ASUU STRIKE: Presidency sacks Suswam Committee; takes over negotiation

 

The Presidency yesterday took over negotiation with the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU.

Vice President, Namadi Sambo met with ASUU delegation last night at the Presidential Villa to discuss possible ways of resolving the more than two months old strike in order for the lecturers to return to the classrooms.

A committee headed by Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam had been in charge of the negotiations since the beginning of the strike, but has not been able to resolve the matter.

However, after yesterday’s meeting, the leadership of the union declined to disclose what was agreed upon.

ASUU President, Nasir Isa Fagge said that they took a message from the government and will meet their members and get back to government.

He declined to disclose the content of the message in respect of what the government may have offered the union in addition to the earlier N100bn and N30bn meant for infrastructure development in the various universities and payment of verified earned allowances respectively.

Faggae said: “We have had a meeting with the Vice President and he has given us a message to our members. I will say that like the messengers we are, we are going to take the message faithfully to our members and then our members will take their decision and then, we will get back to the minister of education.”

Meanwhile, the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of federal universities, yesterday appealed to the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, to call-off its over two months old strike and return to classrooms, in the interest of the country.

The committee made the appeal in a communiqué signed by its Chairman, Prof. Kimse Okoko, as a follow-up to their September 10 meeting, which held in Abuja.

Lamenting the consequences that have attended the strike, the pro-chancellors noted that the Federal Government has shown “demonstrable” commitment towards the implementation of the 2009 agreement it reached with ASUU, which invariably, forms the basis of the lingering industrial dispute.

Specifically, the communiqué noted that the government has started disbursing the N130billion it promised, direct to the universities.

The pro-chancellors further observed that the Federal Government has held several meetings with ASUU, the Committee of Pro-Chancellors, the Committee of Vice-Chancellors and all other relevant stakeholders all in a bid to resolve the imbroglio.

They further noted that all teaching and non-teaching staff of universities have been on Consolidated Salary Structure since 2009.

“Amendment to the pensionable retirement age of academics has been effected through the legislative process. Professors and Readers now retire at 70 years, while others now retire at 65 instead of 60 years,” the communiqué added.

In a related development, the planned protests by the Joint Action Fronts, JAF, in solidarity with unions in the educational sector shut down commercial activities as well as vehicular movements in some parts of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital yesterday.

The JAF protest, which consists of members of ASUU and some human right activists, lecturers and students under the umbrella of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, also led to hot altercations between the police and the protesters.

JAF had organised the protest as a way of sensitising the general public on the danger of the lingering strike by ASUU and the breakdown of negotiation between the two parties involved in the crisis.

The protest, which took off from the NNPC junction at Abiola Way, spread to Kuto, Isabo, Kemta, Ibara and other parts of the city, leading to serious traffic in the affected areas.

There was heavy presence of policemen and other security agencies across major areas where the protest took place.

A mild drama ensued at the NNPC Mega Station junction, where the protest took off as the Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operation, AbdulMajeed Ahmad engaged some of the activists in a serious altercation over the blockage of the highway.

Addressing the protesters, the Secretary of JAF, Comrade Tunde Aremu stated that the strike was not about ASUU or any other unions in the education sector, but about the masses.

In his own remark, NANS President in the state, Damilola Ahmed said his members were in solidarity with all the unions in the sector, adding that the government has not been fair on the funding of education in the country.

In a related development, the Needs Assessment Implementation Committee for Public Universities in Nigeria, chaired by the Benue State governor, Gabriel Suswam, has constituted monitoring teams to oversee the execution of various infrastructure projects on the campuses of the 59 federal and state universities, which are beneficiaries of the N100bn intervention fund.

The composition of the monitoring teams was the high point of the committee’s meeting, held yesterday at the Benue State Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja.

The meeting, chaired by Governor Suswam was attended by the Minister of State for Education, Chief Nyesom Wike, representatives of the Senate and House of Representatives’ Committees on Education and Dr MacJohn Nwaobiala, the Permanent Secretary in the Federal Minisry of Education, the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, NUC, and leaders of industrial unions in the university system (NASU, SSANU and NAATS) with the acting Executive Secretary of TeTFund, Mallam Aliyu Na’Iya as Secretary.