. He pointed out that
the Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) signed by
both parties in 2009 stated that
the government would commit
N1.5 trillion to the system in
three years.
He said: “ Even if the Federal
Government made that promise,
it would be a unilateral
repudiation of the 2009
agreement. By now, the
government should have
injected N500 billion. That
amounts to N100 billion in 2012
and N400 billion in the current
year.
“As a matter of fact, any new
commitment from the Federal
Government is belated.
Implementation of the
agreement ought to have started
before this year. I don’t think
there is any way we can trust
this government, going by its
past behaviour on this issue.
“The mandate from our principal
as at the last time we met was
that we won’t end the strike
until the agreement is fully
implemented.
“We do not need promises
again. What we need now is
actual implementation. What if
they do not release the funds
again after making the promise?
“It was this same Mr President
that mid-wifed the agreement in
2009 when he was the Vice
President. The MoU was in his
custody. He studied the
agreement well before asking
then President Umaru Yar’Adua
to sign it. We can’t trust this
government.