Ogunyemi urged the OAGF not to cause another crisis in Nigerian universities. Ogunyemi maintained that the Federal Government should not expect ASUU to be silent while their dues were being withheld on frivolous excuses.

He revealed that the union would meet with the Federal Government on Thursday.

He said “A substantial number of our membership are unduly denied their earned salaries and subjected to an indescribable level of hardship. So, we call on all well-meaning Nigerians to prevail on the Accountant-General of the Federation not to precipitate another round of crisis in our universities. The Office of the Accountant General of the Federation has defaulted in releasing the withheld check-off deductions. It has also failed to pay the withheld salaries of some of our members in many universities. Our Memorandum of Action stipulates that the government will continue to pay the salaries of our members pending the validation of UTAS by NITAD. But the IPPIS agents have intensified efforts to manipulate, cajole and coerce our members to enrol in IPPIS by denying them their salaries for periods ranging from four to 12 months. This reinforces our suspicion that the OAGF is surreptitiously working to scuttle the adoption of UTAS, to which the government has been committed. We have complained to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, who facilitated the whole process that culminated in December 2020 ASUU-FGN MoA,”

Ogunyemi who appeared on a Channels Television programme on Tuesday, January 12, said they are concerned about the safety of their members.

He said “Our concern is rooted in the safety of our members. What happens to congested hostels, crowded classrooms? What flexible arrangements are in place? It is a situation of emergency. I’m not sure the Universities can cope. We are aware that some universities are putting measures in place, with alternative learning models, some are even trying blended classes, virtual and physical. But these efforts are limited. They get to a point they can’t go further. ASUU has been talking about revitalisation since 2012. These are some of the areas where the assistance would have helped. Universities need huge funds to do this. People are saying start virtual classes, but more than 60 per cent of our students will run into trouble – they can’t afford data or smartphones.”

ASUU’s National President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi who countered the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige on a claim of the union promising to resume on December 9, 2020, stated that there is nothing in the government offer of November 27, 2020, to suggest that conclusion.

He said “ASUU leadership did not reach any understanding with the government to suspend the strike on December 9, 2020, and there is nothing in the government offer of November 27, 2020, to suggest that conclusion as allegedly claimed by the Minister of Labour and Employment. At our last meeting in the office of the Minister of Labour and Employment on November 27, 2020, the ASUU leadership promised to faithfully present the latest government offer to its members through the established tradition. The latest offer by the government makes proposals on nearly all items of demand by the union with timelines. Among others, the document which was signed by the Hon. Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, contains proposals on the inauguration of the reconstituted FGN-ASUU Renegotiation Committee (1st December 2020); release of details about Visitation Panels (1st December 2020); working on the actualisation of the release of the withheld salaries of ASUU members (Wednesday, December 9, 2020). Clause 9 on the document reads, ‘Based on these conclusions reached on items 1-8, ASUU’s leadership will consult its organs with a view to suspending the ongoing strike. Whatever comes out of an engagement with agents of the government is an offer which must be taken back to the branches through the various organs of the union. Views and perspectives on offers by governments are aggregated and presented to government agents as counter-offers. This trade union strategy of offer and counter-offer is continually deployed until the National Executive Council (NEC) of ASUU – consisting of all recognised chairpersons – finally approves what it considers an acceptable offer from the government. It is only then that any strike action by ASUU can be suspended. It was a needless crisis in the first place. It happened because the government has consistently failed to faithfully implement the agreements it freely signed with the union. ASUU members, as stakeholders in the Nigerian university system, are equally worried and embarrassed that those in the position of authority, over the years, displayed seeming indifference to the rot and decay in Nigeria’s public universities. We think it is not too late to do a rethink; we believe if there is the will, there will be away”

The ASUU President, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, stated this in a chat with newsmen on Tuesday, December 1.

He said “We have what the government is offering and have transmitted the same to our members nationwide and we are consulting on what the next line of action will be. You know a tree does not make a forest and our union is democratic in nature and practice. As for how long the consultation would take, I cannot say but it may go beyond this week. Whatever we decide on is definitely going to be in the national interest, the interest of our children, the interest of our members, and the good of all.”

Speaking at a town meeting at the African Hall, the University of Ilorin, the ASUU National President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, however, declined to reveal the agenda.

Ogunyemi said, “I think it is better we wait. When we get to that bridge, we will cross it. I can’t open our strategy here; whatever you do is about strategy; let the government refuse to negotiate, we will unfold our strategy then. There is a deliberate attempt to kill university education in the country. Some universities use stoves in their laboratories instead of burners and buckets to fetch water to perform experiments; it’s as bad as that. heck, the social media; you will see them celebrating their children graduating from foreign universities. This is why they are not willing to fund public universities”,

ASUU National President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, said  Federal Government needed to address the challenges of education sector before it can talk of reopening schools, News Agency of Nigeria, NAN reports.

“The Federal Government must lead and show the ways by meeting the conditions for reopening of schools before any school can be allowed to open, because COVID-19 pandemic is a health challenge.”

“When it comes to public health, it is something that should not be left in the hands of individual, but the Federal Government must take the lead,’’ Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi said.

The ASUU president listed the conditions spelt out by NCDC to include: provision of materials for regular washing of hands, face mask, isolations centres, space for social distancing and hands sanitiser.

Ogunyemi said that many of the schools do not have financial capacities to meet those conditions and requirements for reopening of schools.

“It is suicidal to reopen schools now, if the Federal Government itself could not meet the conditions spelt out by NCDC and World Health Organisation (WHO). The nation will expose the innocent children to risks which is avoidable,” he said.

Ogunyemi noted how many of these schools could afford to provide hand sanitiser, saying that many of them do not even have running water, not to talk of having facility for washing hands.

He added that many schools do not have enough spaces to promote physical distancing.

The ASUU president said that putting all these requirements needed together, to reopen schools in the country now would run to millions of Naira, which most schools could not afford.

Ogunyemi appealed to the Federal Government to provide the running funds for the principals and head teachers so that they could provide some of these facilities in their schools.

He further said that inadequate funds by many parents would hinder them from providing some of these amenities needed for reopening of schools. Ogunyemi said that the Federal Government needed to tell Nigerians the steps they intended to take in reopening schools.

The ASUU leader said that for government not to tell people their minds was like running away from “our shadow” which would later hunt the country.

The Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, in a letter dated Tuesday, January 21st and signed by the Director of IPPIS, Olufehinti Olusegun, directed the Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning not to release funds for the payment of January salaries of academic staff of universities, polytechnics and colleges of education yet to enroll on the IPPIS platform. Read initial report here.

ASUU President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi said if such decision is not reviewed, lecturers in the university system would be left with no other choice than to down tools.

He said “We didn’t take part in that decision. What we were expecting them to do was to allow the ongoing discussion to run its full course. Now that we are reading about this in the media, it’s as if some elements in government are trying to sabotage the process. We came out of the meeting with Mr. President believing that they will give us room to explain how the UTAS will better address our peculiarities and autonomy than IPPIS. However, they have not allowed that to happen. We suspect it’s due to the activities of some individuals or groups that are trying to sabotage the process. If they push us to the point of taking our final decision about it, we too will tell them ‘no pay, no work’ because we have a resolution that is on ground already. The resolution we took long time ago, which we reactivated at our meeting in Minna last month. So, whichever way they want to go, ASUU will rise to the challenge.”

The meeting would be held behind closed doors as a source told newsmen in Abuja that, “It has been confirmed that the ASUU leadership will meet the leadership of the National Assembly on Monday. The meeting will centre on the ongoing face-off between ASUU and the Federal Government over the IPPIS saga.”

The Special Adviser to the Senate President on Media and Publicity, Ola Awoniyi, on Sunday confirmed ASUU’s meeting with the National Assembly leadership. He said the meeting would hold at 11am in his principal’s conference room.

ASUU National President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, also confirmed the meeting, but declined to provide details of demands the union would table before the Senate President.

He said “The most important thing is that we are meeting tomorrow (Monday). We want to discuss the Nigerian education generally. All issues (including the IPPIS) will be touched. I think that is enough”.