By Ogenyi Ogenyi,Uyo
The Calabar Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has called on the Federal Government to release the outstanding N1.1tr meant to upgrade infrastructure in the nation’s Universities following an agreement in 2013.
It has also expressed disgust that an agreement the union entered with the FG in 2009 over a new salary structure for University lecturers is yet to either be implemented or reviewed by the government 15 years after, saying it could be forced to embark on a strike action if their request is not addressed.
Calabar Zonal Cordinator of the union, Comrade Happiness Uduk told a press conference in Uyo at the end of a meeting with branch chairmen on yesterday that out of the N1.3bn agreed to be released over a period of six years, only N200bn was released in 2013 with no additional release till date.
“You will recall that following ASUU’s outcry over the conditions of Universities in the country, the FG in 2013 finally set up its own Needs Assessment body to verify the claims of the Union over the conditions of the nation’s Universities.
“Accordingly, the government promised to release the sum of N1.3Trillion over a period of six years to address the decadence and dearth of facilities in public universities. In that year, the sum of N200bn was released and it led to the massive infrastructural development that is visible in every public University in Nigeria today.
“It was expected that with the subsequent release of N220bn per tranche annually for five years ending in 2018, there would be a satisfactory overhaul of basic facilities because these five tranches would have provided funding for functional libraries, laboratories with consumables and workshops, habitable students’ hostels, sports facilities,utility vehicles, office and classroom furniture, adequate lecture halls and staff offices.
“Eleven years after the first tranche was released, not even a single complete tranche has been released by government till date. Yet the government will spend N90bn on pilgrimage that does not add any economic value to national growth. While there is crisis in the education sector,the bedrock of national development, the FG is proposing to spend $11.55B!an equivalent of N1.72tr) on a coastal highway at the cost of N4bn per kilometer for about 700km when our existing federal highways are death traps.”Uduk explained.
The Cordinator condemned the FG over it’s failure to honour several agreements it reached with the Union since 2009 over increase and periodic review of the salaries of University lecturers calling on the government to quickly reconvene a committee to review the agreement by ASUU leadership and Prof. Nimi Briggs-led government committee to review and adjust the document to reflect current economic realities.
“You will recall that ASUU had reached an agreement with the government in 2009, which was supposed to be reviewed three years later, but for 15 years now, that agreement has not been wholly implemented let alone reviewed. As a consequence, Nigeria’s academics in our Universities have remained stuck with the same poor conditions of service, including salaries as was reached 15 years ago, even as inflation and other upheavals have happened to the Naira and the Nigeria economy as a whole.
“To make it clearer, one implication of this for us is that lecturers still recieve today salaries that were negotiated when the Dollar was N145 such that in reality, a Professor at bar(the equivalent of a General in the army) recieves just the equivalent of about $300 as monthly salary.
“ASUU wants to make it clear to Nigerians and the world that the salary award that was thrust on us outside the orbit of the collective bargaining protocol which is in line with global best practices is not acceptable as it cannot be a substitute for a negotiated and earned salary. Against this significant background, Nigerians should note that ASUU will not hesitate to get into the trenches again to compel the FG to the renegotiation table to ensure that the welfare of University lecturers is given immediate and priority attention.
“We want to state here that no group of Nigerians is more pained by ASUU members themselves. But in this case, when we consider the ever increasing number of deaths and sick academics incapable of giving themselves medical attention because of their kean earnings, we cannot but think of this as last option, even as we know it’s unpleasant consequences.” She explained.
The union further called for the payment of their outstanding four months out of the eight months withheld salaries even after they had done the job required of them for the period and condemned the FG students’ education loan scheme, describing it as obnoxious as it would further stranglate poor parents during repayment.
It called on President Bola Tinubu to refrain from further proliferation of Universities and consolidate on the already existing one arguing that,”what we need are Universities that are adequately equipped and empowered to address the challenges confronting Nigeria and not glorified schools.”
It also described threats and victimization of lecturers in state owned universities as unfortunate and specifically called on Governor Nwifuru of Ebonyi State to look into and reverse the suspension of Union leaders in Ebonyi State University for advocating for the welfare of staff and students while calling on Governor Alex Otti of Abia State to clear the 11 months salary and remittances of Cooperatives deductions over some years.
