The union attributed the development to the Federal Government’s poor treatment of its members which it said had forced many to venture into other sources of livelihood.

The National President, ASUU, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, lamented that many lecturers had taken to farming and other economic activities, while a large number had left the country.

Osodeke spoke in reaction to the government’s refusal to meet some of their demands, including the payment of seven months’ backlog of salaries accrued during the strike.

The PUNCH reports that the union had embarked on four strikes totalling 578 days under the Muhammadu Buhari regime. The current strike by ASUU started on February 14, 2022, and entered its day 188 on Monday (today).

In 2017, the union went on strike for 30 days; in 2018, the lecturers shunned work for 90 days while in 2020, the public universities were shut down for 270 days.

ASUU accused the government of failing to release the revitalisation funds for universities; failure to deploy the University Transparency Accountability System for the payment of salaries and allowances of university lecturers.

ASUU had also demanded the release of earned allowances for its members; release of the whitepaper report of visitation panels to universities and renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/2009 agreement.

Speaking on the mass exile of lecturers from the university system, Osodeke stated, “So many lecturers are leaving to engage in farming and others; lecturers are tired of the treatment they’re receiving from the government and because of this, they are looking for alternatives.  So many more will leave even after the strike too.

‘’I pity the country; Nigeria will be the loser for it.  Instead of coming to the table; look at how they will solve the issue, rather, they believe in punishing lecturers. It’s so sad. Your lecturers went on strike, you believe they will become hungry and come back to beg. Many lecturers will also leave to venture into other areas; some are also looking at becoming self-employed.”

The ASUU Chairman, University of Lagos branch, Dr Dele Ashiru, revealed that more than 70 per cent of the brightest brains in academia had left the country, adding that the government had been so disrespectful and insensitive to the scholars.

“The impact of the government’s insensitivity and deployment of the weapon of hunger might not be immediately known until after the strike. As I speak with you, more than 70 per cent of bright and promising young academics retained by the university through mentorship have all left the country for greener pastures due to the poor conditions of service in Nigeria.

‘’Those that are left are on the verge of leaving. No government in the history of Nigeria has been so insensitive, brash and disrespectful of the best brains in the country. This is unfortunate and a shame,’’ the don lamented.

Ashiru, in an interview with Arise TV, monitored by one of our correspondents on Sunday, said the union was not going to call off its strike action as done by the other academic unions

He said, “ASUU is a union of intellectuals, we don’t look at what others do to make our decisions. We make our decisions based on verifiable facts and the facts available to us have not shown this government to be a responsible and sensible one.”

The Federal Government’s offer had been rejected by the majority of ASUU members, who had held their zonal congresses.

The union leaders met with the Emeritus Professor Nimi-Briggs committee last Tuesday.

ASUU’s President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, while refusing to go into details of the discussion with the government, however, described the proposal as a “miserable offer.”

ASUU had on Monday, February 14, 2022 announced the commencement of a strike due to what it described as “failure” on the part of the government to meet some of the lingering demands of the union.

The union had cited the failure of the government to release revitalisation funds for universities; non-release of earned allowances to lecturers; end the proliferation of universities by politicians and state governments; refusal to deploy the University Transparency Accountability System for the payment of salaries and allowances of lecturers; and refusal to renegotiate the ASUU-FGN 2009 agreement as reasons for its present strike.

In a bid to resolve the strike and other contentious issues, the government had raised a panel led by the pro-chancellor of the Federal University Lokoja, Emeritus Prof Nimi-Briggs, to head its negotiation team with ASUU..

The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, while briefing State House correspondent last Thursday, noted that the failure of the government to agree to the payment of six months arrears of salaries of the lecturers was stalling the strike’s call-off.

According to Adamu, ASUU insisted on its members receiving salaries for the period they have been on strike.

However, sources in the union, who confided in our correspondent and were privy to the negotiations, explained that ASUU refused to resume further talks because of “a Greek gift.”

One of the sources, who confided in one of our correspondents on Saturday, noted that while there would be a “meagre” increase in the salaries of professors, there would be a deduction in the take home pay of graduate assistants.

The source explained, “For graduate assistants, the government proposed N1m per annum for starters, while senior graduate assistants will get N1.2m per annum and by the time the necessary deductions will be made in terms of pension, tax and others, some of them may be going home with less than N90,000 monthly.

“At the moment, graduate assistants on step four earn N1,606,380, while they get N133,865.08  as gross monthly salary, and by the time you deduct N3,346.63 National Housing Fund contribution, N10,039.88 as pension and N8,555.83 as tax, the person goes home with N111,922.74.

For junior professors, the government proposed that a total of N6m per annum, while a professor at bar will be earning N9m yearly. The professors at the bar are the senior professors from step 7 to 10.”

Another source, who is a member of ASUU NEC, confirmed the development to our correspondent.

The NEC member stated, “Yes, it is true; it is more like they removed money from junior lecturers and added the small change to senior ones.

“Now, with the new proposal, GA at the bar will earn N120,000 per month and when you apply deductions, you can imagine what the net will be.”

Commenting on the development, the Coordinator of the Port-Harcourt Zone, ASUU, Stanley Ogoun, said, “The current move by the Federal Government to jettison the principle of collective bargaining and reduce our union’s objective and patriotic struggle to revamp and reposition public universities in Nigeria to mere award of miserly salaries, ranging from N30,000 to N60,000, is unacceptable to us.”

Also, the branch Chairman, ASUU, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Dr Gbolahan Bolarin, said, “The plan is very simple; we are going the long haul. No retreat, no surrender.”

Meanwhile, the Education minister has said the regime of the President Buhari has invested an estimated N2.5tn in the tertiary education sector.

This was disclosed in a document made available to our correspondent in Abuja.

“The Buhari administration has invested in infrastructural development of the education sector more than any other administration in the history of this nation. It is on record that the Tertiary Education Trust Fund has invested an estimated N2.5tn in tertiary education, thereby exceeding the sum total of N1.2tn contained in the 2009 agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities and we are still counting,” the document stated.

On why the government had not released the result of the visitation panel to universities, Adamu said, “We set up White Paper committees to make recommendations to the government on the reports of the visitation panels, which we received in 2022. Their reports were submitted this year and are being processed.”

Sunday PUNCH reports that one of the demands of ASUU is that the government release the White Paper reports of the visitation panels sent to the various universities across the country.

The strike by the union enters its 188th day today.

The affected students, parents and other stakeholders have continued to call on the government and ASUU to find a common ground for an end to the strike.

The committee is made up of senior officials of the union.

This is as our correspondent learnt that zonal meetings will commence by the end of the week after which branches would go ahead with congresses.

A member of the union’s National Executive Council, who did not want his name in print because he was not permitted to speak on the matter said “The National Strike Organising Committee will meet today (Wednesday), after which zonal meetings will commence this weekend and then congresses will be held. From there, information will be passed to our members on the next development; the president alone cannot decide, there are processes,”

Meanwhile, ASUU President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, on Wednesday, urged Nigerian students not to vote for politicians who have their children studying in institutions outside the country.

Osodeke spoke on a Twitter Space Webinar organised by Premium Times and tagged, ‘ASUU strike, Revitalisation Fund and the Way Forward.’

“Anybody you believe cannot take care of your interests, whose children are busy studying abroad, who are living abroad, don’t vote for them. I repeat, you don’t need to vote for them, because you don’t vote for people who will take your life,” he said.

ASUU has been on strike since February 14, 2022,

A meeting the union had with the Federal Government ended in a deadlock on Tuesday

The spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Education, Ben Goong explained that the Federal Government could not dictate to states on education as it is on the concurrent legislative list.

A committee led by the Pro-Chancellor of the Federal University of Lokoja, Prof. Nimi Briggs, had reportedly recommended a 180 per cent pay rise for lecturers, but the government was said to have favoured a 100 per cent increase.

It was gathered that the ministries of finance, education, labour and employment, Budget Office of the Federation, Office of the Head of Service of the Federation and the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission were still working out the final details of the proposal.

The ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, insisted that any agreement reached with the Federal Government would be binding on the states, thus opening another battle front between the union and the government.

Members of ASUU, including federal and state universities, had embarked on a strike on February 14, 2022.

Following the inability of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige to resolve the strike, President Muhammdu Buhari two weeks ago directed the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, to take over the negotiation with the ASUU leadership.

To compel a quick resolution of the crisis, the Nigeria Labour Congress held nationwide protests on July 26 and 27 in solidarity with the union.

However, ASUU on Monday extended the industrial action by another four weeks.

Responding to a question from The PUNCH on whether the proposed agreement would be binding on all universities in the country, Goong said, “The agreement between the Federal Government is not binding on state universities. Education is on the concurrent list, the Federal Government cannot tell states what to do when it comes to the management of their institutions.

“Any agreement made with ASUU is only binding on the institutions owned by the Federal Government. The state government will handle their own institutions.”

But reacting to the government’s position in an interview with The PUNCH on Wednesday, the ASUU president stated that the university system is a single entity, arguing further that there was no disparity between state and federal universities.

Osodeke said, “I don’t know who you spoke to but that person doesn’t know what he is saying. I can tell you that the renegotiation team is made up of pro-chancellors of state and federal universities. So, how can anyone say the agreement won’t be binding on state universities? The person doesn’t know what he is saying.”

The ASUU leader contended that the few institutions that did not join in the strike were not their members.

He also warned that Nigeria had just one university system and as such the issue of salary is personal to the union.

He also accused the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, of misinforming the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari(retd.), about the ongoing strike by the union.

The Federal Government had, in a statement on Wednesday, by the Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations in the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Olajide Oshundun, claimed that the proposal made by the Prof. Limi Briggs-led committee in relation to the demands of members of ASUU and other unions in universities would gulp N1.12tn to implement.

The PUNCH had also on July 11, 2022 reported how Buhari appealed to the union to reconsider its ongoing strike because the action is taking a toll on parents and students

Speaking on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme on Thursday, Osodeke said if the President had been properly briefed, he would not have made such a statement.

Concerning the negotiation, the ASUU President said the union was not aware of the figure being circulated by the Federal Government as the amount needed to resolve the strike.

Osodeke said, “If the President had been properly briefed by the committee through the Minister of Education, I don’t think the President would have said ‘enough is enough, go to your class while we are negotiating.’

It is the Labour Minister and his group that would have gone to the President to tell him that we chase out his people, we refuse salary.

“We are not aware of where their so-called figure arrives from. In all our agreement and discussion, we didn’t talk about N1.2 trillion or N2.4 trillion, or whatever. We didn’t.

ASUU President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, said this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Monday in Abuja.

NAN recalls that ASUU had been on strike for the past five months to press home its demands.

The striking lecturers’ demands include funding of the revitalisation of public universities, Earned Academic Allowances, University Transparency Accountability Solution and promotion arrears.

Others are the renegotiation of 2009 ASUU-FG Agreement and the inconsistency in Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System.

NAN, however, reports that since the union embarked on strike, some of its members have pulled out of the ongoing strike to resume their academic activities.

But Osodeke said, “We will punish those who have pulled out from our ongoing strike the appropriate way.

“We will ensure we query them and we will follow it up the appropriate way. We have even queried some of them in accordance with the union’s rules.”

Osodeke also noted that since the last Tripartite Plus meeting called by the Chief of Staff to the President, Ibrahim Gambari, on the ongoing industrial action over a month ago, there has been no other meeting.

He said nothing concrete that came out of the last meeting that was held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

“We have not been called for any other meeting since that time and the government did not offer us anything, they just asked us to meet with the committee,” he said.

He also said that the union will be meeting with the government within the week.

Ngige had met with the leadership of ASUU during a closed-door meeting on Tuesday.

During the meeting which lasted for several hours, the minister accused ASUU of claiming that the government had failed to implement some long standing agreements.

Ngige in an interview told one of our correspondents that ASUU demands were being reviewed, saying he would meet with ASUU and the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council next week.

He said, “We have discussed quite a number of things and I am urging them to brief their members and call off the strike before the expiration of the one-month duration of the warning strike. By Monday, we would have dealt with some of the issues they are talking about and return to them for further discussion. We will meet again with them and the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council and we will take it from there

However, the national president of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke insisted that the union would not call off its strike if all its demands were not met.

Osodeke said, “We can call off the strike tomorrow if the FG implements and meets all our demands. It is in their hands to meet all the demands not in our hands. If they want it called off this week, next week, it is possible if they should do what they are supposed to do and not all these empty promises that we are not sure they will not implement. But If you call off the strike, as usual, they will abandon everything.

But Ngige cautioned the union not to intimidate the committee and Ministry of Education, saying if they did, their document would not fly.

“We had a committee we impanelled in the ministry of education to take matters up because they are the direct employers of the lecturers. The committee was headed by Professor Manzali and there was a draft proposal which the education ministry has to agree on with them and then break it up to the higher bodies of the government, the Presidential Committee on Salaries, and from there, it goes to FEC for approval.

ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke noted that JAMB’s move to handle higher institutions admission was an encroachment into University autonomy.

Osodeke who described JAMB as an examination body and clearinghouse for admission into tertiary institutions, also pointed out that JAMB was created by an Act of the National Assembly in 1978 and is responsible for the conduct of matriculation examinations for admission into a tertiary institution in Nigeria, appointment of examiners and collection/dissemination of information on all matters relating to entrance examinations.

According to him, it is the responsibility of each university senate to superintend over all academic matters in the university. These include setting the admission requirements and approval of university undergraduate and postgraduate programmes

The statement read; “The autonomy of universities is under increasing threat by the meddlesome activities of JAMB in admission processes and regulation of academic activities in the Nigerian University System. JAMB was created by an Act of the National Assembly in 1978 and is responsible for the conduct of matriculation examinations for admission into a tertiary institution in Nigeria, appointment of examiners and collection/dissemination of information on all matters relating to entrance examinations. It is the prerogative and responsibility of each university senate to superintend over all academic matters in the university. These include setting the admission requirements and approval of university undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.Giving admission to candidates is the duty of senate, while regulation or accreditation of programmers is the prerogative of National Universities Commission. However, it is a matter of regret that JAMB is operating outside its jurisdiction of collecting and disseminating information on matters relating to admissions from respective institutions based on senate recommendations. “We call upon JAMB to desist from overstepping its original mandate and allow Universities to decide on admission policies and processes.”

The strike was declared at a press conference addressed by the President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, on Monday.

He said the strike, which commences on Monday, February 14, 2022, would last for an initial period of four weeks.

Members of the union’s National Executive Council had held marathon meetings since Saturday at the University of Lagos titled, ‘NEC for NEC.’

ASUU had sensitised and mobilised lecturers and students across all universities on the reason the union might likely go on strike.

The union had expressed grievances over the failure of the Federal Government to fulfil some of the agreements it made as far back as 2009. ASUU had on November 15, 2021, given the federal government a three-week ultimatum over the failure to meet the demands.

The lecturers threatened to embark on another round of industrial action following the alleged “government’s unfaithfulness” in the implementation of the Memorandum of Action it signed with the union, leading to the suspension of the 2020 strike action.

After the union’s National Executive Council meeting at the University of Abuja on November 13 and 14, ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, lamented that despite meeting with the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, on October 14, 2021, on issues, including funding for revitalisation of public universities, earned academic allowances, University Transparency Accountability Solution; promotion arrears, renegotiation of 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement, and the inconsistencies in Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System Payment, none of its demands had been met.

Following the threat, the Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, promised that the union would be paid.

A few weeks after, ASUU suspended the planned strike, as N22.1 billion earned allowances were paid to lecturers in federal universities.

On the heels of the union’s renewed agitations, the co-chairmen of the National Inter-religious Council, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Abubakar III, and the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Dr. Samson Ayokunle, visited the President, Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), last month, over the lack of implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding the government signed with ASUU in 2009 and others.

This was contained in a press statement issued by the union after its National Executive Council meeting.

The meeting was held at its Festus Iyayi National Secretariat, University of Abuja, on Saturday, December 18, 2021, to review the level of government’s implementation of the FGN-ASUU Memorandum of Action of December 23, 2020, and other related matters.

In the press statement titled, ‘Enough of blackmail’, signed by ASUU president, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, the lecturers regretted that the Federal Government had turned its back on the plan to set up an inter-ministerial committee to review the draft Renegotiated 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement.

Earlier, ASUU had announced plans to embark on a strike over the Federal Government’s failure to meet its demands.

Apart from the Earned Academic Allowances, ASUU said its demands included the review of the NUC Act to curb the proliferation of universities by state governments who are not funding the existing ones; adoption of the University Transparency Accountability Solutions (UTAS) with concurrent discontinuance of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) and distortion in salary payment.

Others are the release of accumulated promotion arrears; and the review and signing of the draft document on the Renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement.

Part of the statement read, “NEC was worried by the spirited efforts of government agents to reduce the demands of ASUU to a regime of intermittent payment of watered-down revitalisation fund and release of distorted and grossly devalued Earned Academic Allowances. ASUU shall not relent in demanding improvement in the welfare and conditions of service of our members. However, we shall resist any attempt to blackmail the union and derail our patriotic struggle for a productive university system by official propaganda founded on tokenism and crumb-sharing. NEC concluded that the government has failed to satisfactorily address all the issues raised in the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement and subsequent MoUs and MoAs. However, considering the ongoing intervention and consultation efforts, NEC resolved to review the situation at a later date with a view to deciding on the next line of action.”