The Senate Tuesday mandated Senate President, Bukola Saraki, to liaise with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Executive arm of government over the looming warning strike by the Union.
To this end, Saraki is expected to meet with the national leadership of the Union, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Education Minister, Adamu Adamu and his counterpart in Finance, Kemi Adeosun over the issue.
This followed a Point of Order (42 and 52) raised by Barau Jibrin (APC, Kano North) titled: “The Need for the Federal Government to Urgently Re-engage ASUU to amicably resolve the issues in dispute”.
The upper chamber called on the Executive to engage the ASUU to proffer solutions on how best to implement all the agreements that both bodies entered into since 2009 and implementation of key necessities that are vital for the well-being and development of universities.
It said whatever they agreed to be paid by lecturers and other actions to be taken should be captured in the 2017 budget for prompt implementation.
The legislative body also commended the Union for its chosen path of dialogue rather than confrontation as a means of resolving all the outstanding issues between it and the Federal Government.
According to him, there are six vital issues whose continued delay before the Federal Government and Academic Staff Union of Universities is creating discontent among members of the Union, noting that they have been calling for the intervention of stakeholders to prevent the breakdown in the university system nationwide.
He said: “The Academic Staff Union of Universities is insisting that if the Federal Government of Nigeria continued to fail to implement their aforesaid agreements with which it had as well as made certain key necessities, the public shall continue to be in perish in carrying out their functions as centre for knowledge acquisition, research and community service in the tradition officer in citadel of learning.
“One of the six issues in contention is the introduction of the Treasury Single Account (TSA) system in the universities which is believed by ASUU to be hampering the smooth running operations of public universities.”
In his remarks, Saraki said it is very important that the Senate prevent the strike in the interest of the people that they represent, noting that the Federal Government must implement all agreements reached with the Union.
On Monday, the Union asked its members nationwide to embark on a one week warning strike from Wednesday, 16th November, 2016 to protest the failure of government to implement the 2009 agreement with the union.
The Union is also accusing the government of turning the establishment of universities into constituency projects to score political point, saying the Union is opposed to such establishment.
Addressing a news conference at the end of its emergency National Executive Council meeting in Abuja, National President of the union, Biodun Ogunyemi said despite several efforts by the union to get the government to respect the tenets of their agreement, the government has failed to do so, causing anxiety among lecturers in the universities.
Area of disagreement between the union and government include: payment of fraction of staff entitlement and the denial of staff entitlement in respect of earned academic allowance amounting to about N128 billion, funding of universities for revitalization and the refusal to register the the Nigerian Universities Pension Management Company by the National Compensation Commission.
Others include the introduction of the TSA, decrease in budgetary allocation to education and the refusal by government to renegotiate the 2009 agreement which was due for renegotiation since 2012.
ok thank u fr keeping us update well, but is the srike still goin on or is it call off
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