The Yola Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has decried the alleged fascist approach of the federal government to running Nigerian universities.
The union vowed to take drastic action, saying it was not asking the federal government for anything else but to implement its agreement with the lecturers.
The zone consists of Adamawa State University (ADSU), Federal University Gashua (FUGA), Modibbo Adama University (MAU), Taraba State University (TSU), University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID) and Yobe State University (YSU).
The union in a press briefing in Yola, condemned the deliberate and consistent failure of the federal government to fulfil the agreements adding that the situation is killing the country’s university system.
At the press briefing by Dr El-Maude Gambo on behalf of the zonal coordinator, Prof Dani Mammam, he said Yola Zone noted with grave concern how the federal government circumvents reached agreements with impunity adding that the situation is a minus for Nigerian education.
He said, “The main driver for the eight months’ strike action in 2022 was to compel the FGN to implement the Memorandum of Action (MoA) of February 7, 2019, the union is not asking for anything new but the implementation of the Agreement.
“The MoA duly signed by both FGN and ASUU contains few issues amongst which include the “revitalisation fund for public universities, renegotiation of the 2009 agreement, earned academic allowances and proliferation of state universities and governance issues in them.”
“Remember, all these issues have timelines attached to them as promised by the FGN but all to no avail, most of these times have elapsed and there is nothing to show for it,” he said.
On the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement aimed at addressing various issues in Nigerian universities, the union added that “after two years of negotiations, the government and ASUU reached an agreement in 2009.
“This agreement covers conditions of service for university lecturers (salaries, allowances like EAA), funding for universities, university autonomy and academic freedom and other matters.
“The single term of reference of the committee was to re-negotiate the 2001 FGN/ASUU Agreement and enter into a workable Agreement.
“In the course of discussion, the committee agreed that the essence of the re-negotiation was to: reverse the decay in the university system, to reposition it for greater responsibilities in national development; reverse the brain drain, not only by enhancing the remuneration of academic staff but also by disengaging them from the encumbrances of a unified civil service wage structure; iii. restore Nigerian Universities, through immediate, massive, and sustained financial intervention; and, iv. ensure genuine university autonomy and academic freedom,” he said.
The don added that all efforts by the union and the promises made by the government to address contending issues on the renegotiation have not yielded any result.
“For the avoidance of doubts, in the years 2017, 2018, 2020, and 2022, the 2009 agreement was renegotiated with the government’s representatives, Dr Wale Babalakin, Prof. Munzali Jubril, and the late Nimi Briggs heading the government’s teams, respectively.
“The Nimi Briggs Committee concluded the renegotiation with the Union, awaiting the government’s approbation.
“The refusal of the government to sign the renegotiated agreement has suffocated the Nigerian public Universities. The recent wage award by FGN was never a component of our renegotiated agreement; the union demands full implementation of the Nimi Briggs Committee report,” he added.
On the issue of earned allowance, Dr El-Maude recalled that in 2023 the federal government “budgeted N50 billion for the payment of the backlog of our members’ EAA and promised to mainstream the EAA into our salaries, but that has not seen the light of day.”
“The failure of the federal and state governments to mainstream EAA into the salaries as of 2022, as contained in the 2020 MoA between ASUU and FGN, is a clear manifestation of the government’s bad intentions towards our members,” he said.
