ASUU STRIKE: ERC welcomes NUT, NUPENG and NUEE’s decision to call solidarity strike
welcomes the decision of three trade unions – the Nigerian
Union of Teachers (NUT), the National Union of Petroleum
and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the National
Union of Electricity Employees (NUEE) – to embark on
solidarity strike actions to compel the Federal Government
to honour agreements signed with the Academic Staff Union
of Universities (ASUU).
The National Coordinator of the ERC, Mr. Hassan Soweto
said this in a statement to newsmen recently. Soweto urged
the three unions to take this beyond the realm of threats
and immediately name a day on which the solidarity strike
would take place. He said that the unions should begin
"active mobilisation of their rank and file members as well
as students who are frustrated at home and concerned
Nigerians to come out en-masse for mass protests and
demonstrations on this day."
Adding, the ERC Boss said: "We commend the three unions
for taking this decision which we believe is in the best
interest of the education sector and the Nation at large. We
agree that the ASUU strike has gone on for far too long and
the plethora of strikes in the education sector are just too
many.
Slowly the entire public education sector is grinding
to a halt. For instance, the public polytechnics are equally
closed and it will not be too long before the Colleges of
Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) follow suit. The
Colleges of Education lecturers had recently held a 7-day
warning strike. Indeed, the Academic Staff of Union of
Polytechnics (ASUP) had to resume the strike, they had
suspended in July after three months, due to the insensitivity
and insincerity of government to their demands and terms of
the suspension of the last strike."
Soweto argued that such a solidarity strike would be in the
best interest of the education sector and the country at
large. He said:
"The three unions come from key sectors of
the Nation's economy. As such their decision to embark on
solidarity strike if given full and practical effect could help
pile pressure on the recalcitrant anti-poor Federal
Government to meet demands of striking education unions
so that public Universities and Polytechnics can be reopened
for academic activities to resume. This would also serve as
an example for other unions and the entire labour
movement to follow.
We want to stress that the solidarity
actions which the NUT, NUPENG and NUEE have envisioned
should also cover and back the strikes of ASUP, COEASU
and all other unions in the education sector that have any
on-going dispute with the government over pay, conditions
and education funding. This is the best way to ensure that
all the outstanding disputes in the education sector are
resolved and all public Universities, Polytechnics and
Colleges of Educations are opened for full and undisrupted
academic activities.
" Soweto added that the ERC understands
the position of Nigerians who believe that the entire sector
will crumble if such a union as the NUT goes on strike.
In
response to this, he said: The point that must be made is
that with or without strikes, the entire education sector
including secondary and primary education has already
been destroyed and shutdown in terms of standard and
quality that it is simply a pipe dream to imagine any serious
learning is going on at any point in time in any of our public
schools."
We are yet to distribute the N100 billion —VCs
After Seven full weeks of the widely reported
announcement of the distribution of N100 billion to 59
public universities, as part of Federal Government's
commitment to fund the implementation of identified needs
of the nation's public universities, there are indications that
red-tapism or perhaps, insincerity of purpose has hindered
the funds from getting to universities.
Grapevines from universities authorities, comprising of Vice
Chancellors reveal that the monies have been gotten
through the usual official policy statements and memo, but
not in cash or cheque.
For the avoidance of doubt, this said money was 'gallantly'
shopped by the Governor Gabriel Suswam-led Presidential
Implementation Committee on Needs Assessment of
Nigerian Universities within 16 days of its inauguration (July
26- August 1, 2013).
If this whooping N100 billion was shopped from acclaimed
sources like the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian
National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Nigerian
Communications Commission (NCC) and other government
agencies, within 16 days of round-the-clock work; if the
sharing formular which will be presented below was arrived
at within 16 days of heated debates and counter debates,
should there be any, then the expedient question is why the
delay in implementation, that is disbursement to the nation's
decrepit universities after the 'nice' sharing formular, which
has been made available to Vanguard Learning.
In the words of one of the revered sources contacted, Prof.
Ukachukwu Awuzie, Ag. VC, Imo State University (IMSU),
Owerri, who was the immediate-past National President of
the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU): "FG has
only sent us a memo through the Ministry of Education that
IMSU is getting N650 million from the funds. Until we get
the alert into the university's account, we will know how
sincere, government is…"
Similarly, Prof. John Obafunwa, Vice Chancellor, Lagos State
University (LASU), Ojo disclosed that the N1.200 billion
earmarked for the university has not been paid as cheque
or cash into the university's account.
After about one month, what is preventing universities
official accounts from getting the e-credit alerts.
According to the allocation, which grapevines say was based
on "students' population and the depth of infrastructural
decadence glaring individual universities in the face," of the
40 National Universities Commission (NUC) officially
recognized Federal Universities, 27 will get varying amounts
from the fund, leaving out 13. For State universities, of the
39 officially recognized, 34 will get varying amounts,
leaving out 5.
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