Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Nnamdi Azikiwe University (NAU) Branch, Awka, Anambra State, on Tuesday, protested over the non-adoption of the Nimi Briggs Committee Report, poor funding for universities, among other grievances.
Speaking at a press conference in the ASUU secretariat of the University before the protest march, the Chairperson of the branch, Professor Kingsley Ubaoji, noted that the administration of President Ahmed Bola Tinubu is yet to engage fully and address all outstanding issues with ASUU as discussed at the emergency National Executive Council meeting held on Tuesday, June 8, 2024.
He urged the Federal government to adopt the Nimi Briggs Committee report which he said was based on the spirit of the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement.
He noted that the Nigerian Academics’ salaries and allowances should be reviewed to meet the present realities, emphasizing that fourteen years without reviewing their salary was a punishment not deserving for Nigerian Academics, even as he called for funding and revitalization of public universities based on the FGN-ASUU MOU of 2012, 2013, and the MOA of 2017.
The protesting lecturers listed several issues including the need for funding to revitalize public universities as outlined in the FGN-ASUU MoU of 2012, 2013, and the MoA of 2017; the release of 3½ months of withheld salaries; payment of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA); release of unpaid staff salaries on sabbatical and adjunct positions affected by IPPIS; release of third-party deductions; implementation of UTAS instead of IPPIS; implementation of the Reports of the Visitation Panels; addressing the illegal dissolution of Governing Councils in Federal and State Universities; and the unchecked proliferation of public universities.
“If the FGN sets its priorities right, all these could be resolved amicably, without any industrial action. But the truth is that the government appears to have been treating these issues with some fun, which our union finds unacceptable.
“Although the federal government held a meeting with the union last week after more than a year of inaction, we, as a union, want to see necessary actions taken to resolve these lingering issues, which have grave consequences to the Nigerian University System,” he said.
Prof. Ubaoji said the government had made commitments and signed agreements with ASUU, detailing timelines and expectations of both parties aimed at developing the Nigerian Universities as conditions for suspending any strike action.
“As soon as Lecturers resumed, the government and other stakeholders returned to the status quo. ASUU would again start writing letters and reminders to the government, which were most often ignored, resulting in another strike action by ASUU.
“It may interest the general public, especially Nigerian Students, to know that through ASUU struggles, Nigerians have enjoyed the following benefits: Regulated/subsidized tuition fees, The establishment of TETFund and NEEDS Assessment funds that have sponsored critical infrastructural projects in our universities, including lecture classrooms, office blocks, roads, hostels, electricity, etc. Purchase of laboratory equipment, as well as the implementation of a reviewed salary structure for lecturers (last reviewed 2009), Partial payment of Earned Academic Allowance (EAA), Non-victimisation of devoted union members, and other victories, were made possible by ASUU struggles and strike actions.”
The ASUU-NAU Chairperson noted that the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement had been a recurrent decimal in all ASUU industrial actions since 2009 and no government had taken the renegotiation seriously, but during the life of the past administration, negotiation came to a conclusion with the Nimi Briggs Committee.
“A document was produced, but the minions in the corridors of power refused to pass it on to the then President for his consideration and approval. Since then, no tangible outcome has been recorded despite the constructive recommendations of the Committee.
“Our union, therefore, demands that all renegotiations of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement be rounded off based on the Nimi Briggs Committee resolutions. It may interest you to know that the salaries of Academics in Nigeria have not been reviewed since 2009. That is over fourteen years of being on a static salary structure despite the country’s increasing inflation rate. Aside from the raging inflation, we invite you to compare the wages of our counterparts in other African countries and offer your judgment.
“It is on record that most of our bright students are turning down the opportunities to join the teaching profession simply because lecturers in Nigeria are not well-paid. By the time we retire, who will teach our children?” Professor Ubaoji queried.
The protesting lecturers were seen with various placards such as, ‘Blame FG for another long strike’, End poverty-level salaries’, ‘Stop suffocating University lecturers’, ‘Pay us fairly, lecturers dignity matters’, ‘FG, stop deceiving Nigerians’. ‘FG, pay us 3 years plus arrears salaries’, we deserve better pay,’ ‘We teach, we care,’ among others.
