ASUU STRIKE: The industrial action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) will continue as the union have declared that there is “no going back” in their resolve.
Nigerian universities have been closed from full academic activities for over 5 months now following the strike embarked upon by members of the ASUU.
Background:
Clarfiorm reminds our readers that members of ASUU had embarked on a nationwide strike on the 14th of February 14 over ongoing issues the union has with the federal government.
These issues ranges from working and teaching conditions in the universities, the level of research, and the adoption of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System (IPPIS) of the federal government as the payment system in the university sector.
Following recent indications that the Union might call off the strike soon, the leadership of ASUU have dismissed such possibility, stating categorically that there is “no going back” in their resolve to continue with the strike.
ASUU National President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, made this disclosure while speaking with newsmen on Tuesday in in Abuja.
Th ASUU President maintained that the Union will never suspend the ongoing strike, but will ensure that it continues in a way to bring a lasting resolution to all the lingering issues that necessitated the strike in the first place.
The Union also blamed the Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige for the inability of the federal government to reach a resolution of the crisis with ASUU.
Notable Quotes
In his statement, the ASUU president said:
“ASUU, therefore, makes bold to say that the Minister of Labour and Employment has taken upon himself the role of unabashed protagonist in our ongoing dispute with the government of Nigeria for some inexplicable reasons.
“Dr Ngige earlier told whoever cared to listen that he was not the employer of university academics and advised the union to march to the Ministry of Education.
“Nigerians may wish to know why he has suddenly turned around to constitute himself into impediment to an amicable resolution of the ongoing crisis.
“The union said it remains focused on its goal of making the Nigerian university system internationally competitive and getting its products to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with their peers in any part of the world.
“We appreciate the teeming Nigerians for identifying with our vision in this respect and we specifically acknowledge the support and sacrifices of our students (including our members who are running their postgraduate programmes).
“We are as bothered as you are because we share a common interest in the Nigeria project.
“However, ASUU shall continue to be guided by the sacred canons of integrity, objectivity, and responsibility to which both academics and media practitioners subscribe.
“It is our fervent hope and desire that the current groundswell of interests would culminate in a convergence of solutions to this avoidable crisis in the overall interest of Nigeria Together, we shall win. The struggle continues,” he said.
He maintained that if Ngige meant well as a “conciliator, he won’t be putting roadblocks on the path to completing a process that has dragged for more than five years.
“The Ministry of Labour and Employment, as the chief labour ministry of the country, is principally expected to apprehend disputes between employers and employees with a view to settling such disputes.
“The ministry shall normally await reports of disputes by either side to the disputes for settlement. When the Minister apprehends a dispute, he/she must communicate to the parties or their representatives, his or her own proposal for the resolution of the dispute.
“However, ASUU has always had serious reservations about the claim of “conciliation” by someone who has taken sides in the dispute, or by unabashed protagonist in the crisis such as the current Minister of Labour and Employment. It is antithetical to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) Conventions (98, 151 & 154) on collective bargaining.
“It is against the principle of natural justice and the doctrine of equality for Dr. Ngige who carries himself as if he has personal scores to settle with ASUU and shoots down the Union everywhere it matters to assume the role of conciliator,” he added.
“We are therefore, not surprised the leadership of the Ministry of Labour and Employment could condescend to the point of denigrating the import of massive injection of fund into the University Education sub-sector as they tried to miserably dismiss the vexed issue of funding Nigerian public universities and uplifting the country’s intellectual capital.
“ASUU believes that the idea of availability of funds is a dynamic process. For instance, government can mobilize funds from different sources including non budgetary outlets like stamp-duty, GSM and alcoholic taxes.
“We are appalled by the recent calls by top government functionaries at both federal and state levels to establish more universities at a time agencies run by same Chief Executives are tightly squeezed for funding,” he said.
