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Iyayi’s Burial: ASUU Bars Government Officials from participating.

Posted by Unknown Senin, 25 November 2013 0 komentar

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has barred government officials from participating in the burial programmes of its former president, Festus Iyayi.
The union is also demanding that an autopsy be performed on the corpse of Iyayi, to determine the actual cause of death.
The autopsy demand followed controversy over the actual cause of the death of the late ASUU activist.
A statement issued by the UNIBEN ASUU chapter, stated: "Professor Festus Iyayi did not just die in an accident but that he was willfully murdered by the state and its agents."
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The union added that at the appropriate time, ASUU and Prof. Iyayi's family would demand concrete answers from the state for his murder.
The statement which was signed by the union's chairman and secretary, Dr. Anthony Monye-Emina and Okeri Henry, respectively, said it was aware that there were deliberate steps being taken by the state and its agents to distort the facts of the 'accident' as it happened.

"This started with the reckless and irresponsible press statement that was issued by the Kogi State Government to try to explain away the killing of Professor Iyayi, and there are further attempts to conceal and distort available evidence. We shall of course meet them with the facts," the statement said.
The union while barring government officials from Iyayi's burial arrangements, said it and Iyayi's family were capable of giving the late professor a befitting burial he deserves.
The union also assured that Governor Idris Wada and those responsible for the accident that claimed the life of Iyayi would be made to face trial.

Commenting on ASUU's statement, a spokesman for the Iyayi family, Prof. Robert Ebewele, explained that the issue of autopsy was ASUU's affair and that the family would go on with burial plans for Iyayi earlier slated for the first week of December.

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Latest On ASUU Strike: Lecturers Need Four Month Pay

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The authority of the Academic staff Union of University, ASUU, has said that the 4month previous affect could only be called off if the federal government gives them their four month salary arrears considering that the inception of the affect in addition to the total implementation of the N1.2trillion federal govt planned funding for Public universities with the quick release of N100billion this year. The residual N1.1trillion would be spread for 5 years.
They made that solution after their Friday Nov 23rd National Government Council meeting presented in Kano state. A meeting between them and President Jonathan is been called by the association before they can call off the strike.

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ASUU' conditions to End National Strike. (Read)

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The Academic Staff Union of Universities has said it will not suspend its ongoing strike until the four months salaries owed its members are paid.

The union also wants the immediate implementation of the N1.2tn offer by the Federal Government to public universities, starting with the release of N100bn this year. The balance of N1.1tn is to be spread over five years from 2014.

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These were some of the resolutions reached by members of the National Executive Council of the union who converged on Kano on Friday to deliberate on whether to call off the over four- month-old industrial action or not.

A source, who was privy to the resolutions reached during the President Goodluck Jonathan – ASUU leadership meeting three weeks ago, told Our source on Sunday, that the fresh demands were some of the issues to be tabled before Jonathan by the leadership during their next meeting. A date for the meeting is yet to be fixed.

According to the source, a strong commitment to two demands, among other pending issues, must be obtained from the President before the industrial action will be called off by the union.

He said, “The issue now is on trust and we do not want a situation where promises will not be kept. The authorities have failed us in the past and we do not want a repeat of that.

”That was why we decided at the NEC meeting that the government should pay us the arrears of salaries being owed us since we started the strike on July1 before the strike can be called off. The salaries should not be paid piecemeal.

“We also insist that the Federal Government should start the implementation of the offer made to us when we met the President some weeks ago.

“For instance, the N100bn he (Jonathan) agreed to inject into the university system in 2013 should be released to the universities immediately. So, we decided that before the strike could be called off, these two conditions and others must be met not by promises but by real action.”

The NEC members, who met behind closed doors at the Bayero University, Kano, were said to have reviewed the reports of the various university congresses on the strike.

Punch source, added that the death of a former National President of ASUU, Prof. Festus Iyayi, was discussed at the NEC meeting.

Iyayi, a University of Benin lecturer, died in an auto accident involving the convoy of the Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada and an ASUU vehicle, on his way to Kano for the meeting.The union’s National Welfare Officer, Dr. Ngozi Ilo, was injured. Punch source said the accident “almost led to the discontinuation of the ongoing negotiation with the Federal Government.

He added, “Some members expressed the belief that he (Iyayi) was killed by the government and therefore argued that the ongoing negotiation should be called off. Tempers rose but some members argued that the President should be respected because he had created the record of being the first Nigerian leader to meet with the leadership of ASUU on the issue of making the nation’s university system better. They also argued that students and parents should be considered.”

It was also learnt that after arguments for and against, about 60 per cent of the members of the NEC voted in favour of the discontinuation of the strike while the remaining 40 per cent voted no.

But it was gathered that the NEC members unanimously agreed that before the strike could be called off, the leadership should ask the government to pay the four-month salary arrears being owed university teachers while the offer made by the government should be implemented immediately.

A key component of the agreement reached by both ASUU and the Federal Government when the President led the government team was that government would inject N1.2tn into public universities.

The government also agreed that the N1.2tn would be domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria to show its commitment to the agreement.

The money is expected to be released on quarterly basis to the universities so that there won’t be any problem about implementing the deal.

The National Universities Commission and the Trade Union Congress will be the joint guarantors of the agreement while the Minister of Education will be the implementing officer. The government also agreed to revamp public universities by ensuring that all the issues that always lead to strike were dealt with once and for all.

A majority of the chapters of the union had agreed to the suspension of the strike following the fresh commitment the leadership of ASUU obtained from the government.

ASUU National President, Dr. Nassir Fagge, did not pick the several calls made to his telephone line by one of our correspondents on Sunday to confirm the fresh demands.

The University of Lagos chapter ASUU Chairman, Dr. Karo Ogbinaka, and his counterpart in the Lagos State University, Dr. Adekunle Idris, also refused to divulge information on the outcome of the NEC meeting.

ASUU had embarked on the strike to protest against the failure of the government to implement the agreement they signed in 2009.

The pact largely centered on better funding of the universities, a declaration of a state of emergency in tertiary education, better wages and payment of earned allowances to lecturers.

It had suspended the NEC meeting penultimate week following Iyayi’s death.

Culled from Punch

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Again, ASUU leaders meet, set to suspend strike

Posted by Unknown Sabtu, 23 November 2013 0 komentar

There is strong indication that academic activities may resume in the nation's public universities early in a few days, our source has gathered. Members of the National Executive Council of the Academic Staff Union of the Universities again converged on Kano to deliberate on whether to call off their over four months old industrial action or not.

The NEC members, who gathered at the Bayero University, Kano, penultimate week to examine the reports of the various university congresses over the strike, suspended the meeting after death of Dr. Festus Iyayi. Iyayi, a University of Benin lecturer and former ASUU president, who died in an automobile accident relating to the convoy of the Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada, on his solution to Kano to go to the NEC meeting.

There's been no date yet for the interment of his remains.

However, feelers from Kano on Friday indicated that the ASUU members went into hiding for the meeting.

One of our correspondents gathered that the NEC members, who reconvened in BUK, on Thursday, retired to a secret position for the meeting.

Reporters made frantic efforts to trace the venue of the meeting without success.But many vehicles owned by the members of the union were seen on campus.

But a member of ASUU NEC, who craved anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on the development, confirmed to the correspondent that the union leaders were converging on Kano for the meeting.

According to him, though the union has lost a respected member and an academic, they were mindful of the feelings of the students and people over the protracted industrial action.

He noted that the union's national officers along with other branch chairmen had arrived at the ancient city for the assembly.

However, attempts by our correspondent on Friday evening to reach out to the University of Lagos chapter ASUU Chairman, Dr. Karo Ogbinaka, to ensure the meeting failed, as he didn't pick his calls. He also didn't react to the text message delivered to his telephone.

Ogbinaka had earlier said the academic community was mourning Iyayi and so was not on the go to fix a new date for the NEC meeting. Calling distinct the union's National President, Dr.Nassir Fagge, also didn't go through.

President Goodluck Jonathan had led a Federal Government team that met with the leadership of the union penultimate week. After the discussion, the FG reportedly promised to inject N220bn yearly into people universities for another five years. The brand new offer is to begin from 2014.

A majority of the chapters of the union had agreed on the suspension of the strike following the new commitment the leadership of ASUU obtained from the FG.Teachers in the nation's three but 78 public universities embarked on strike on July 1, 2013 to protest the failure of the FG to implement the agreement they signed with the authorities in 2009.

The pact largely centered on greater funding of the universities, a declaration of a state of emergency in tertiary education, better wages along with payment of earned allowances to lecturers.

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"ASUU NEC Meeting Not Postponed Indefinitely"

Posted by Unknown Kamis, 21 November 2013 0 komentar

The Chairman of Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Dr Lawan Abubakar has described the media reports that the union had postponed its National Executive Committee meeting indefinitely as false and speculative.
This is even while he dismissed the claim that the union had accepted the N1.3 trillion made available from the Federal Government, saying "what the union is agitating for is the total implementation of the 2009 agreement and nothing less."
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Abubakar said in a interview with Vanguard, yesterday, in Bauchi that the National Executive Committee of the union only adjourned its meeting for 7 days allow it mourn Prof Festus Iyayi who died in a car crash concerning the entourage of the Kogi State Governor, Capt. Idris Wada, adding that the members were awaiting further directives from its national leadership on a new date for the NEC meeting.

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ASUU STRIKE UPDATE: ASUU’s NEC Meeting Still Indefinite

Posted by Unknown Senin, 18 November 2013 0 komentar

The ASUU leader of University of Ibadan, Dr. Olusegun Ajiboye has denied reports claiming the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU was to hold it's National Executives Committee meeting yesterday as False.

According to him he claimed that there was no plan for such meeting. Dr. Olusegun Ajiboye claimed that the report which made rounds on Saturday, that the National Executive Council, NEC, would hold an emergency meeting in Kano, were false.

Ajiboye while speaking in an interview on Diamond FM, University of Ibadan stated that no meeting was scheduled for yesterday, as they were still in the middle of a seven-day morning, which was declared in honour of the late Professor Festus Iyayi, a former national chairman of the Union. It would be recalled that Iyayi lost his life in a fatal crash, on his way to Bayero University, Kano, where members of ASUU were to meet and reach a final decision, on whether to continue with the strike or accept the federal government's offer.

It is hoped that after the 7days mourning of Iyayi, the union will meet to decide the way forward on the lingering strike that has paralyzed the academic activities of public universities in the country.

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ASUU Strike: Full list of Varsities That Voted To End/Continue Strike

Posted by Unknown Rabu, 13 November 2013 0 komentar

Some Nigerian universities have on Monday voted to end the over 4-month old strike.

Find full voting results after the break.

Voted to continue strike

University of Jos (Note: The chairman of this branch, Dr. David Jangdam, said that despite the
vote the union will resume classes if directed by the national body)

University of Benin

Lagos State University

Voted to end strike:

Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria

Bayero University Kano

Delta State University

Ekiti State University

Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta

Federal University of Technology, Owerri

Federal University of Technology, Akure

Federal University of Technology, MINNA

Imo State University

Obafemi Awolowo University

Olabisi Onabanjo University

University of Calabar

University of Lagos

University of Nigeria, Nsukka

University of Ibadan

University of Abuja

University of Port-Harcourt

Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto

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ASUU leaders chase Kogi gov away from hospital.

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Angry leaders of the Academic Staff Union of Universities allegedly chased away the Governor of Kogi State, Captain Idris Wada (retd.) from the emergency ward of the Lokoja General Hospital on Tuesday.

Wada had gone to the hospital to visit their injured colleague, Dr. Ngozi Ilo, and commiserate with them over the death of their former President, Prof. Festus Iyayi, in an accident involving his convoy and an ASUU vehicle on Tuesday.

Continue after the break.

The Chairman, University of Benin chapter of ASUU, Dr. Anthony Monye-Emina; and the Benin Zonal Coordinator, Dr. Sunny Iyalo, had minor injuries and were therefore not admitted into the hospital.The ASUU leaders, including the National President, Dr. Biodun Ogunyemi; the Ibadan Zonal Coordinator, Dr. Nassir Adesola; the Chairman, Lagos State University chapter of the union, Dr. Adekunle Idris; Monye-Emina; Iyalo and lecturers from the Federal University Lokoja however sent the governor away from the hospital’s emergency ward.

Their grouse was Wada’s late response to the accident and the uncaring attitude he allegedly displayed towards the union leaders involved in the accident. They also accused him of trying to make a political gain out of their misfortune. Idris, who confirmed that Wada was chased out of the emergency ward, said, “We are surprised that a state governor could resort to telling lies because contrary to the claim by his spokesperson that he showed care towards our colleagues, he did not.

“Somebody that did not stop after his convoy killed our leader; somebody that did not come to the hospital until some minutes to 5pm(on Tuesday) after the accident that happened around 11am could not be said to be caring.

“That was why we chased him out of the emergency ward of the hospital and we also prevented him from seeing Prof. Iyayi’s corpse in the mortuary.

“We are not happy with the fact that he came very late to the hospital and the fact that when he came, his press crew attempted to take photograph and video record of Dr. Ilo, who is our national welfare secretary. We stopped them because that was the height of insensitivity.

“Somebody that could not provide us with an ambulance cannot be said to be caring. We had to call UNIBEN for an ambulance that took Ilo to the UNIBEN Teaching Hospital while our colleagues from the Federal University, Lokoja, with the assistance of the vice-chancellor, gave us the ambulance that was used to convey the remains of Prof. Iyayi to Benin.”

Idris added that though Wada left the hospital “like a gentleman,” some of his overzealous security aides tried to be naughty.

He said,

“Some of the policemen that followed him to the hospital wanted to be naughty but we lectured them. The hospital workers and the residents of Lokoja who witnessed how we chased the governor away were happy.”

Also, Adesola expressed dismay at the efforts made by the governor to rewrite the incident.

He said, “It was actually the last of the governor’s convoy that veered off the road and ran into a vehicle that was conveying Iyayi and others.

“When the governor’s convoy came with noise and harassment, everyone on the road moved to the side of the road for them to pass but unfortunately, the governor’s aide has told the world that an ASUU vehicle was avoiding a trailer and ran into their escort vehicle.

“What manner of reckless lying is that? The front of the ASUU bus remains intact except for the windscreen that broke. Iyayi was sitting at the back of the bus and the escort van ran into it.

The most annoying part is that the incident occurred around 11am and the governor did not even visit the hospital until around 5pm.

“He came with a large number of pressmen and security aides and was attempting to make some political capital out of our misfortune.

“We actually had to chase him away from the emergency ward where our welfare secretary was still receiving treatment .”

But Jacob Edi, the Special Adviser, Media and Strategy to Wada, claimed that the ASUU leaders did not chase his boss away from the hospital. Edi, who in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents, insisted that Wada was not indifferent to the plight of the accident victims, however, stated that the union officials were not friendly.

He said,

“When the governor went to the hospital, the ASUU people had a kind of adverse reaction to the governor. But they did not chase away the governor. Nobody chased away anybody.”

The governor’s spokesman added that the state government would not want to be involved in controversy over the death of the former ASUU president. He stated that Wada was pained by the accident and had been sympathising with the bereaved families and the survivors.

It was however not only the ASUU leaders that lambasted the governor over the accident, the Nigeria Labour Congress, a former President of the Trade Union Congress, Mr. Peter Esele and an ex-Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Mr. Abubakar Tsav, also did.

They described Wada’s convoy as reckless and demanded the prosecution of the driver of the escort vehicle that caused the accident on the Lokoja-Abuja Road. The NLC, in a statement in Abuja by its National President, Mr. Abdulwahed Omar, described the death of Iyayi as avoidable. It also blamed the Federal Government for its neglect of the road. The NLC said its position was that the federal and Kogi State governments were responsible for Iyayi’s death.

It said that 10 years after the contract for the rehabilation of the Lokoja-Abuja Road was awarded, it had been turned to a death trap. The NLC said, “Iyayi’s death leaves a sour taste in the mouth and it is totally avoidable. It is blameable, lawlessness/impunity on the part of the Kogi State governor, who is fast acquiring for himself an accident-prone reputation. The congress therefore advised “siren-blowing and terror-dealing convoys” to be conscious of other road users. It called on the Federal Roads Safety Corps and the Nigeria Police to ensure that those behind the accident were brought to justice.

Esele and Tsav urged the relevant authorities to ensure that the convoy driver involved in the accident was prosecuted. They spoke in different telephone interviews with our correspondents.

According to them, Wada has a responsibility to caution his drivers as his convoy has become reputed for recklessness.

Esele recalled that the convoy of the governor was involved in an accident which resulted in the death of Wada’s Aide de Camp and in which Wada was also injured. Tsav, who described the death of the former ASUU leader as unfortunate, called on President Goodluck Jonathan to meet the demands of ASUU. This, he said, would be in appreciation of the fact that Iyayi died while contributing to the development of university education in the country.

Tsav said that accidents occurred in Kogi State not because the roads in Kogi were the worst but because the drivers in the governor’s convoy were not cautious. He said that the roads were not meant only for the political office holders but for all Nigerians. He said,

“The convoy of Wada is known for being reckless; this is not the first time this is happening. It does not mean that the worst roads are in Kogi State.

“I want to appeal to him to caution his drivers, they are reckless, he should caution them to be cautious on the roads, the roads belong to every Nigerian.”

Punch

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ASUU CONGRESS: UNIJOS lecturers voted for continuation of strike

Posted by Unknown Selasa, 12 November 2013 0 komentar

Lecturers at the University of Jos have voted for continuation of the on-going strike by the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) in the country. Chairman of the chapter, Dr. David Jankam who made this known on Monday while speaking with THE NATION shortly after the congress of the chapter said members did not see any substance in the dialogue with the federal government to warrant calling off the strike.

According to Dr Jankam, “We have just rounded off our meeting, as a matter of fact our members voted overwhelmingly for the continuation of the state strike.

“I can also confirm to you that five of the eight universities that made up the Bauchi Zone of ASUU has also voted for continuation of the strike, and the general saying is that the federal government has not shown any commitment so far.

“We started the meeting by briefing our members on issues resolved with the federal government in their last meeting with the president of ASUU.

“But in responding to the briefing, our members observed that the main issues that led to the strike were not discussed as part of the meeting in Aso Rock.

“As such my members said president Jonathan is taking them for a ride by trying to divert attention from the core subjects of the strike”

According to Dr. Jankam, “I will now convey the resolve of our branch to our national president in our NEC meeting scheduled for this week. If the majority of the chapter voted for call off, it will ne called off, but if majority of chapters voted for continuation, so be it” said Dr. Jankam.

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ASUU Strike Called Off! Students To Resume On Nov. 18

Posted by Unknown 0 komentar

A source close to top guns in the Academic Staff Union Of Universities (ASUU) has revealed that lecturers will ditch their four month old strike this weekend so students could resume on November 18 (next Monday).

The source said there was noway the union could reject the new offer of N220bn a year tabled by President Goodluck Jonathan during a marathon meeting with ASUU last week Tuesday.ASUU had come out of that meeting to tell Nigerians it needed time to deliberate on the new deal and reach a consensus among it members before talking to the press.

A top official of the union, has however said the government could not be trusted even on the new offer, and that ASUU’s members were divided over the government’s offer. He, however raised a beam of hope by saying the majority still decided to give the government the benefit of the doubt.

As ASUU executives meet this Wednesday, if the fate of the strike is down to a vote among the striking lecturers, as suggested by ASUU chairman, Nasir Fagge, the four month old impasse may surely end this week.ASUU went on strike July 1 over the non-implementation of a 2009 agreement it had with the government with a key component of the memorandum of understanding the allocation of 26% of Nigeria’s total budget to education.

Although the government is planning to allocate just 9% of the 2014 budget to education, ASUU now seems set to end the strike after government offers that would surely boost lecturers’ take home pay and improve varsity infrastructure.

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ASUU Strike Update: ASUU Wants Watertight Deal From FG

Posted by Unknown Sabtu, 09 November 2013 0 komentar

Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities have given the Federal Government certain conditions to be met before the union could call off its four-month old strike.
Part of this condition, Saturday PUNCH learnt, is that all federal parastatals in charge of fund, labour, and education must sign the agreement purportedly reached between its leadership and the Federal Government on Tuesday.

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A prominent member of the union, who craved anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on behalf of the union, told Saturday PUNCH that doing this would give the association the confidence that “the Federal Government knows what it is doing when it signed the agreement.”
He said, “I must tell you that our mandate remains. The only mandate we have is that 2009 agreement must be met. We have not reached any agreement with the Federal Government.

“Since the Federal Government wants to be releasing N220bn every year for five years, then all monetary and regulatory agencies must sign. The Central Bank of Nigeria, Ministries of Finance and Labour, National Assembly, Office of the Presidency, National Universities Commission, Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Trade Union Congress and our umbrella body, the Nigeria Labour Congress, must sign with consequences stated.

“The reason we will ensure this is that we don’t want argument tomorrow that the agreement was entered in error or that they don’t know the implication of signing the agreement. If possible, documents that will provide for automatic deduction of the agreed money at a particular/agreed date must be provided.”

The leadership of the union had engaged in a 13-hour marathon meeting with government delegation led by President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja between Monday and Tuesday.
Though it was generally perceived that both ASUU and the Federal Government achieved breakthrough in negotiation for the first time after the lengthy meeting with the President, Saturday PUNCH learnt that the lecturers might not be in a hurry to go back to class.
Another source close to ASUU who was also part of the marathon meeting with the President in Abuja, said there was nothing new in what the President promised members of the union.

According to him, government had always failed in implementing agreements reached with ASUU. He said, “Truly the President sat down for more than 13 hours with us. He told us that we were not leaving the venue until the issues were resolved. The Federal Government also promised to inject funds into the system, but a promissory note is not enough.

“Where would the money come from? There is no assurance that government will provide money especially with the mop-up policy in place that ensures that unspent money is refunded to government’s coffers at the end of every year.’’

Asked when the lecturers would call off the strike, he said, “I doubt if the strike is ending soon. The problem is with the Finance Minister. Where is government getting N1trn from? A government that could not implement agreement between 2009 and 2013, what is the guarantee that they would honour this agreement.

“It is all politics. We are still awaiting directives from our branches. We have told them the outcome of the meeting with the President but we are waiting for them to tell us what they think of government’s proposal.

“Imagine the Minister of Education has travelled out of the country. He was appointed Vice President for UNESCO General Assembly. How can he travel out of the country without resolving the crisis in the education sector?’’

He said the Federal Government should spend the trillions of dollars in its Sovereign Wealth Fund to finance university education and improve infrastructure in the country.
A key component of the agreement reached by both ASUU and the Federal Government was that government would inject N1.1trn into public universities in the next five years. Government is expected to inject N220bn yearly into the public university sector beginning from 2014. But government said it could only release N100bn this year, noting that the amount had already been processed.

The Federal Government also indicated that the N1.1trn would be domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria to show its commitment to the agreement. The money is expected to be released on quarterly basis to the universities so that there won’t be any problem about funding the deal.
The National Universities Commission and the Trade Union Congress will be the joint guarantors of the agreement while the Minister of Education will be the implementing officer. Government, according to sources at the meeting, also agreed to revamp public universities by ensuring that all the issues that always lead to strike are dealt with once and for all.
Asked to confirm if lecturers were planning to call off their strike, ASUU Chairman, University of Calabar branch, Dr. James Okpiliya, said the local chapter was yet to get formal briefing on the meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan. He, however, said the union would make its position known to the press on the President’s offer after the end of a meeting scheduled for mid-night Thursday.
Also, Chairman of ASUU in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Prof. Adegbola Akinola, said that members must be properly briefed on the resolution between the Federal Government and representatives of ASUU in the last marathon meeting.
He said the only condition that could make its members accept any offer would be the provision of necessary documents.
He said,

“The NEC meeting may not hold now. It is the local congress that is expected to hold first which is either tomorrow or Monday.

“Our members are not yet briefed about the details, so it is when we meet that we will know the details and then discuss whether what we got is sufficient enough to justify our action or demand.

“I can’t really pre-empt the mind of other members. But if we are to accept any offer, there must be document to back that up. We need to obtain documents on that. Maybe if there is a document, people may look at it critically.”

However, the Federal Government said it would include the N1.1trn promised ASUU in the education budget starting from next year. It also said it was waiting for the union to know the next step to take.
The Director, Press and Public Relations of the Ministry of Education, Mr. Olu Lipide, told one of our correspondents on Thursday that government was waiting for ASUU to take the necessary steps.
Meanwhile, the Dean of Social Sciences, University of Lagos, Prof. Omololu Soyombo, has said that the general ASUU body must agree before the strike could be called off.
He said, “It is difficult to believe the President but we give him the benefit of doubt. We believe that the President is noble, the ASUU president promised to give him a feedback. If this had been done earlier, the strike wouldn’t have extended for so long.”
Corroborating his view, the Chairman, Lagos State University, ASUU, Dr. Jamiu Oluwatoki said, “It won’t be long again. By next week there should be a NEC meeting and subsequently the congress meetings before the president can call off the strike.”

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ASUU Strike: Rejecting ₦ 220 Billion Over Five Years to End Strike Will Have Grave Consequences.

Posted by Unknown Kamis, 07 November 2013 0 komentar

After getting an annual payment offer of N220 billion for the next five years, from the federal government, following a marathon meeting that ended Tuesday, indications have emerged that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may lose the sympathy of several and might make the government wield the big stick if it rejects the recent offer by the government, with the full blown implementation of the ‘no work, no pay'policy likely to break the ranks of the union and cause disaffection on the list of members who'd have the pinch of the salaries being withheld.

FG To ASUU: FG to give varsities N1.1tn in five years.

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FG To ASUU: FG to give varsities N1.1tn in five years.

Posted by Unknown Selasa, 05 November 2013 0 komentar

Details of the Monday/ Tuesday marathon meeting between President Goodluck Jonathan and the leadership of Academic Staff Union of Universities have begun to emerge.

The PUNCH gathered on Tuesday evening that a key component of the agreement reached by the parties was that the Federal Government would inject N1.1tn into public universities in the next five years.

A reliable source, who made this known, also hinted that the strike would be called off anytime next week.

He said the government team which was led by President Goodluck Jonathan would release N220bn yearly into the sector beginning from 2014.

Continue....

The source added, “The meeting should be the longest that we have ever had on this crisis but I can tell you that both parties were frank all through the discussions.

“The parties also showed commitment towards ending the crisis. The President in particular showed that he was serious about ending the strike and that was why he offered to release over N1tn to the universities in the next five years.

“The money will be released on a yearly basis at N220bn per annum beginning from 2014. For the outgoing year, the government will only release N100bn and this has been processed.”

He said that the government, in order to show its commitment to a fresh pact, accepted that “the fund(N1.1tn) should domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria”

“The money will be released on a quarterly basis to the universities. So, there won’t be any problem about funding the deal,” the source said.

The National Universities Commission and the Trade Union Congress, according to him, will be the joint guarantors of the agreement while the Minister of Education will be the implementation officer.

The source also said that the government agreed among other things, to revamp the public universities by ensuring that all those issues that always led to strike were dealt with once and for all. It was learnt that the negotiating team of ASUU led by Dr. Nassir Faggae met on Tuesday night to further deliberate on the deal.

Though the details of the meeting were not known as of 11.22pm on Tuesday, it was gathered that ASUU might call a National Executive Council meeting on or before Saturday where the deal would be tabled before all its branch executives.

Jonathan had while shaking hands with Fagge after the marathon meeting in the Presidential Villa, Abuja said, “My President, I hope it (strike) will end today(Tuesday). Our children have suffered enough. We must find a solution.” All those in attendance responded with a loud “Amen.”

When greeting Omar, he said,

“My President with you around, there will be no problem; our agreement is signed, sealed and delivered.”.

Faggae told State House correspondent on his way out of the Villa, that his team would take back a message to varsity teachers before a decision would be taken on the next line of action.

“We had a lengthy meeting with Mr. President, and we looked into how best to address the problem of university education in this country. We now have a message from Mr. President that we are going to take to our members and we are expecting that our members will respond appropriately to his message,” he said.

Fagge added that since the message was meant for members, he would not divulge it to the press.

When asked whether university teachers would be called upon to return to the classrooms, he said that the decision was left for them to take.

When further asked if he was impressed by the President’s message, Faggae cautioned journalists against putting words in his mouth, insisting that only ASUU members would determine that. The Minister of Labour, Chief Emeka Wogu, who listened to Faggae’s encounter with journalists, later said progress was made during the discussion.

He said, “We made progress. The President of ASUU told you that they are going back with a message from the Federal Government back to their members and the message is full of high expectation and hope.”

When asked whether ASUU would call off the strike, Wogu said that was why he described the message as full of expectation.

“Our prayer is that they will come back with positive outcome. They might even not come back to meet us. They might take decision there that will meet your expectations “ he said.

He added that the offers made by the government during the meeting were those that were in line with the contentious 2009 agreement. He said since the issues that led to the strike bordered on the 2009 agreement, the government did not go beyond the pact.

The President was joined at the meeting that started at 2.40pm on Monday by Vice-President Namadi Sambo; Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Anyim Pius Anyim; the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike; Wogu among others.

Faggae led the union team which included past presidents such as Prof. Abdulahi Sule-Kano, Prof. Dipo Fashina and Prof. Festus Iyayi.

President of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Abdulawahid Omar and his Trade Union Congress counterpart, Bobboi Kaigama, also attended. Other members of the delegation were Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, Prof. Victor Osodeke, Prof. Suleiman Abdul, Dr. Victor Igbum and Mr. Michael Odunmoraye.

The marathon meeting was the first between ASUU and Jonathan since the strike started. The Presidency took over the negotiations with ASUU on September 19 with Sambo in charge.

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ASUU Puts the blame on IBB for decay in education sector

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ASUU STRIKE UPDATE: Nigeria Universities may Re-Open Next Week With Or Without ASUU

Posted by Unknown Jumat, 01 November 2013 0 komentar

In a last ditch effort to solve the ASUU strike, President GEJ will on Monday, November 4, meet with the leadership of ASUU at the Presidential Villa. This is part of the resolutions of the meeting involving the ASUU leadership, Vice President Namadi Sambo and the Supervising Minister of Education on Tuesday as was first reported by this medium.

Continue after the break.

The state of the Vice President's office who pleaded anonymity said that most hands are now actually on deck to ensure the universities resume next week.

The state stated that the Vice President and the Supervising Minister of Education have made head-way in resolving the strike, but the ultimate involvement of the President is to show ASUU that there surely is the commitment of the Federal Government at the best level.

It was learnt that the President has been fully briefed on steps taken by Vice President Namadi Sambo and the Supervising Minister of Education to obtain up to now and he'll at next Monday's meeting give the ASUU leadership the administration's last concession to allow them to call off the prolonged strike.
A source at the Presidential Villa noted when ASUU doesn't call off, the Federal Government will likely then resort to plan B, which is to compulsorily open the universities, utilizing the instrumentality of the governing councils and the institution managements.

Already, a lot of the governing councils of the universities have started meeting to work through modalities for the compulsory re-opening of the universities should ASUU neglect to honour the non-public request of President Jonathan.

In accordance with report, the Supervising Minister of Education, Barr. Nyesom Wike and the Vice Chancellors of Public Universities also discussed the re-opening of the schools last Monday. A lot of the Vice Chancellors suggested the compulsory re-opening of the schools, should the final ditch efforts fail.
It was gathered that security report open to the Presidency could have necessitated this distinct action to salvage the universities system from the direction it is facing at present.

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Lagos Passengers Stranded As BRT Employees Join ASUU Strike

Posted by Unknown Sabtu, 26 Oktober 2013 0 komentar

Commuters in Lagos, western Nigeria, were stranded, Saturday morning, when workers with the Bus Rapid Transit, BRT scheme refused to act as they protested their unpaid salaries. The commuters, who expected to board the bus after the monthly sanitation, were left to bemuse their fate once the boarding points at Ketu and Ojota bus stops were empty. It was revealed that the ticketers and drivers refused to act as their salary for last month hadn't been paid-a situation which they're not used to.

Continue after the break.

The ticketers and bus drivers met using their bosses at their Ketu office and efforts made by our correspondent to obtain the management to talk, proved futile because the correspondent was bundled out of the park and his recording device seized. However, two of the drivers who later spoke on the problem of anonymity, accused a senior staff of cutting their earnings.

According to the drivers who claimed to be a senior staff,” ever since this man came aboard, things have changed drastically. He has kept making promises which he hasn't kept for once. Our salary was always paid on the twenty-fifth of the month but now, we are yet to obtain our salaries.

“We used to obtain eight tins of milk monthly before he came but presently, we don't get any and there isn't any explanation for this.

“The leadership has not also told the truth about our salary because we earn just N45,000 as contrary to the N75,000 that outsiders have been made to believe”

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