The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila has appealed to the members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to remain calm in view of their latest outcry over the reported half payment of their salaries by the federal government.
Recall that on Friday, October 16, 2022, ASUU suspended its eight-month-old strike which had shut down public universities in the country to demand full implementation of agreements it had entered into with the Federal Government a few years ago.
While the ASUU strike lasted, the federal government had insisted on implementing the ‘No Work, No Pay’ policy when the university teachers were away from their duty posts.
However, things took a new turn on Thursday, November 3, 2022, when it was gathered that the government only paid half-month salaries to the university teachers.
Following that, some branches across the country have held a congress to decide on the next steps to take. While others, like the University of Jos chapter asked its members to stay at home till the issue is being resolved.
Reacting to the development in a statement on Monday, November 7, 2022, Gbajabiamila said that efforts to find lasting solutions to the concerns frequently raised by ASUU were ongoing.
He disclosed that President Muhammadu Buhari had indicated interest to wade into the latest concerns raised by the union.
According to him, “when the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) called off their industrial action three weeks ago, it meant that academic activities could resume in our nation’s public universities, and students could return to their academic pursuits after the prolonged interruption. This decision was rightly heralded nationwide as the correct decision.
“Since then, the Executive and the House of Representatives have worked to address the issues that led to the strike. We are currently working on the 2023 Appropriations Bill, which includes N170 billion to provide a level of increment in the welfare package of university lecturers. The Bill also includes an additional N300 billion in revitalisation funds to improve the infrastructure and operations of federal universities.
“Furthermore, the House of Representatives has convened the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF), the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other stakeholders to facilitate the adoption of elements of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) into the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). This effort is being supervised by the Chairman of the House Committee on Tertiary Education, Rep. Aminu Suleiman.”
Gbajabiamila pointed out that the position taken by the Executive that it was not obligated to pay salaries to lecturers for the time spent on strike was premised on the law and the government’s legitimate interest in preventing moral hazard and discouraging disruptive industrial actions.
According to him, “nonetheless, interventions have been made to explore the possibility of partial payments to the lecturers. We look forward to a favourable consideration by His Excellency, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR who has manifested his desire for what is prudent and necessary to resolve all outstanding issues.
“Implementing meaningful change takes time, especially when appropriations and modifications to systems such as IPPIS are required. Therefore, I urge all parties to be patient and grant each other the presumption of goodwill to the extent necessary to achieve our shared objectives. This is not a time for political brinkmanship.
“There is no more pressing objective than to preclude the possibility of further disruptions to the academic calendar of the universities. We must prevent this possibility by all means, as these disruptions risk the promise and potential of our nation’s youth.
Speaker Gbajabiamila also restated his commitment to providing sustainable reforms to the Nigerian tertiary education system.
He said that the challenges facing Nigerian tertiary education were multifaceted hence the need for all stakeholders to come together and proffer solutions.
To this end, the Speaker promised to convene a national tertiary education summit during which stakeholders would come up with ways to make things better in the sector.
Gbajabiamila said three weeks ago, he called for a national conversation on the substantive reforms required to address the underlying issues bedevilling public tertiary education in Nigeria.
