The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may soon embark on another round of industrial action a few months after it called off the strike that stalled academic activities in all public universities in the country for a full session.
The indication was given by ASUU chairperson of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), Bauchi, Dr Ibrahim Inuwa while speaking with a selected team of journalists at the union’s secretariat at the weekend.
According to him, the development is sequel to the refusal of the Federal Government to honour the many agreements it signed with ASUU. He said ASUU has declared that unless something urgent was done urgently, it will resume the industrial action it suspended in December 2020.
Inuwa said that the protracted strike which was to press home their demands for the survival of the public university system in Nigeria, was suspended in December 2020 after ASUU and the Federal Government signed a Memorandum of Understanding on various issues providing timelines for the implementation of each of the eight items.
He, however, regretted that over seven months after the MoU was signed by both parties, the Federal Government is dragging its feet as it has so far only addressed two out of the eight issues in contention.
The ASUU branch chairperson said that, “Enough is enough. ASUU is fed up with the deceptive antics of the Federal Government of Nigeria. The university campuses are becoming restive across the length and breadth as academics are threatening to shut down activities once again.
“This is coming as a result of the failure of the FGN to implement many aspects of the memorandum of Action (MoA) it willingly signed with ASUU that ended the last strike in December, 2020.
“Given the glaring and deliberate failure of the government to honour the agreement it willingly signed with the union, it is becoming obvious that industrial harmony is gradually being destroyed in the university campuses.”
He went on to say that, “We therefore call on well meaning Nigerians to wake up the FG from its slumber to avoid another disruption of academic activities on university campuses across the nation.”
Ibrahim Inuwa listed some of the issues to include: Earned Academic Allowance, Funding for revitalisation of public universities, Salary shortfall, Proliferation of state universities and Visitation Panel, Renegotiation, Replacement of the Integrated payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) with the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) and withheld salaries and non-remittance of check-off dues.
He said, “Only salary shortfall and visitation panels to federal universities have been addressed.”
He added that “Renegotiation of the 2009 agreement which would have been completed within eight weeks from the date of inauguration of the committee up till now has not been concluded, even though the Committee was inaugurated since December 2020.”
According to him, “The Federal Government of Nigeria willingly agreed that the UTAS will replace the IPPIS as a payment platform in Federal Universities after it passed an integrity test. However, soon after the agreement, agents of the FGN are doing everything possible to frustrate the coming of UTAS onboard.”
The ASUU chairperson added that: “Meanwhile the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation (OAGF) through the IPPIS office have continued to omit our members from payment of salaries while others experience serious salary amputation. We are convinced this is done in connivance with the University Administration through the distortion of our members’ personal details.
“In the meantime, IPPIS appears to be the corruption headquarters of the Federal Civil service, as exemplified by double payment of salaries to employees, payment of salaries to non-employees, over taxation, dubious amputation of salaries, etc.”