This Day (Lagos)
Onwuka Nzeshi
8 July 2009
Abuja — Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) yesterday expressed displeasure at the position of the Federal Government on its ongoing industrial action, over the state of Nigerian universities.
The union said rather than addressing issues that provoked the strike, the Federal Government have continued to blackmail the lecturers by presenting them as beggars and insisting that it had no agreement with ASUU.
ASUU's President, Professor Ukachukwu Awuzie, disclosed this at a meeting between officials of the union and House Committee on Education, adding that contrary to what government wants the public to believe, ASUU does not want strike, but had been forced on a number of occasions to proceed on strike, because of inability of the Federal Government to honour agreements reached with the union.
He said while proceeding on strike, human capital development was topmost on the mind of union officials, but expressed regrets that government has over time given the impression that university lecturers were solely concerned with upward review of their wages.
According to Awuzie, the union has remained committed to getting back the requisite human capital and better funding, to drive the university system through improved research, teaching and learning.
He said ASUU has also been clamouring for autonomy of the university system and improved remuneration, comparable to what obtained in other African countries such as Ghana, South Africa, Botswana, as well as Europe and America.
He said ASUU cannot accept a wage structure that is not a product of collective bargaining, but would continue to insist on a wage that is comparable to the African average, adding that that was the only way Nigerian universities could attract high calibre academics and halt the current exodus of its lecturers abroad.
The Federal Government, had in one report read at the meeting, argued that Nigerian Professors cannot earn salaries equivalent to the African average, because countries that pay fat salaries have less number of universities and less number of lecturers.
This theory, Awuzie said, was disturbing, because it meant that salaries would now be determined by the number of persons in a particular sector, rather than quality of the professionals.
Chairman, House Committee on Education, Honourable Farouk Lawan, acknowledged the long drawn battle by the union and said his Committee would do all in its powers to prevail on the Federal Government to take a second look at the crisis.
Lawan expressed concern on the plight of students in the ongoing strike, as well as the impact on the nation and described government's attitude to the controversial agreement as unacceptable.
"I don't think that anybody has any reason whatsoever, to oppose or delay the need for autonomy in our universities or the increase in funding in certain ways that can be beneficial to the university community.
"We have been holding discussions with our colleagues in the Senate to meet with the President, so that the issues can be resolved once and for all. The prolonged strike leading to the closure of our universities is unacceptable. We are committed to making sure these issues are resolved," Farouk said.
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2009 This Day. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
