The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has insisted that there is no going back on its rejection of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) of the Federal Government.

They have accused the Federal Government of frustrating efforts to resolve these issues that led to the ongoing strike action embarked upon by the university lecturers.

This disclosure was made by the National President of ASUU, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, while appearing at a programme on Channels Television on Thursday, October 29, 2020.

While stressing that it was wrong to use the payment platform for university lecturers, Prof Ogunyemi blamed this for the alleged irregularities in the payment of salaries and allowances of lecturers, with some lecturers receiving very poor remuneration in some cases.

Ogunyemi said, “The issue of what we call amputated salary came into it because the IPPIS platform was not designed for the university system.’

“So, the platform does not recognize negotiated agreements like we are talking about allowance – unacademic allowances, research journal, and other things.’’

He added, “In fact, there were professors that were paid like N8,000 in some months on our campuses. So, we don’t expect anything otherwise because that platform was not meant for the university system.”

Going further, the ASUU president stated that the IPPIS cannot work for the university system, especially in the area of taxation.

According to him, the government gave the lectures a one-line salary scale which means taxes are being deducted from allowances and that is not the case with those in the civil service. He disclosed that the lecturers were losing as high as 50 to 70% of their salaries with the implementation of the IPPIS, which was designed for civil servants.

Ogunyemi said the Federal Government has still not taken the necessary steps needed to address the strike action

ASUU has been on strike for about 8 months over a disagreement with the Federal Government on the implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System. The university lecturers rather adopted the University Transparency Account System (UTAS).

The Federal Government recently said it was going to give a consideration to adopting UTAS, ASUU’s proposed payment platform. It said it was going to send to the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and then the Office of the National Security Adviser for a second look.

The Ministry of Youths and Sports Development is set to scale up its digital skills training to cover 500,000 youths across the country after securing funding under the COVID-19 stimulus budget.

This information was shared by the personal Assistant on New Media to President, Bashir Ahmad.

READ: Lessons Nigeria can learn from Microsoft’s Global Skills Initiative 

What you should know

Recall that Nairametrics had earlier reported that the Federal Executive Council had approved the N2.3 trillion stimulus plan recommended by the Nigerian Economic Sustainability Plan.

READ: FG releases new details on MSMEs support scheme, budgets N200 billion for loans

Why it Matters

Given the impact of the pandemic on income and business activities, the Federal Government of Nigeria, took a reactionary approach by instituting a COVID-19 stimulus budget.

In light of this, the ministry of youths and sports development has sought to tap from this fund for human capacity training and development, which in return has the potential to boost future income/profit and economic activities in general through impacting youths with the pre-requisite digital skills needed in the 21st century work place.

READ: CBN reveals framework for the N75 billion Youth Investment Fund

READ: FG to provide financial support for 1.7 million businesses, individuals in next 3 months

What they are saying

Commenting on the latest development, the minister of Youths and Sports Development, Mr. Sunday Dare said: “The Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) has taken into cognizance the DEEL initiative, and I am glad to announce that we have gotten approval for the funding of a 12-month programme under the initiative that will see 500,000 of our youths upskilled in different digital skills.”

READ: De facto Government: CBN explains why it will keep funding the economy

Explore some Advanced Financial Calculators on Nairametrics

Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, as part of efforts to reduce the rate of unemployment in Lagos State, has approved an internship programme for 4,000 unemployed graduates.

This was disclosed in a statement by the Honourable Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Mrs Yetunde Arobieke via the official Twitter handle of the Lagos state government.

An excerpt from the statement reads,

“As part of efforts to reduce the rate of unemployment in Lagos State, Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has approved Internship Programme for 4,000 unemployed graduates in line with the T.H.E.M.E.S Agenda of the present administration and the Youth Development Programme of the State.”

Mrs Yetunde Arobieke said the Graduate Internship Placement Programme is designed to give candidates the opportunity to develop employability and work-ready skills that are needed in securing gainful employment.

(READ MORE:Sanwo-Olu reads riot act to hoodlums over ethnic clash, promises compensation)

She added that the Internship Programme will be addressing the third and fourth pillars of the present administration’s T.H.E.M.E.S agenda.

What you should know

• Applicants must possess NYSC Certificates or letters of exemption.
• Applicants must be registered residents of the State with Lagos State Residents Registration Agency, LASRRA.
• The Graduate Internship Placement Programme is for a period of six months, of which a monthly stipend of N40,000 will be paid for the duration of the internship.
• Interested candidates can apply through the dedicated link for the programme: http://gipplasg.lagosstate.gov.ng.

Why it matters

The Graduate Internship Placement Programme is expected to play a major role in reducing the rate of unemployment in Lagos State. It will provide candidates, the opportunity to develop key skills that will boost their employability, in a bid to secure gainful employment.

At the end of the programme, beneficiaries would have gained valuable work experience, built up their professional skills and would have been exposed to entrepreneurial opportunities to strengthen their professional skills and interpersonal relationships.