After many talks with the Federal Government, ASUU ended an eight-month strike in the latter part of last year.
The Federal Government, according to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has yet to resolve the majority of the concerns that led to the union’s most recent strike.
After many talks with the Federal Government, ASUU ended an eight-month strike in the latter part of last year. The release of university revitalization money, revision of the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement, release of earned allowances for university professors, and implementation of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution are all requests made by the lecturers (UTAS).
Nevertheless, the union said that months after the event, the government had yet to respond to the majority of its requests, including the payment of wage backlogs.
As far as the current administration is concerned, the situation is handled as soon as the strike is ended, even if they are unaware that a strike is a sign of a larger crisis. They no longer care about the issue. No meetings have been scheduled since we ended the strike in response to a court order. “Not a kobo has been paid,” he said on Thursday to Channels Television.
He claims that despite the government’s stance, the union members are struggling to adhere to the academic schedule.
Osodeke continued, “It is very regrettable that they show no regard for the Nigerian educational system.
Gratitude for the Intervention Fund
The newly authorised N320.3 billion 2023 injection for public tertiary institutions was another topic brought up by the ASUU leader. He thanked the administration for releasing the money and requested that it be redistributed such that 90% of it goes to academic institutions.
Osodeke stated, “That (the N320 billion fund) is a positive development; this is part of what we struggled for in 1994; it is our effort, but there are difficulties we need to work out.
There is a balance of N132 billion that has not been accounted for when you check the allocation of about N1.2 billion to universities and other institutions. This is because the sum of all the universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education amounts to just about N186 billion, which was allocated out of about N320. What do we intend to do with the N132 billion, or 41% of the total? What is it for, bureaucracy?
“This is what has been occurring at TETFund, and I believe it is necessary to explore the specifics of what is going on there. While the TETFund was being negotiated by ASUU, the intention was for the money to be transferred to the institutions rather than 41% being retained for some other use.
“I believe that this fund has to be redistributed to make sure that it covers 90% of the amount that has been authorised to go to polytechnics and universities rather than being held for administrative costs or anything else. The ASUU leader remarked, “You must inform the people of what the TETFund is doing with the remaining N132 billion.”
