ASUU strike hits Two hundredth-day, college students decry failed negotiations

The strike embarked upon by the  Tutorial Employees Union of Universities, which has paralysed nearly all public universities within the nation, has entered its Two hundredth day.

College students and oldsters, who lamented the consequences of the commercial motion in separate interviews with The PUNCH on Thursday, condemned the failure of the Federal Authorities and the union to resolve the disaster and reopen the schools.

ASUU had in February declared a month-strike following the failure of the federal government to satisfy its calls for, together with the cost of earned allowances, cost of revitalisation funds to universities, the discharge of the white paper stories of visitation panels, implementation of the College Transparency Accountability Answer (UTAS) as a substitute of the Built-in Payroll and Personnel Data System (IPPIS) for the cost of staff within the ivory towers and the renegotiation of the ASUU-FGN 2009 allowance.

Previous to the present strike, the college lecturers had in 2020 launched into a nine-month industrial motion, which they suspended on December 24 of that 12 months.

Though ASUU declared a month strike on February 14 and had been rolling it over after the expiration of every declaration, its Nationwide Govt Council after its assembly in Abuja on August 29, stated its industrial motion would henceforth be “complete, complete and indefinite,”  efficient from 12am on Monday.

Varied talks between the union and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, yielded no end result. Additionally, ASUU leaders walked out of a gathering with the federal government on August 16, alleging that no provide was made to them.

However the Minister of Training, Adamu Adamu, in an interview with journalists, stated college lecturers insisted that they need to be paid for the interval they didn’t work, a request he stated the federal government was not able to grant.

The Public Relations Officer of the Nationwide Guardian-Academics Affiliation, Ademola Ekundayo, in an interview with one in all our correspondents on Thursday, lamented that each the federal government and ASUU allowed the strike to enter its Two hundredth day.

He lamented that folks and their youngsters within the universities had been those struggling. Ekundayo acknowledged, “ASUU members will nonetheless acquire their salaries for the work they didn’t even do likewise the Federal Authorities has nothing to lose as their (authorities officers) youngsters are in personal universities.”

A scholar on the Obafemi Awolowo College, Ile-Ife, Religion Alofe, disclosed that the strike had affected his programmes.

He acknowledged, “The ASUU strike motion is one which could be very miserable and time-wasting. As a campus journalist, I’ve utilized to worldwide organisations however my software was turned down as a result of I don’t have a Bachelor’s Diploma.

“I must be writing my closing exams and getting ready to depart undergraduate research however right here we’re with the strike motion drawing us again. I don’t like to consider the ASUU strike in any respect as a result of it is extremely miserable simply occupied with the strike and I hope that each the Federal Authorities and ASUU will discover a frequent floor and cease leaving college students to undergo the tip results of the strike.”

On his half, the South-West Coordinator of the Nationwide Affiliation of Nigerian College students, Zone Dr, Adegboye Olatunji, stated it was unhappy that the conferences between ASUU and the federal government didn’t produce any optimistic outcomes.

In accordance with him, the federal government doesn’t consider that training is the way forward for the nation.

One other scholar on the Olabisi Onabanjo College, Olaniyan Oluwatomisin, stated, “In 4 years, that is the third time I’m experiencing ASUU strike and I do know for a truth it has disrupted my life plans. Training isn’t free and I have to get the worth of what I paid for. It’s my proper.”

A scholar on the Nasarawa State College, Keffi, Halidu Adamu, stated, “The inconsistency in Nigerian universities’ calendar is constant. It has triggered a variety of deterioration when it comes to customary in training.”

However the Nationwide President of NANS, Sunday Asefon took a swipe at ASUU.

In a press release on Thursday titled, ‘ASUU declaration of indefinite strike: Time for presidency in any respect ranges to behave and save Nigeria universities from ASUU,’ Asefon described ASUU’s declaration of an indefinite strike as unpatriotic, pointless and depraved.

He acknowledged, “Such a choice was simple for ASUU members as a result of lots of their leaders shouldn’t have their wards in public universities and nonetheless maintain employment at varied personal universities across the nation and as such not affected by their try to collapse the sector for his or her egocentric and thoughtless beneficial properties.’’

Asefon additionally condemned the insistence of ASUU on cost of six months of arrears for the whole interval of the strike earlier than the strike is known as off.

He added, “This demand isn’t solely insensitive; it’s egocentric, thoughtless, and uncharitable. The six months had been durations of no work. We, due to this fact, encourage the federal government to make use of each obtainable authorized window obtainable to it and be certain that ASUU doesn’t kill our tertiary training system.

“We name on the state authorities to forthwith liaise with vice-chancellors of state establishments to announce the resumption of educational actions and grant the vice-chancellors authority to implement the resumption as state universities ought to by no means have joined the strike within the first place.”

Defending ASUU, a professor of Structural Engineering on the College of Uyo, Ini Uko, stated the strike got here on account of inconsistency of the federal government.

The lecturer acknowledged, “The federal government can’t fund training correctly however it retains on saying tuition is free and due to that the system isn’t operating fantastic as a substitute of asking mother and father to pay.”

He stated regardless of the paucity of funds, the federal government was nonetheless subsidising the Federal Authorities faculties, faculties of training, federal technical faculties and federal polytechnics.

Uko added, “The Nationwide Meeting has authorised 67 new increased establishments and but the current ones are usually not being correctly funded.  Why can’t we simply sit and suppose and do what’s constant?”

The Nationwide President, ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, informed The PUNCH that for the reason that August 16 assembly led to a impasse, the federal government had not met the union.

He acknowledged,‘‘Nothing has modified since that point. They haven’t reached out to us; no one has referred to as us for any assembly for the reason that two weeks we had a gathering with the minister of training.

‘‘No official letter from the governors’ discussion board. The federal government needs to blackmail us; the minister stated they wished to make use of it to punish us. This factor shouldn’t transcend 10 days. We’re prepared to speak, we reached an settlement and so they modified it.”

‘‘Because it (the strike) doesn’t have an effect on them, their youngsters are usually not within the faculties right here, it’s a approach of saving cash. This situation would have been resolved in simply two days. In the event that they (political workplace holders) have their youngsters in our faculties, they won’t enable it to final this lengthy.’’

The Head of Division, Mass Communication, College of Lagos, Prof. Poju Tejumaiye, defined that the extended strike had antagonistic results on lecturers everywhere in the nation.

He added that failure on the a part of ASUU and the FG had led to the lack of curiosity in studying by college students and lackadaisical attitudes to instructing and studying

However the spokesperson for the Ministry of Training, Ben Goong,defined to one in all our correspondents that there was nothing left on the negotiation desk for the governors to debate.

The All Progressives Congress governors throughout a gathering with the President, Main Common Muhammadu Buhari (retd), on Tuesday promised to barter with ASUU.

Goong on Thursday acknowledged, “ASUU itself has agreed that the federal government has agreed to 85 per cent of what they delivered to the desk. What ASUU is preventing for is the cost of wage arrears. There’s nothing like wage arrears when somebody has not labored.

“The federal government has knowledgeable them of the no-work-no-pay determination as a result of there may be nowhere you receives a commission for a piece that you just didn’t do. That’s the place we’re. So, if the governors are coming in or different events are coming in, I actually don’t know as a result of negotiations have been concluded. There’s nothing on the desk.

“There’s nothing like free cash within the authorities account so we can’t pay free cash.  We name it one thing in Marxist literature, when you don’t work for cash, it’s referred to as primitive accumulation. That’s what ASUU is asking for and the federal government is not going to pay.”

He stated regardless of the paucity of funds, the federal government was nonetheless subsidising the Federal Authorities faculties, faculties of training, federal technical faculties and federal polytechnics.

Uko added, “The Nationwide Meeting has authorised 67 new increased establishments and but the current ones are usually not being correctly funded.  Why can’t we simply sit and suppose and do what’s constant?”

The Nationwide President, ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, informed The PUNCH that for the reason that August 16 assembly led to a impasse, the federal government had not met the union.

He acknowledged,‘‘Nothing has modified since that point. They haven’t reached out to us; no one has referred to as us for any assembly for the reason that two weeks we had a gathering with the minister of training.

‘‘No official letter from the governors’ discussion board. The federal government needs to blackmail us; the minister stated they wished to make use of it to punish us. This factor shouldn’t transcend 10 days. We’re prepared to speak, we reached an settlement and so they modified it.”

‘‘Because it (the strike) doesn’t have an effect on them, their youngsters are usually not within the faculties right here, it’s a approach of saving cash. This situation would have been resolved in simply two days. In the event that they (political workplace holders) have their youngsters in our faculties, they won’t enable it to final this lengthy.’’

The Head of Division, Mass Communication, College of Lagos, Prof. Poju Tejumaiye, defined that the extended strike had antagonistic results on lecturers everywhere in the nation.

He added that failure on the a part of ASUU and the FG had led to the lack of curiosity in studying by college students and lackadaisical attitudes to instructing and studying

However the spokesperson for the Ministry of Training, Ben Goong,defined to one in all our correspondents that there was nothing left on the negotiation desk for the governors to debate.

The All Progressives Congress governors throughout a gathering with the President, Main Common Muhammadu Buhari (retd), on Tuesday promised to barter with ASUU.

Goong on Thursday acknowledged, “ASUU itself has agreed that the federal government has agreed to 85 per cent of what they delivered to the desk. What ASUU is preventing for is the cost of wage arrears. There’s nothing like wage arrears when somebody has not labored.

“The federal government has knowledgeable them of the no-work-no-pay determination as a result of there may be nowhere you receives a commission for a piece that you just didn’t do. That’s the place we’re. So, if the governors are coming in or different events are coming in, I actually don’t know as a result of negotiations have been concluded. There’s nothing on the desk.

“There’s nothing like free cash within the authorities account so we can’t pay free cash.  We name it one thing in Marxist literature, when you don’t work for cash, it’s referred to as primitive accumulation. That’s what ASUU is asking for and the federal government is not going to pay.”