Hope for varsities reopening dim as ASUU, FG fail to agree

The possibilities of students returning to their various universities dimmed as negotiations between the federal government and the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) suffered another setback.

The first setback was the absence of Minister of Education Adamu Adamu and Minister of Finance Mrs. Zainab Ahmed. Both ministers were said to be away at the National Assembly for Budget 2021 defence.

But Minister of Labour and Employment Dr. Chris Ngige was on hand.

After the meeting, ASUU President Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, said “there was nothing new”. He declined to elaborate. Ngige, however, shed some light on the unresolved issues.

The lecturers’ insistence on the release of N110 billion Revitalisation Fund for the universities, allowing lecturers to be sole beneficiaries of the N30 billion to be released as Earned Allowance and Government’s decline to drop the Integrated Personnel Payroll System (IPPIS).

Ngige said the government lacked the financial wherewithal to meet the demand for N110 billion to revitalise the varsities.

The government two weeks ago announced the release of N30 billion as Earned Allowance for varsity workers and N20 billion for the Revitalisation of the universities.

ASUU’s insistence that the N30 billion Earned Academic Allowance should be for its members alone was also not granted. It said the promised N50 billion was a far-cry from what could keep the varsities running.

There are other unions in the varsities. They are the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT).

The minister said: “There are three issues: revitalisation fund where the government offered ASUU N20 billion as a sign of good faith based on the MoU they entered into in 2013 as a result of the renegotiation they had with the government in 2009.

“So, that is where we are for now. So we are all going back to our principals and they will receive via me the irreducible minimum of what the federal government has to offer. The government side will meet on Friday and after that they will communicate with ASUU and in communicating with them, if there is a need for a meeting, a date will be fixed for it.”

The minister said the government wants to block all the leakages associated with humongous rise in personnel cost.

The union on Wednesday accused the government of using hunger to punish its members during the strike.

It accused the Accountant-General of the Federation (AuGF), Mr. Ahmed Idris, of frustrating the resolution process between the parties during the protracted face-off.