ASUU Rejects N600 Billion Offer

ASUU rejects N600 BILLION offer
Varsity teachers remained adamant last
night, saying their strike would go on,
despite the government’s shifting of its
position. The strike has been on for four
months.
More cash has been pledged for projects
on the campuses. Besides, the earned
allowances due to the teachers have been
increased from the initial N30 billion offer,
which the Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU) rejected. The teachers
are insisting on the 2009 agreement, which
they say President Goodluck Jonathan was
part of. Besides, they say, they do not trust
the government.
According to a circular by the Vice
Chancellor of the Federal University,
Otuoke, Bayelsa State, Prof. Bolaji Aluko, to
the staff of the school, quoted yesterday by
the news website, Sahara Reporters, the
government has pledged to spend N200
billion on the universities in the 2014
budget and the same amount annually for
the next three to four years.
This is in addition to the N100 billion
already made available this year, but which
ASUU has rejected.
The government has also increased to N40
billion, as a first installment, funds for the
payment of earned allowances to the
striking lecturers – an improvement from
the N30 billion previously released.
On the earned allowances, Aluko said:
“Government will top it up with further
releases once universities are through with
the disbursement of this new figure of N40
million. So, Vice-Chancellors are urged to
expedite this disbursement within the
shortest possible time using guiding
templates that have been sent by the CVC,”
the circular said.
Aluko said the latest development followed
meetings on September 19 and Oct 11 of
representatives of the Association of Vice-
Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, led by
its Chairman, Prof. Hamisu of Abubakar
Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) and ASUU
representatives led by its President,
Dr.Nasir Fagge, with Vice-President Namadi
Sambo and Minister of Education Nyesome
Wike.
A source in the Ministry of Education last
night also confirmed that the meeting took
place.
“But the government decided to leave the
announcement of the decision to the ASUU
chiefs,” the source said.
It was gathered that Sambo urged ASUU to
call off the strike, as he apologised for the
“take-it-or-leave-it” comments credited to
Minister of Finance Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
at the beginning of the strike. The Minister
did not seem to have been involved in
either meeting, perhaps as the
government’s way of soothing the feelings
of the university teachers.
Other points of agreement at the meetings
include:
•Project Prioritisation: Universities will now
be allowed to determine their priorities and
not be “rail-roaded” into implementing a
pre-determined set of projects with respect
to the NEEDS assessment. Decisions are not
to be centralized;
•TETFund Intervention: The government
assured the teachers that the operations of
the TETFund will not be impaired, and that
the regular TETFund intervention
disbursement to universities will continue,
unaffected. So the NEEDS assessment
capital outlays are in addition to regular
TETFund intervention;
•Project Monitoring: A new Implementation
Monitoring Committee (IMC) for the NEEDS
Assessment intervention for universities
has been set up to take over from the
Suswam Committee. The new one is under
the Federal Ministry of Education and
chaired by the Minister of Education. In
addition, to build confidence and ensure
faithful implementation and prevent any
relapse as before, the Vice President will
meet quarterly with the implementors to
monitor progress.
.Blueprint: ASUU was mandated to submit a
blueprint for revitalising the universities to
the Vice President.
Prof. Aluko stated that a signed document
will soon be issued to itemise the full
issues on which the consensus was
reached.
But ASUU last night was unimpressed with
the new offer. National Treasurer Dr.
Ademola Aremu said the offer failed to
meet the teachers’ expectations.
He said the offer falls short of the
agreement signed with ASUU by the
government.
Aremu insisted that ASUU would not end
the strike until the 2009 agreement is fully
implemented by injecting N500 billion into
the universities yearly to shore up the
system’s quality.
Aremu, who spoke to our correspondent
on the telephone, said any offer below
what is contained in the signed agreement,
would amount to unilateral repudiation of
an agreement the government willingly
signed in 2009.
According to the unionist, ASUU is not
making any new demand, but a mere
implementation of an agreement. He
pointed out that the Memorandum of
Understanding (MOU) signed by both
parties in 2009 stated that the government
would commit N1.5 trillion to the system in
three years.
He said: “ Even if the Federal Government
made that promise, it would be a unilateral
repudiation of the 2009 agreement. By now,
the government should have injected N500
billion. That amounts to N100 billion in
2012 and N400 billion in the current year.
“As a matter of fact, any new commitment
from the Federal Government is belated.
Implementation of the agreement ought to
have started before this year. I don’t think
there is any way we can trust this
government, going by its past behaviour on
this issue.
“The mandate from our principal as at the
last time we met was that we won’t end the
strike until the agreement is fully
implemented.
“We do not need promises again. What we
need now is actual implementation. What if
they do not release the funds again after
making the promise?
“It was this same Mr President that mid-
wifed the agreement in 2009 when he was
the Vice President. The MoU was in his
custody. He studied the agreement well
before asking then President Umaru
Yar’Adua to sign it. We can’t trust this
government.
http://www.nigerianeye.com/2013/10/
ASUU-rejects-n600-billion-offer.html?m=

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