The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has given the Federal Government a three-week ultimatum to address its demands, warning of a potential strike if their concerns are not met.
At an emergency press conference held at the Federal University Dutse (FUD) in Jigawa State, Comrade Salim Ahmed, Chairperson of ASUU FUD Branch, detailed the reasons behind the union’s frustration.
“The Members of the Expanded Executive Officers of the ASUU Federal University Dutse met today, Wednesday, 19th June 2024, to consider and take a look at the patriotic engagements of the Union with the Federal and State governments on how best to address all the lingering problems bedeviling Nigerian Public Universities,” Ahmed stated.
Ahmed emphasized that the current administration has neglected the union since it came into power on May 29, 2023. Despite repeated efforts to initiate dialogue, the government has failed to engage with ASUU’s leadership.
“All efforts were put in place by the leadership of the Union to get the government to convene a meeting and listen to ASUU in order to iron out the contending issues, as contained in the International Labour Organization, ILO’s principle of collective bargaining, have failed,” he said.
One of the key issues is the renegotiation of the FGN/ASUU 2009 agreement, which includes important aspects of member welfare, university autonomy, funding for revitalization, and the proliferation of public universities.
Ahmed highlighted other critical concerns, including the illegal dissolution of governing councils in federal and state universities, and the need for the release of withheld salaries amounting to three and a half months.
He also mentioned unpaid salaries for members on sabbatical and adjunct roles due to inefficiencies with the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), the release of third-party deductions, the payment of Earned Academic Allowance (EAA), and the implementation of the visitation panels’ report.
Additionally, ASUU is advocating for the adoption of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) to replace IPPIS.
Ahmed stressed the importance of these issues, stating, “Based on all these, the members of our great union in this branch, like those of the other branches, are believing that the Federal Government is unwilling to decisively address the outstanding issues with the union, therefore, in line with the directives from the National secretariat, we resolved to hold a press conference and let the parents, the stakeholders in university education know of the situation and to be sensitized and well informed of the failure of the government to address these lingering issues.”
He urged the general public to understand the true state of affairs and called on all well-meaning individuals to pressure the government into resolving these issues to prevent an avoidable industrial crisis.
“The union calls on all well-meaning discerning minds to prevail on Nigerian Government to attend to these outstanding issues and meet with our union leadership so as to avert an unnecessary and avoidable industrial crisis in our already frail and weak university system,” Ahmed added.