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The Federal Government has called on pro-chancellors, vice-chancellors and chairmen of governing councils of federal universities to a meeting in Abuja on September 6 as part of efforts to resolve the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
The National Universities Commission called the conference, during which attendees were expected to discuss the government’s response to the strike.
Chris Maiyaki, the NUC’s Deputy Executive Secretary for Administration, signed the letter inviting the presidents of the universities to the meeting, which one of our journalists was able to secure on Tuesday.
This became apparent as the ASUU strike approached its 198th day and the university lecturers decided to announce a broad-based industrial action.
In many conversations with journalists, stakeholders, in particular parents, criticized ASUU and the government and bemoaned how their children’s futures were being jeopardized.
One of our correspondents conducted an analysis of an academic session and found that it is roughly nine months long, divided into the first semester, also known as harmattan semester, and the second semester, also known as rain semester. On average, a session at a public university in Nigeria lasts nine months.
Due to what ASUU claimed as the government’s “failure” to accept its demands, the organization went on strike on February 14.
The demands include paying earned allowances, giving colleges funding for revitalization, setting up visiting panels, and using the University Transparency Accountability Solution to pay ivory tower employees rather than the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.
A committee led by Prof. Nimi Briggs was established by the government to examine the 2009 ASUU-FG agreement and the union’s demands.
ASUU leaders claimed that no offer was offered to them when they left a meeting with the government on August 16.
But the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, in a chat with journalists, stated non-academic unions had agreed to terminate their protest.
The minister claimed that university teachers insisted on being paid during their off-duty time, a demand that the government was unable to accede to.
As a result of the government’s refusal to accede to ASUU’s demands, the union announced on Sunday and Monday that it had chosen to declare “a complete, entire, and indefinite strike.”
In its invitation letter, the NUC the meeting on September 6 with pro-chancellors and vice-chancellors will discuss steps taken on the strikes by university unions with a view to finding a consensus.
As the provost, council chairs, and vice chancellors are well aware, university-based unions’ industrial action has resulted in the closure of the institutions since February 2022.
Additionally, as you are aware, non-teaching unions have paused all industrial actions as of August 24, 2022, pending a final determination from the academic Staff union of Universities.
“In order to facilitate a well-coordinated examination of the situation, including developing consensus around further steps, it has become necessary for the governing councils and managements of the universities to be told on the choices and actions taken thus far by the Federal Government.
As a result, on Tuesday, September 6, 2022, I’m going to invite the vice chancellors, chairmen of councils, and provosts of federal institutions to a special interactive meeting with the honorable Minister of Education.
The PUNCH learned that the meeting would discuss options for financing universities, including the N10,000 levy proposed by the Parent-Teacher Association, in light of the cash crunch and budget deficit the government was facing. However, the letter did not contain the meeting’s detailed agenda.
We will talk about how to terminate the strike and improve university funding, a commission source said.
Vincent Paul
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