TEEJ🅰️Y UPDATES

The executive members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), led by its President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, is scheduled to meet and discuss the inability of the Federal Government to meet their demands.  ASUU NEC is also expected to deliberate on the half salary paid to its members by the Federal Government last month. The meeting is expected to cause palpable tension among university communities.  The meeting will take place at the union’s headquarters at the permanent site of the University of Abuja campus. The union’s leadership will address the government’s decision and discuss their potential responses to the development.  ASUU President, who disclosed this in an interview with The Guardian, said the Federal Government was yet to meet any of the union’s demands.  However, Osodeke steadfastly declined to disclose the meeting’s date, saying: “ I won’t say in advance when the meeting will take place. We are having a private meeting and will...

Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities in Ekiti, Osun and Ondo states on Wednesday held peaceful protests against the pro-rata salary they received in October as well as the no-work, no-pay salary policy of the Federal Government. The union embarked on a strike action on Monday, February 14, 2022, to protest the non-implementation of the 2009 Memorandum of Understanding reached with it by the Federal Government among other issues. However, after calling off the strike, the government only paid them for half of October. The Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities, Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti chapter, Dr Kayode Arogundade, accused the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), and the Ministers of Labour, Dr Chris Ngige, and Education, Adamu Adamu, of nursing negative agenda for education. Arogundade said, “We are expressing our displeasure concerning the Federal Government’s draconian decision of no-work, no-pay introduced by Ngige and sanct...

AKURE—THE Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, yesterday, insisted that its members cannot be punished with a “no work, no pay” policy for the Federal Government’s insensitivity and insincerity to the prolonged strike. Chairman of the union in the Federal University of Technology, FUTA, Akure, Prof. Olayinka Awopetu, said this during a protest rally to express their dissatisfaction over the Federal Government’s half salary payment after its eight months strike.  Awopetu said it is unfair for members of the union to bear the brunt of the failure of the government. He said: “We did not go on strike because we wanted to go on strike, or happy to go on strike, but because the government failed to do its part, so we can’t be punished for that.  “If you go on legal strike, you shouldn’t be punished for it but we are being punished by withholding our salaries. So why is the government now criminalising a strike that was forced on our members? “The government wants ...

Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has told the Federal Government that if it insists on a no-work, no-pay policy, lecturers would abandon backlogs of academic activities caused by its over seven months strike. The union argued that the policy should not apply to them because they had picked up from where they left seven months ago, stressing that they were clearing the backlogs of work in a combined two sessions. The union made the demands during a special congress and protest rally in Port Harcourt, Rivers state yesterday. The lecturers, mainly from the University of Port Harcourt (Uniport), after emerging from the congress, protested the half-salary payment. They marched along Delta Campus to the school Senate building in Abuja Campus with placards reading: “No to pro rata salary payment; Lecturers are not casual workers; FG, stop maltreatment lecturers.” Speaking to journalists, the Chairman of ASUU, Uniport branch, Dr. Uzoma Darlington Chima, said the congress...

The Campaign for Equal Rights and Opportunities for all Nigerians, CERON, has urged the Federal Government to end its lingering face off with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, by paying their withheld salaries saying the crisis has thrown the education sector in disarray. The group said the Federal Government is being unfair to Nigerian youths who are bearing the brunt of the dispute stressing that the crisis has stagnated education in the country. The Secretary of CERON, Mr. Francis Odiir in a statement Tuesday in Makurdi said it was unbelievable that the Federal Government could allow the crisis linger despite promises made through the Speaker of the House of Representatives that there was going to be a truce. According to him, “after the intervention of the Speaker of the House of Representatives that gave all Nigerians hope of a peaceful resolution of the crisis given the promises made on the side of governmemt, we are surprised to see what is going on now...

ACADEMIC Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened to skip backlog of academic sessions halted by their seven months strike if federal government persists on the no work no pay rule.  ASUU members, mainly of University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT) Chapter, Rivers state, after a special congress and protest rally on Monday argued that the policy does not apply to them because they have picked up from where they down tools seven months ago and currently clearing the backlogs of work, combining two sessions.  Chairman, ASUU, Uniport, Dr. Uzoma Chima, said, “Today’s special congress and protest rally is to express our dissatisfaction with recent attempt by federal government of Nigeria to reduce university lecturers to daily pay casual workers.  “Because we know that there is nowhere in the world where university lecturers are treated as casual workers. So, today we invited parents, and students to let them know the state of things since after the suspension...

Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) of the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU) Ago-Iwoye, yesterday, took to the street calling on the federal government to pay the withheld salaries of their counterparts in the federal universities. The lecturers, who were led by the branch Chairman, Dr. Joel Okewale, marched from the mini-campus of the institution in Ago-Iwoye town to the entrance gate, deplored what they described as “brazen show of disdain for education and the intelligentsia” by the federal government. They expressed worries that the government had stepped up its anti- people and oppressive stance by criminalizing strike action and implementing its ‘no-work-no-pay’ on ASUU. Okewale who addressed the rally, said government’s self-determined policy of ‘no-work-no-pay’ as well as criminalization of strike action, is alien to the university system. He said the union had taken it as part of federal government’s imposed punishment on ASUU members for...

President Muhammadu Buhari has advised the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other trade unions to employ negotiations and shun strikes as a tool for pressing home their demands. Buhari stated this at the 74th Foundation Day and Convocation Ceremonies of the University of Ibadan (UI) in Ibadan on Thursday. He was represented by Prof. Abubakar Rasheed, the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC) Buhari commended the efforts of the university administration in maintaining the great reputation upon which the institution was established. He appreciated the leading role of the institution in postgraduate education and the production of the much-needed academic staff for tertiary institutions within and outside Nigeria. Buhari said there was a need for discipline and stability in all universities which held the key to the future of any nation. He said that it was disheartening that all the universities’ trade unions declared protracted trade disp...

The Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities may be preparing for another showdown as the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, has insisted the government will not pay full salaries to lecturers despite their ongoing nationwide protest. ASUU had on Monday begun protests across the country to press home their demand for full pay after the Federal Government failed to pay them for the eight-month period the lecturers were on strike. However, Adamu, who spoke with State House correspondents in Abuja on Wednesday, insisted the protesting lecturers would not be paid for work not done in line with ‘No work no pay’ policy. The PUNCH reports that ASUU, which embarked on strike in February, called off the industrial action in October, after a Court of Appeal order them to do so. Following the development, the government paid the lecturers half salaries for the month of October while insisting that it would not pay for the eight months they were on strike. In re...

The Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar has said that the eight months strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), have very negative psychological and emotional effect on students. He added that the strike was unnecessary, unfortunate and very sad as it could have been avoided by continuous and effective communication. Sultan Abubarkar, speaking before the commissioning a 25-Bedroom Guest House donated by the family of Babalakin to Fountain University, Osogbo on Wednesday, stressed the importance of dialogue between the leaders and the public. “We just came out of an unfortunate eight months ASUU strike. I believe it is very sad and frustrating. But these are things that we could have avoided by continuously talking because it is not today that ASUU started having problems with the government and they will never stop having problems with the government. “So when you have problem with anyone, what you should do is to sit down and di...

Notwithstanding protests by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) against alleged payment of incomplete October salary, the federal government, Wednesday, remained adamant, insisting that it would not pay for service not rendered. Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, expressed the federal government’s position on the renewed face-off with ASUU after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja. Newsmen had requested the Minister to speak on the insistence by the lecturers to protest on a work-free day against the federal authorities’ decision to pay its members pro-rata, accusing the government of attempting to turn university lecturers to ‘casual workers’. Responding, however, Adamu said “the strike has been called off and the government has paid them what is due to them. I think that’s the position of the government; that it is not going to pay anyone for work not done and they o...

Lecturers in different parts of the country on Tuesday protested against the no-work no-pay policy imposed on them by the Federal Government following the eight-month strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities. They said the actions of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, towards the union would destroy public universities in Nigeria. Members of ASUU, University of Lagos chapter, held a rally from the Julius Berger Auditorium of the university premises, to the school main gate, to protest against the half salaries they received in October. The aggrieved lecturers held a big banner and placards with inscriptions that included, ‘Ngige be mindful of history, ASUU will outlive you’, ‘Teachers teach the nation but Ngige cheats the teachers’, ‘No work no pay and prorated salaries are punitive measures against renegotiated agreement,’ among others. Speaking after the rally, titled, ‘The casualisation of intellectualism in Nigeria’, the branc...

The National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, on Tuesday, criticised the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, over his alleged authorisation of the part-payment of salaries to members of the union, following the suspension of its seven-month strike in October. This comes after ASUU in October suspended its eight-month strike in line with an order by the National Industrial Court for the lecturers to return to work. ASUU, on Monday, stated that it would embark on a one-day nationwide protest over the part-payment. “He (Ngige) has gone to court, which means he has lost his right as a conciliator. Once he has taken this case to the Industrial Court, he has lost that right as a conciliator; he has no say again, but he’s still interloping,” Osodeke said on Channels Television’s Politics Today. Asked what role the Minister of Labour currently plays in the matter, the ASUU president said, “He has nothing. He’s an interloper. ...

The Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has accused the Federal Government of not being interested in funding public universities in the country. It said that underfunding public universities in the country under the pretext that the government has no money was a deliberate attempt to introduce exorbitant school fees that the ordinary Nigerian cannot afford. Chairperson of the branch, Ibrahim Inuwa, stated this at a press conference held at the ASUU Secretariat, ATBU, shortly after staging a peaceful protest on Tuesday. DAILY POST reports that the Union held a congress, after which they staged the protest from their secretariat and marched to the main ATBU gate and back to their starting point. They sang solidarity songs and carried placards with various inscriptions such as: “ASUU calls for deployment of UTAS”, “ASUU rejects prorating of academics’ salaries”, “ASUU is more patriotic than FGN officials”, “Rele...

 …adjourns case till Dec 13, as FG counters ASUU’s preliminary objection The National Industrial Court, NIC, sitting in Abuja, has fixed December 13 for continuation of hearing on the protracted dispute between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU. It will be recalled that alleged refusal by FG to comply with an agreement it earlier entered into with ASUU, which is the umbrella body of University lecturers in the country, led the union to embark on a strike action that lasted over eight months. Based on a referral that was made to the court by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, the vacation judge, Justice Polycarp Hamman, on September 21, ordered the striking lecturers to return to the classroom, pending the determination of the suit FG entered against their union. The interlocutory order of the Industrial Court was further reinforced by the Abuja Division of the Court of Appeal, which in a ruling it delivere...

The Academic Staff Union Of Universities, ASUU, will on Tuesday (today) begin protest over the half-salary paid to them by the Federal Government in October this year. The union has also declared lecturer free days in its branches across the country in a bid to draw the attention of Nigerians to the move by the Government. Recall that ASUU had a few weeks ago, raised the alarm that the Federal Government turned the university lecturers to casual workers by paying them a half-salary. But in its response, the FG noted that they were paid in pro-rata for the number of days the lecturers worked in October, having suspended its prolonged industrial action on October 14. Efforts by some members of the union to embark on another strike, proved abortive on Monday last week, as the National Executive Council of the union ruled out the possibility of another industrial action in cognizance of students who just returned to campuses. ASUU president, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, who conf...

The House of Representatives has resolved to convene a summit on tertiary education as part of efforts to proffer solutions to the myriads of problems bedevilling the nation’s institutions of higher learning. The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, said this at the resumption of plenary in Abuja on Monday. According to him, the House will convene a National Summit on Tertiary Education Reform on November 22 and 23. He said the summit is an opportunity to begin the long-overdue national conversation about the future of public tertiary education in Nigeria. He said scholars, tertiary education administrators, and local and international stakeholders have been invited to submit papers on the theme of the Summit. The theme, according to him, is “Reimagining Tertiary Education in Nigeria: Issues, Challenges and Solutions”, and other sub-themes provided for in the call for memoranda. He said the presentations and submissions would inform the policy recomme...

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is set to embark on a one-day nationwide protest rally over the implementation by the Federal Government of a “no-work, no-pay” policy for lecturers in the country. The protest will be organised at the branch level of the union across public university campuses nationwide and it will take place as a free-lecture day for all lecturers who are members. The chairman of ASUU, University of Lagos (UNILAG) branch, Dr. Dele Ashiru, confirmed this to Nigerian Tribune, on Sunday. According to him, every university where ASUU has members has been directed to choose a day within the week to hold a special congress and also go on protest rally within their campuses. He said UNILAG-ASUU had fixed Tuesday, November 15, for its own rally. He said the aim of the protest rally is simply to draw the attention of Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora to ASUU’s strong dissatisfaction of the Federal Government’s attempt at casualisation of the aca...

The National President of the Parent-Teacher Association of Nigeria, Haruna Danjuma, has condemned the payment of half salaries for October 22 to lecturers in public universities by the Federal Government, describing it as tantamount to “pushing them to the wall.” The National President of the association, Haruna Danjuma, who stated this in an interview with Sunday PUNCH on Saturday, noted that the initial agreement between ASUU and the Ministries of Education and Labour and Employment was that full salaries for the months the lecturers were on strike would be paid in due course after the industrial action was called off. According to Danjuma, the government’s action was not only unjust but could also result in another strike. Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities had lamented the payment of half salaries for October by the Federal Government despite their decision to call off their eight-month strike in line with a court order. However, the government explain...

The senator representing Borno South in the National Assembly, Ali Ndume, has urged the Federal Government to slash the salaries of NASS members by 50 percent to give it to the Academic Staff Union of Universities so as to meet their pressing demands. Ndume stated this during an interaction with newsmen in Maiduguri on Thursday, as he reacted to the alleged half-pay to the ASUU members. The former Senate Leader advised the FG to set up a high-powered standing committee of respected educationists and patriotic Nigerians to meet with the leadership of ASUU in order to find a lasting solution to the lecturers’ demands. He said, “Even if it means that the National Assembly will reduce sitting allowances or be paid on casual allowances basis whenever they sit at the Lower and Upper chambers, by cutting the recurrent expenditure in the budget of the federal lawmakers to settle the ASUU arrears, let it be. “We only assemble twice or so in a week and get paid as such.” Ndume noted ...