The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu disclosed this on Tuesday while outlining the Government’s efforts to resolve the lingering strike embarked upon by ASUU.

The Minister, who spoke at a press conference in Abuja, said the government had also promised that a sum of N150 billion “shall be provided for in the 2023 Budget as funds for the revitalization of Federal Universities, to be disbursed to the Institutions in the First Quarter of the year.”

Also, the government pledged a sum of N50 billion that would be provided “for in the 2023 Budget for the payment of outstanding areas of earned academic allowances, to be paid in the First Quarter of the year.”

However, ASUU and three other university unions who had been on strike, rejected the offer, Minister Adamu said, describing it “as inadequate to meet their respective demands needed to tackle the challenges confronting the university system.”

According to an ASUU source, the union is seeking over a 100 percent increase in salaries.

While other unions – NASU, SSANU and NAAT – have subsequently suspended their industrial action after further negotiations with the government, ASUU has instead extended its strike indefinitely.

“We have done the best that we can in the circumstance,” the Minister said.

The union, however, backed the university-based unions in their industrial action.

The union also says it will not hesitate to declare a solidarity strike in support of the unions if the government fails to resolve the issue within a reasonable time.

Recall that since February 14, 2022, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the Non-Academic Staff Union, the Senior Staff Association of University Teaching Hospitals, Research Institute and Associated Institutions; and the National Association of Academic Technologists had embarked on strike to press home their demands on the implementation of the Memorandum of Action signed in December 2020 on funding for the revitalisation of public universities.

Other demands are renegotiation of the 2009 agreement and the deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution; the inconsistent issue of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, unpaid earned allowances, and non-payment of minimum wage arrears; among others.

Reacting, to the continuous refusal by FG to grant ASUU’s demand keeping thousands of Nigerian students in their home for the past four months, the MHWUN’s National President, Biobelemoye Josiah, and the Acting Secretary-General, Auwalu Kiyawa, in a statement said the union is disheartening that the government’s actions and response had been more of “motion without movement.”

According to the union, “No responsible government would close down its public tertiary institutions in this 21st century because of patriotic demands for better funding of its universities and good welfare for its teaching and non-teaching staff. This is shameful.

“The Leadership of the MHWUN is particularly irked that the Federal Government and the political actors have abandoned the children of the poor masses at home to waste away, instead they are seen dissipating energy and resources that could have been used to resolve the issue to fund political tussle to occupy plum offices that previous occupiers have failed to use for the benefit of the masses. We are more worried with the development because the academic future of the citizenry is being disrupted whereas the politicians and top government officials have their children mostly in well-funded and equipped oversea schools or in relatively expensive private schools in Nigeria.

“Discerning minds will agree with us that the negative impact of the strike on the future of our children and Nigeria, in general, cannot be quantified. We call on people of goodwill to stand up in defense of the right and future of our children and Nigeria, by demanding the government do the right thing and bring back these children to the classroom.

“We condemn in strong terms the lethargic attitude of the government in resolving the issues in contention. In order to protect the future of our youths whose academic life is being disrupted, we call on the government to implement without further delay all the agreements it had entered with the unions.”

Similarly, SSANU’s National President, Mohammed Ibrahim, urged members of the union to remain resolute.

“While we expect the leaders of our nation to make concerted efforts in living up to our expectations, we, as individuals, must take responsibility for our safety and be security conscious in our daily movements and endeavors,” Ibrahim said.

Minister for Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, disclosed this on Thursday, at the end of a meeting between the FG and the Joint Action Committee of the two unions, convened to examine the level of implementation of the Memorandum of Action it signed with the unions in February, 2021.

Ngige commended the unions for their understanding and maturity in cooperating with the government to resolve the issues, emphasising that the government did not take them for granted.

This was contained in a statement on Friday by the ministry of labour and employment spokesman, Mr Charles Akpan, titled, ‘SSANU/NASU: FG to clear arrears of minimum wage by October end.’

The minister disclosed that the meeting was a continuation of an earlier one held on February 25, 2021 at his instance, and at which agreements were reached on various issues concerning members of the unions.

He stated that the meeting agreed that the payment of the arrears be fast-tracked between now and the end of October, adding that arrears of salary and promotion had been captured in the 2021 Supplementary Budget.

Ngige stated that it was not government’s intention to owe but that the delay was caused by the difficulty in getting the actual number of people qualified for the arrears, “as a lot of people had joined the service from 2020 while the period of the arrears spanned 19th April – 31st December, 2019.’’

On the Earned Allowances for universities, polytechnics, colleges of education staff, Ngige said the JAC would update the National Universities Commission on the outstanding amount owed its members, while the NUC was given two weeks to carry out the appropriate reconciliation.

The statement read, “The meeting agreed to correct the anomalies in the payment of hazard allowance caused by an error in printing, which had seen all members collecting the same sum of money across board, with no distinction between senior and junior.

“Regarding the Responsibility Allowance, where Heads of Unit were omitted, Ngige disclosed that their employers had been given two weeks to rectify the anomalies to enable the affected people to get the appropriate allowance due to them.”

A statement jointly signed by the National President, SSANU, Samson Ugwoke, and General Secretary, NASU, Peter Adeyemi, said the strike was premised on the inconsistencies of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System in the payment of salaries and the non-payment of Earned Allowances to members.

While addressing journalists after a joint congress in front of the University of Lagos Senate building on Friday, the branch chairmen of UNILAG chapters of SSANU and NASU, Olusola Sowunmi and Kehinde Ajibade, said they were now rejecting IPPIS because the government promised to take care of the peculiarities of the university system, but failed to do so.

Sowunmi said, “We are disappointed with the turnout of things. The IPPIS failed to meet our expectations and our retired members are not being paid as and when due. Also, we are not being paid the new minimum wage that other agencies of government have been enjoying. The new wage is a matter of law as it was an act of parliament.”

Ajibade said if the government could find means of paying other workers the new minimum wage, it should also pay them.

He said, “Just as the government has given schools notice of resumption, our national leadership also gave us the notice to announce this warning strike over a month ago. After the two weeks, if nothing is done to address our concerns, we will meet and deliberate on the next line of action.”

But the four staff unions at Lagos State University, Ojo has reportedly locked out their Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Olanrewaju Fagboun​, and students as the university resumes today.

The unions involved in the protest are the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, Non-Academic Staff Union, and the National Association of Academic Technologists.

It was gathered that members of the unions stood at the gate as early as 7am preventing members of staff from gaining entry into the University.

They were protesting​ non-payment of the salary increment promised them by the Lagos State Government over a year ago.

They claimed​ other Lagos State workers had received the increment but all the tertiary institutions in Lagos State were yet to be included.

The VC of the Institute attempted to appeal to the unions but they didn’t oblige him. 

It was gathered that the protest by the unions is holding across tertiary institutions in Lagos State, The PUNCH reports.

He made the call, while he was received by workers of the University, mostly non-academic staff at the Senate building – the administrative head of the institution on Wednesday.

Addressing them from the foyer of the building, Soyombo pledged to prioritise their welfare.

He said: “These are indeed trying times for our great University and our prayer is that God will see us through this trying period.

“I want to thank all our unions and the members – NASU, SSANU, NAAT, and ASUU.
No matter what we say, we are all together and should all just work together and I believe that by the grace of God peace and stability will return to our University and we will all continue to work together in unity.

“We are all familiar with the current situation. On the 12th of August 2020, the Governing Council of the University of Lagos removed the former vice-chancellor and announced my appointment as the Ag. Vice-Chancellor of the University.

“This appointment was with immediate effect. And I saw it as a call to service to the University of Lagos. And it is in this regard that I accepted the appointment for the ultimate benefit of the University.

“I thought that we should not allow the ship of the University of Lagos to continue to drift. The University of Lagos is a foremost University; the University of Lagos is greater than any individual; anyone of us.

“We all come here to work and at our various times we pray that we all live till retirement. But whether we like it or not when we work in UNILAG, we will leave UNILAG. But the University of Lagos will continue. It behooves us to leave the university of Lagos better than we met it.”

He went on: “There is a lot of work in the University of Lagos but I can’t do it alone that is why I need your support that is why I need your prayers and I believe that we should all join hands together; let us work together for the progress of our University. When we have a success story it should be for each and every one of us.

“I want to tell on my immediate plans for the University of Lagos. My major focus will be on staff welfare.

“I believe in this regard the human resources are the core assets of any organisation and I believe that a well motivated staff to be able to deliver and work very hard. We must encourage our staff; we must motivate our staff to work well.”

Academic and non-academic staff of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, made this call, stating that the Chairman of the Council, Dr Wale Babalakin, SAN, is acting contrary to the dictates of his office and working against the progress of the citadel of learning.

This follows the removal of the institute’s Vice-Chancellor, Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe and appointment of a new acting VC, Prof Omololu Soyombo.

The workers, speaking through Dr. Dele Ashiru of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), under the aegis of the Joint Staff Union, JSU, made this demand at a Congress they held on the campus on Thursday, August 13.

The workers also said that there was no room for any surrogate acting Vice-Chancellor in the institution.

The worker unions are the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, the Non-Academic Staff Union, NASU, and the National Association of Academic Technologists, NAAT.

The workers said the bad precedence that the Council tried to set should not be allowed to remain and that the country was not the Banana Republic.