State Varsity Pro-chancellors Descend on ASUU over Osodeke’s Comment

•State universities’ lecturers mull pulling out of industrial action as union declares indefinite strike 

•PANDEF to lecturers: You are insensitive to students’ plight

Deji Elumoye, Onyebuchi Ezigbo and Kuni Tyessi in Abuja

The Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State-owned Universities (COPSUN) yesterday frowned at a recent remark by the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke in which he had called state universities quacks.

COPSUN stressed that it was insulting, contemptuous and unbecoming for the President of ASUU to describe state universities as quacks, even as it criticised ASUU’s recalcitrant posture in resolving the current face-off with the government, describing it as unpopular and unworkable.

In statement issued by the Secretary, Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State-owned Universities, Marcus Awobifa, they described as unpopular, archaic, antiquated and impracticable ASUU’s approach to the issue of funding of tertiary education in a modern globalised world.

This was just as ASUU’s National Executive Council (NEC) holding in Abuja declared an indefinite strike after six months of closure of public universities, alleging unsatisfactory fulfilment of its agreement with the federal government.

But THISDAY gathered yesterday that disagreement has continued to trail the decision by ASUU to extend the ongoing industrial action as state universities are presently considering pulling out of the industrial action.

Continuing, the Pro- Chancellors stated that, they, “read with alarm and disbelieve a statement made by the President of the ASUU Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke on a television programme on Arise News Channel, where he said that state universities are ‘irrelevant and quacks.’

“Our first reaction was to ignore this tendentious, ill-conceived and flagrant unconscionable statement by the President of ASUU, but on reflection, it was thought necessary to do a rejoinder to this rather unfortunate statement having regard to the position of the President of ASUU in the scheme of things in our university system in Nigeria.

“Though, COPSUN will not want to go into any diatribe with the President of ASUU, the Committee wishes to state as follows to put records straight:

“That the Pro-Chancellors of our state universities and indeed members of the Councils are distinguished and accomplished eminent persons who had served and still serving this Nation in many capacities,” they added.

They said amongst members of the university councils are retired Ambassadors, retired Generals in the Armed forces, retired Vice-Chancellors, Senior Advocates of Nigeria, renowned politicians and other distinguished professionals.

“It is therefore insulting, contemptuous and unbecoming for the President of ASUU to state that these esteemed individuals are presiding over quack and inconsequential universities,” they added.

COPSUN stated that it, “believes that this is an auspicious time for ASUU to creatively work with all stakeholders to tinker out a compromise that will bring back to the campuses the young men and women who have been insensitively thrown out of the universities for the last six months.”

Furthermore, COPSUN noted that ASUU’s president should realise that the membership of union was voluntary.

“Therefore, it is not his ill-informed approach and denigration of state universities that will lead to fashioning out creative approaches to avoid existential extinction that will solve the myriad of problems confronting university system in Nigeria,” COPSUN added.

It accused ASUU of engaging superiority contest with the Councils of the universities which supposed to be their employers.

COPSUN also expressed the need for immediate democratisation of the membership of unions in the universities to the extent of the freedom of any individual would be free to belong to a union with options of not belonging.

They canvased the devolution of powers on the issues of labour, wages and salaries with freedom of the employers to negotiate with their employees, as it is practiced in other parts of the world, where we borrowed the university system.”

According to them, state universities cannot be forced or coerced to implement agreements reached between the federal government and her workers in the universities to which they are not parties.

“It is time to respect the federal nature of our government in all matters and not selectively, especially on the issues of salaries and wages,” COPSUN added.

It suggested the democratisation of the membership of unions in universities to the extent that individuals are free to belong to a union with options of not belonging.

ASUU members had downed tools on Monday, February 14, 2022, over non-implementation of the 2009 agreement reached with federal government as well as demands for salary increase and approval of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).

Before ASUU’s NEC meeting yesterday, the Minister of Education Adamu Adamu had said that most of the union’s demands including the release of N50 billion for the payment of earned allowances for academic and non-academic and non-academic staff of universities had been addressed.

THISDAY gathered from reliable sources that the government may have reached out to the leadership ASUU yesterday, shortly after it got hint of the decision of the union to prolong the debilitating strike.

The source which sought anonymity said other concerned stakeholders had also intervened seeking to preempt the declaration of indefinite strike by the lecturers.

When asked about the delay in issuing a formal statement on the resolution of the ASUU NEC, the source who pleaded to remain anonymous said: “ASUU is presently consulting with interested parties and as soon as it concludes the consultations we will make our position known to the general public.”

ASUU had considered resolutions of its branches nationwide, majority of which voted for continuation of the strike since according to them, no significant progress have been made in meeting the union’s demand.

The union in a statement signed by Osodeke last night stated that after extensive deliberations on government’s response to the demands of the union, the NEC resolved that the issues were not satisfactorily addressed.

“In view of the foregoing, and following extensive deliberations on Government’s response to the resolution of 14th February, 2022 so far, NEC concluded that the demands of the union had not been satisfactorily addressed. Consequently, NEC resolved to transmute the roll-over strike to a comprehensive, total and indefinite strike action beginning from 12.01a.m. on Monday, 29th August, 2022,” it said.

ASUU said the meeting was called mainly to review developments since its last resolution that rolled over the nationwide strike action for another four weeks starting from 1st August, 2022.

It said that NEC observed with regret that the Union had experienced a lot of deceit of the highest level in the last five and half years as the federal government engaged ASUU in fruitless and unending negotiation without a display of utmost fidelity.

It recounted that in 2017, the federal government constituted a committee to renegotiate the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement under the chairmanship of Wale Babalakin.

It noted that after three years of fruitless negotiation, Babalakin was replaced in December 2020, with Prof. Munzali Jibril.

According to ASUU, the Renegotiation Committee produced and submitted a draft agreement to the federal government in May, 2021.

“It is sad that, until February 14, 2022 when the ongoing strike commenced, the federal government made no significant efforts to either sign the agreement or commence implementation.

“It was only after the commencement of this strike that the federal government reconstituted the committee with Prof. Nimi Briggs appointed Chairman to lead the Government Team leading to the submission of the second Draft Agreement to the Federal Government in June, 2022 for consideration and approval for signing by the two parties within one week. This was done in line with the principle of collective bargaining,” the union added.

ASUU however accused the government of refusing to consider the proposals of the Nimi Briggs committee reached them during negotiations, adding that it amounted to abrogating decisions reached during collective bargaining.

It described the federal government’s position that it would need to borrow N1.6 trillion to implement the draft agreement as a claim that was not only malicious, but contrived to blackmail the union.

“Subsequently, some miserable, unilateral, and insulting take-it or-leave-it offers of between N30, 000 and N60,000 monthly salaries were thrown at the union,” it said.

Osodeke said while the union remained open to reasonable engagements, it had resolved to focus on the full implementation of the 23rd December, 2020 Memorandum of Action for quick restoration of industrial harmony in Nigeria’s public universities.

However, yesterday, the Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment responded to the declaration of indefinite strike by ASUU, by writing to the Education Ministry seeking status of negotiation with the union.

A source at the ministry told THISDAY yesterday that the Ministry of Education received a letter from the Labour Ministry requesting to be furnished with the latest proposals made to the university workers.

PANDEF: Extension of ASUU Strike Sad, Most Unfortunate

In the meantime, the Pan Niger Delta Forum (PANDEF) has described the indefinite extension of the six-month old strike action embarked upon by ASUU as sad and most unfortunate.

The Forum in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Hon Ken Robinson, said ASUU’s extended industrial action was a demonstration of insensitivity and blatant disregard for the plight of Nigerian students in the nation’s federal universities, who have been forced to remain at home for over six months, by both the federal government and ASUU.

PANDEF in the statement said it was worried over the reoccurring, prolonged strikes by particularly ASUU and other unions in the nation’s university system.

The group recalled that in 2020, ASUU embarked on a nine-month strike, while there were also follow-up industrial actions by the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Education and Associated Institutions (NASU), early in 2021.

It added that overall, ASUU has reportedly gone on strike for about 46 months since the inception of this democratic dispensation in 1999.

According to PANDEF: “This is not a situation that should be happening. The federal government and ASUU should be aware that they are endangering, not only the future of our youths but also, the educational system of the country.

“PANDEF, therefore, earnestly, advises, both the Federal Government and ASUU, to take all necessary steps to urgently bring this situation to an end and let the students return to their lectures, in the interest of the nation’s future and development.”