Seven public universities in the South-West and South-South geopolitical zones are considering going on strike due to unresolved disputes with the federal and state governments.
The threat was made by the Benin Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) during a press conference held in Benin City.
The universities involved are the University of Benin, Ambrose Alli University, Adekunle Ajasin University, Olusegun Agagu University of Science and Technology, Delta State University, Federal University of Petroleum Resources, and University of Delta.
The Zonal Coordinator, Professor Monday Igbafen, highlighted the failure of the government to address the union’s demands, leading to deteriorating conditions for academic staff.
Key issues include the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement, funding for university revitalization, and the dissolution of Governing Councils, among others.
He listed several outstanding matters, such as the halted renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement, the funding for the rejuvenation of public universities according to the FGN-ASUU MoU of 2021, 2023, and the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) of 2017.
Additional concerns involve the unlawful dissolution of Governing Councils in both Federal and State universities, the non-payment of salaries in these institutions, and the unpaid salaries of staff on sabbatical due to the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS).
Furthermore, he mentioned the non-release of third-party deductions, the failure to pay Earned Academic Allowances (EAA), the proliferation of public universities, the non-implementation of the reports from Visitation Panels, and the refusal to adopt the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) as a replacement for IPPIS.
Igbafen pointed out that the Federal Government hastily reconstituted controversial governing councils of Federal Universities after 11 months of their illegal dissolution. He also noted that certain state governments have remained unyielding on this matter.
He expressed his belief that the absence of governing councils in universities has resulted in unimaginable deviations, with the introduction of unfavorable policies that contradict the essence of university culture.
As an example, he cited Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Ekpoma, a state university in the Benin Zone of ASUU, where there has been no governing council for 3 years, and a peculiar body has assumed the role of a governing council.
To date, AAU, Ekpoma stands as the only university in this situation.
