The handful of state-owned universities whose workers are either members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) or had joined the ongoing strike embarked upon by their colleagues have begun opting out of the industrial action.
This comes on the heels of recent criticism by the president of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osadeke, of state universities who had earlier chosen to resume academic activities.
In an interview on Arise Television on Thursday, Osadeke described state universities as quacks and irrelevant.
However. The response has been swift from state institutions as more are considering breaking away from the strike or are being pressured by state governors to resume lecturers.
The rift opened by the president of ASUU has also raised questions among some state institutions on why they may not be obliged to accept any agreement reached by the federal government and ASUU when it comes to the salaries of lecturers.
Findings by LEADERSHIP Sunday suggest some of the state universities that are part of the strike are not only bleeding revenue, they are facing pressure from governors who are questioning their membership of ASUU.
According to findings of the paper, state governors do have a uniform position on the no work, no pay policy of the federal government.
In Adamawa for example, lecturers of the state owned university are still being paid in spite of being part of the strike.
Mr Belmon Benson, Information and Protocol Officer of the institution made the confirmation to LEADERSHIP in Yola Saturday.
Benson, said the university, which is in its 10th year of establishment and has no reason not to key into the industrial action declared by the national body of the union.
An official of Kaduna state government told LEADERSHIP Sunday that Governor Nasir El-Rufai will not prevent Kaduna State University lecturers from joining any union of their choice.
The government officials who pleaded anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the matter said, ”Kaduna State Government will not prevent KASU lecturers from joining any union of their choice. It’s within their freedom of association to decide whether or not to join ASUU.
“Kaduna State Government has no dispute with KASU lecturers in the first place, let alone for them to embark on strike. So, there’s no basis of honouring any “pay agreement between ASUU and FG”.
Lectures are however continuing uninterrupted in state universities that are not part of ASUU and did not join the strike.
Responding to the universities which are not acting in solidarity with ASUU, Osadeke in the interview said, “When you are providing data, look at the background. Kwara State University is not a member of ASUU, Osun State University was suspended for its behaviour, you can check.
“LASU, you mentioned. We are in court with LASU because they sacked all our executives five years ago so they are not part of this struggle and Ekiti State University’s government has the right to say we have reopened just as it has happened in Gombe State University, Yobe and Kaduna State University.
“So, don’t cite those examples as they are irrelevant. Talk about the issue; is the University of Ibadan on strike? Is the University of Nigeria Nsukka (UNN) on strike? Is Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) on strike?
“Is Bayero University Kano (BUK) on strike? Is Maiduguri University on strike and the University of Lagos? Let’s talk about real universities, not those quacks.”
Other than state universities in Ekiti, Kwara, Kaduna, Yobe and Gombe mentioned by the ASUU president, those in Sokoto, Oyo, Katsina and Adamawa are considering abandoning the strike or are being pressured to do so. More states are also threatening to stop the salaries of the striking lecturers.
LEADERSHIP Sunday reported that not all state universities are part of ASUU. Two Rivers State government-owned universities, the Rivers State University and the Ignatius Ajuru University of Education, are not involved in the strike.
LEADERSHIP Sunday observed that full academic activities were going in the two universities all through the period of the ASUU Strike.
Osun State government also says it ensured that lecturers in the state university are not members of ASUU.
Speaking with LEADERSHIP Sunday in Osogbo, the chief press secretary to the state governor, Ismail Omipidan, said the conditions attached to the employment of the lecturers will not be compromised by government and its employees.
Borno State University, which is also not part of ASUU and did not join the strike, is about to round off its academic session.
It was also gathered that Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) is also rounding off for the session.
A lecturer in ESUT Law Faculty, Kingsley C. Ezeugwu, told our correspondent that students of the university are presently writing examinations.
Sokoto Varsity May Jettison ASUU Strike
The Sokoto State University chapter of ASUU is considering opting out of the prolonged strike embarked upon by the union.
This decision is irrespective of ASUU National Executive Committee meeting scheduled for today, Sunday, August 28, 2022.
Rising from their congress which ended in stalemate, a lecturer who confided in LEADERSHIP Sunday, some of them are contemplating pulling out from the strike in the interest of their students.
The lecturer said, “We have discovered that the federal government is not sincere about resolving the lingering strike and everybody in this country knows how Buhari administration pays nonchalant attitude towards education.
“On our part, we have no issues with Governor Aminu Tambuwal-led government. What is left for us now is to localize our struggle, approach the state government with our demands and if the government meets our demands, we will not hesitate to call off the strike.
“We are all watching and waiting to repay this administration for the damage it has caused to the educational sector, which is the bedrock of any societal development.”
On his part, the chairman, ASUU branch of Sokoto State University, Dr Sai’du Isah, said the union would reconvene to take a position on the outcome of National Executive Committee meeting slated for today.
Katsina State-owned Varsity May Call Off ASUU Strike
There is an indication that the Katsina State-owned university will soon call off its six-month-old ASUU strike.The special adviser to Governor Aminu Bello Masari on higher education, Dr Bashir Ruwan-Godiya, told LEADERSHIP Sunday that the state government had been discussing with the state union of ASUU to call off the strike.
He said it was only the academic staff union of the Umaru Musa Yar’adua University (UMYU) that is on the strike to show solidarity with the mother union.
Dr Ruwan-Godiya added that the outcomes of the agreement between the federal government and the ASUU mother association had nothing to do with the state-owned university because the state government has no issue with the staff of its institution.
“The agreement is going to be reached between the federal government and ASUU; we don’t have any issue with ASUU. The UMYU staff are only members by being lecturers.
“Right now, they are on strike not because they have any issue with us; they call it solidarity strike. Ours is to give them their salary which we have been giving up to August”, he said
Universities are on strike at the moment as a result of the federal government failing to meet the demands of ASUU on agreement reached between both parties. ASUU has held meetings with the federal government and minister of education several times, yet no resolution.
Gombe Gov Threatens To Stop Salaries Of GSU Lecturers
Governor Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State has threatened that the state government would replicate the federal government’s decision of ‘No work, no pay’ on lecturers in the state who joined the ASUU strike.
The governor issued the threat yesterday during the town hall meeting and interactive session organised by the Hausa service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) between the governor and the electorate of the state held at Gombe Government House.
He said for the past six months that the lecturers of Gombe State University (GSU) joined the strike, the state government had been paying them their salaries without delay.
Inuwa said government would sit with the management of the university and the Academic Staff Union of the school to discuss on ending the strike, vowing that if the lecturers refuse to resume, he would be left with no option than to withhold their salaries.
Asked about the backlog of gratuities of retired civil servants in the state, the governor revealed that his government inherited huge debts of the gratuities from previous administrations, adding that the money has now accumulated to the sum of N25 billion.
While promising that his administration would reduce the debts in its remaining months, the governor however noted that since his assumption of office, he had not owed workers salary, saying all civil servants receive their salaries on the 25th of every month.
Oyo Will Not Pay LAUTECH Subvention Until ASUU Calls Off The Strike – Makinde
Oyo State governor, Seyi Makinde, has never supported the participation of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) chapter of ASUU in the prolonged strike embarked upon by the national body.
The governor, who spoke through his chief press secretary, Taiwo Adisa, said the lecturers should not have joined the industrial action.
He warned that government would withhold subventions until LAUTECH chapter of ASUU ends strike.
According to him, if the lecturers were sensitive, they should not have joined the industrial action.
“As of today, their subvention is being withheld. If they don’t go back to school, I won’t release their subvention. So, the students must know who to hold accountable.
“When we came in, we met 13 months’ salary outstanding. We worked to take the institution from Osun back to Oyo state. So, we expected 100 per cent cooperation, at least for the sake of the students but there are people who want to play politics among them.
“Now, I can assure them that we will pay the lecturers who return to classrooms to teach our children. Those who want to be fomenting trouble should go ahead.
“I don’t care whether it is an election year. I will only do whatever is right until the last day of my tenure,” the governor said.
Following the threat, the stakeholders have urged the governor to find solution to the ASUU strike.
Through the lecturers have remained adamant, it was learnt that the fresh students have started receiving lectures.
Kwara Varsity Punctures ASUU President’s Claims
The management of Kwara State University (KWASU),Malete, has berated ASUU, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, for tagging state universities as quacks.
The management of the institution yesterday insisted that KWASU is not a quack as it, among other feats, pioneered entrepreneurship study in the university system.
“For the record, Kwara State University is an institution founded on the vision of advancing the frontiers of knowledge for the good of society. We have taken the lead as the first public university in Nigeria to extend higher education curriculum to include equipping our students with entrepreneurship skills to meet the challenges of the 21st century,” the management said in a statement signed by the director, University Relations, Dr Saeedat Aliyu.
The stated reads in part: “In the interview with ARISE TV, Professor Osodeke labelled Kwara State University, among some other state-owned institutions in Nigeria, as “quacks” and “irrelevant” for the singular reason that these institutions are not on strike.
“The Management of Kwara State University considers these statements as undeserving of an academic of Professor Osodeke’s status who should know better than to denigrate institutions of higher learning for one reason that is unrelated to any factor used to measure the standard of institutions anywhere in the world.
“Kwara State University is the first institution in Nigeria to mount Aeronautical and Astronautical Engineering as a forward thinking move to develop human capacity for the nation’s aeronautic and astronautic needs.
“Kwara State University’s entrepreneurship training model is now a recommended addition to institutions in the country just as we helped to develop the curriculum of secondary schools to enable the inclusion of entrepreneurship training at that level.”
Noting that Kwara State University has all of its academic programmes accredited by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and requisite professional regulatory bodies, it said as an institution founded barely 13 years ago, KWASU had made a name for itself as a university which focuses on breaking new grounds, on doing new things and advancing society through its students, activities and contributions to industry and society as a whole.
We Have Different Structures On Salary Payment From FG
Governor Darius Ishaku of Taraba state has insisted that workers in state-owned universities cannot receive the same salaries as those in federal higher institutions.
The governor who spoke through his media aide, Bala Dan Habu, said there can never be a harmonised salary structure since the federal government has its own wage structure.
He said, “We cannot be talking of harmonised salary wage bill with ASUU; every state university has its own establishment laws; you cannot harmonise the salary structure.
Plateau to honour FG, ASUU agreement
The Plateau State commissioner of information and communication, Hon. Dan Manjang, has said the state government will honour pay agreement between ASUU and federal government.
He made this comment while reacting to a question on whether the state government would respect any solution reached by ASUU and federal government.
He told our correspondent, “When we get to the bridge we will know how to cross. Let them reach a truce first.”
Manjang said the state government had been doing it best to ensure that the Plateau State University, Bokkos, remains one of the best state universities in Nigeria and will also ensure its lecturers enjoy all benefits with regard to salary payment like their counterparts in other state and federal universities in Nigeria.
