The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof Emmanuel Osodeke said there is nothing that differentiates the administration of President Bola Tinubu from that of his predecessor, Muhammadu Buhari.
Osodeke made the declaration in an interview, amidst the association’s threat to embark on an indefinite strike by the end of January.
He said ASUU members “have already run out of patience” adding that it was the leadership that pleaded with them to give the government more time to address their concern.
“When our congress met in November, the leadership had to plead to allow government to use the months of November and December to address our concerns and, up till now no concrete step taken.
“So, we will reconvene our meeting this January to take a decision.
“The general members have already endorsed industrial action long before as a way out of this situation. We are the ones that are technically deferring the action.
“So, if government has not done anything by early January, we will go ahead with our plan. It is to declare a nationwide strike.
“We have exhausted all the known methods we should go through as a union and also exercise patience enough while the government is not bothered. So, what else can we do than what the government is always waiting for, which is strike. It is a pity that government always wants workers to go on strike in Nigeria before attending to their demands. That has been the nature of our successive governments.
“We have given government a notice of strike and extended it many times just to give it more time and opportunity to address the issues so that we all can enjoy uninterrupted academic activities in our universities. But government has not made good use of the opportunity,” he said.
Osodeke said the Tinubu administration clocked one year, seven months old in December but there is hardly one concrete achievement of the government in the education sector.
“By May, the administration would have spent half of its tenure in office and Nigerians have been told by one of the former senators that governance in Nigeria is only for three years that the last year out of four years of every government, is usually for campaign for another election. So, what has this government done differently in education sector from the one before it?
“Take for example, our salaries value ratio to the US dollar during Buhari’s administration was between $500 and $600.But now it has drastically come down to about $200. How much were the prices of goods and services then and how much are those items now in the market. We all know the answer.
“So, what has this current government done if not to have worsened the condition of Nigerian workers, including lecturers? That is the situation we all find “ourselves, today.
Osodeke further said there were still many open items in ASUU’s agreement with the government which the latter was yet to close.
He mentioned, for instance, that union’s members were yet to be yanked off Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS)
“What is certain is that government has to resolve some past issues before signing a new agreement. There are so many of them such as the 35 per cent salary increment for civil servants. Now we are being owed one year arrear on that. That was from January 2023 to December 2023.
“We have also been owed three and half months’ salaries withheld during our last general strike in 2022. Government only paid the first four months and promised to pay the balance but has not fulfilled the promise.
“Similarly, we were told that our Earned Academic Allowance, which was around N50 billion, was provided for in the 2024 budget, yet nothing has been released till date.
“We were equally told that N300 billion has been approved, as Revitalisation Fund in the last budget, yet, nothing was released so far. Is it not also surprising that we are still being paid on IPPIS platform despite government claiming otherwise? he said.
On the disbursement of about N34 billion to over 300,000 students as loans under the Nigerian Education Loan Fund (nelfund), Osodeke contended that it is not a favour done to the beneficiaries.
“What the students really need is grant and not loan. If government can boast of giving over N90 billion free to individuals for pilgrimage, why can’t it do the same thing to students? What should be more important to the country, people going to Mecca and Jerusalem at the expense of government or giving students grants to study? And Nigerian students who are future leaders you gave them just N34 billion and you are proud of it! It means something is basically wrong with us as a country.
“Giving loans to students in a country where fresh graduates are not sure of getting jobs, and you are giving free money to people who are already rich to perform pilgrimages that are not compulsory is saying something about our thinking as a country. This is because all of us, including those in government, today, enjoyed free education particularly in the then Western Region and were also given bursary award to take care of ourselves. Now, the same set of people who enjoyed so much from government during their times are now believing that giving loans to students is now an answer. It is absolutely not.
So, what government should be doing is to give students grants that will come as assistance and not a burden as it is with the loan.
He also described as “unthinkable” the plan by the government to replace the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) with the Nelfund.
“TETFund has been the only formidable agency of government that is working for the interest of children from poor homes, who attend public tertiary institutions. We all know the impact of the agency in all our public tertiary schools-be it universities, polytechnics or colleges of education.
TETFund is the one providing major infrastructural facilities, sponsoring research and development activities and also capacity-building programmes for our tertiary schools. So, Nigerians should not allow government to tamper with TETFund,” he said.
