The recent meeting between ASUU and the Federal Government to end the lingering strike action was stalled because the Federal government unilaterally refused to pay the withheld salaries through other legitimate means than Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
From the onset, ASUU had vehemently opposed the use of IPPIS which was approved by the government. During the meeting with the FG, represented by the Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige, there was deadlock on reaching a mutual agreement on how to pay the outstanding salaries owed the lecturers, as most lecturers are yet to be on the IPPIS platform.
According to the National President of ASUU, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, there was no way workers whose salaries have been withheld for months could be convinced to return to work without being paid. In his words,
“The first step to resolving the impasse is for the government to pay the withheld salaries of our members. It is between four and eight months. You cannot tell a person whose salaries have been seized unjustifiably to go back to work. Moreover, the salaries must be paid through the normal channel,”
As most members of the ASUU members are not yet on the IPPIS platform, the ASUU boss said the government should know better how to handle them.
According to him, “Doing that would help in resolving other issues and make things return to normal. But for the government to insist on IPPIS, there may be trouble still. They are yet to enroll over 70 percent of our members on IPPIS.
“It will take them between three to six months to do so. They are setting a booby trap saying we should enroll on IPPIS first and then they will migrate us to our own University Transparency and Accountability System – UTAS; that is even uneconomical when UTAS can be used to enroll us in a very short time”
What you should know
ASUU has been on strike since March 2020 over some issues such as:
- Payment of Earned Academic Allowances (EAE).
- Revitalization of the university system
- setting up Visitation Panels to universities.
- Fulfilling conditions included in the 2004 agreement reached between the two sides amongst others.
ASUU and the FG have held several meetings which have always been deadlocked, as a result of disagreement over the payment channel for the ASUU members.
It is believed that the large turn-out witnessed at the hijacked #EndSARS protests across the country was made possible as a result of the lingering strike by the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU).
We beg ASUU to actually see reason to reconsider some things at this point in time and go back to classes while dialogue continues
We live in a country where the leader’s don’t value education, for the voulnorable simply because they have attained it.
Students are in various home, all because of ASSU strike and when the protest was mentioned, 50% of the people were and are still students.
I didn’t know too much, but from my little observation, the Nigeria government can do just three things and everywhere will be calm.
1. Open the boarders
2. Fuel price to #60-70
3. Settle ASSU for schools to resume.
Just in 24hours the government can do it,and peace will retain.
I think one side should succumb,assu must succumb to the federal government there are not even creating job apportunities to the young graduates they are stingy, because must of them are working in more than three Universities so plead with them to join IPPIS and help us the students out we are suffering
Federal Government’s body languange shows that they are insensitive to the plights of the parents, students and the nation at large with respect to educational development in the country because neither their children nor themselves acquire education here in Nigeria. So, it doesn’t matter to them whether the students are out of school for 100 years. They are self-centred set of people. Successive governments in Nigeria are insincere and always renege on their agreement with university based and other unions. How much do lecturers earn even from their so-called multiple appointments when compared to what the politicians loot from the national treasury. My view is that government should bend and meet all the demands of ASUU for schools to re-open. I am no longer a youth but I know that they will not take it kindly with the political elites when they rise to protest again.
The body language of the federal government shows clearly that they most insensitive and careless about the plight of Nigerians with respect to the state of educational development in the country because none of them (the political elites and government officials acquire their education from Nigeria. So, it doesn’t matter to them whether students are out of school for 100 years because they are self centred. Only God knows what will happen if the youths’patience gets exhausted and they embark on another round of protest. The government of the day is very greedy and inconsiderate as well as non-proactive. As greedy as they are, they don’t want lecturers to be at least comfortable knowing fully well that their (lecturers’) earnings even from their so-called multiple appointments, cannot be compared to the politicians’legitimate earnings let alone their looting Successive Nigerian governments are most insincere and so renege on every agreement entered with university-based and every other unions for that matter. Government should implement the agreements legitimately and willingly entered with the unions for peace to reign and for schools to re-open. It is high time government stopped meddling with the future of Nigerian youths. Let them pay the lecturers through UTAS platform.
We plead on the two sides
They should consider the students