Tag: NANS

ASUU Strike: NANS threaten to shut down airports in the country

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has threatened to close down all International airports in the country following a seven month strike embarked upon by Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)

The leadership of NANS met in Akure the Ondo state capital over the weekend to discuss way forward and measures to resolve the lingering industrial action embarked upon by ASUU.

The body condemned the Federal Government’s attitude towards resolving the strike action by the Public university lecturers.

The Students noted that the four-day closure of highways and expressways was a success, which is why they decided to stop international travel beginning on September 19, 2022, so that the bourgeois and the government would experience the suffering that students had gone through for the previous seven months.

The NANS National Task Force on “End ASUU Strike Now” Chairman, Ojo Raymond Olumide, revealed that students were already tired of pleading with both parties about the necessity of ending the strike during a press conference.

“The President Muhammadu Buhari-led administration must settle all outstanding arrears and the lecturers’ salaries”, Olumide said, adding that the airports that would be occupied will remain closed until the strike is called off.

“We shall begin another round of protest next week by storming the airspaces on Monday, 19th September 2022 to #OccupyTheAirports. We want to let the world know about the pains and anguish students are going through.

“Nigerian students whose parents create the commonwealth cannot continue to be suffering at home alongside our lecturers while the few who gain from our sweats and blood have their kids abroad jollying and flexing.

“We will, by this statement, not beg again. We shall be mobilizing all students to shut down the country. No Education! No Movement!”

NANS attacked Minister of Works, Babatunde Raji Fashola over his comment on the barricade of expressway by the students.

They passed a vote of no confidence on the Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chris Ngige and his Education counterpart Adamu Adamu.

ASUU has embarked on industrial action since February 14, 2022.

September 17, 2022
Strike: We can’t be forced back to classrooms – ASUU President blows hot

President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof Emmanuel Osodeke has insisted that deploying the instrument of the state to compel the striking lecturers to go back to school will be counterproductive.

Prof. Osodeke, who disclosed this while speaking with pressmen, expressed worries that Nigeria stands to lose if lecturers are forced back to the classroom, stressing that no lecturer was going to teach with their whole heart.

“How many of those lecturers are going to use their minds and wills to teach courses the way they should teach them? Just ask yourself that question. How many? They will go back to school. Who will lose? This country will lose. And you believe that that is the best way to go,” he stated.

He spoke in reaction to the Federal Government’s decision to compel the union to return to the classroom by dragging it to the National Industry Court through the Federal Ministry of Labour. The Federal Government is seeking court’s injunction to order the striking lecturers to call off the strike.

The Federal Government of Nigeria activated the no work, no pay policy on the striking lecturers since March, 2022, a month after the strike commenced in February. ASUU has equated this as a FGN’s mechanism to weaponize hunger as a strategy to suppress the union and force them back to the classroom.

Prof. Osodeke described the FGN’s strategy as a case of “give them hunger treatment, while they are on hunger treatment, force them back to school.”

ASUU President maintained that the union was ready to call off the strike without delays but that the Federal needed to show leadership and commitment.

“We are requesting that we elected these people, we should put pressure on these politicians to come back to the table and resolve these issues. “Jonathan did. Jonathan decided to resolve it in one night. And when we now met with Jonathan, he saw the truth.

“People feed him with lies, but when we met with him, in those 14 hours, for the first time, he saw the truth, that all that they have been telling him were all lies with documentation. And that strike ended. Now they are also doing the same thing”, Prof. Osodeke said.

“I am appealing that we are willing to call off the strike any day, even tomorrow, but we have to have something concrete that we can come back with. Something concrete that will change where we are today, where students are in a lecture hall and sitting on a bare floor. It is still happening up till today.

“Where people are having lectures in an open space. Where students are taking lectures peeping from windows. Where one thousand students are using two microscopes in a laboratory. Where you are using stove as Bunsen burners. Where you see four professors sitting in one room as an office. That is the crisis and if we don’t resolve it, this country will be in a perpetual problem” the statement read.

ASUU pointed out that it was uncharitable of the Federal Government to be using some uniformed students to fight their teachers. ASUU president recounted that he had been informed that the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has joined the Ministry of Labour to sue ASUU to court.

“I have been told and I just got the court summon yesterday that the NANS has also joined the Ministry of Labour to sue us. But you know why? It is the illegal NANS. You know they had elections and two factions emerged.

“One is in Lagos campaigning for them to resolve the issue, one is with the Ministry of Labour going to court. Ileegal group! And you know they won’t raise the money, somebody paid them, somebody paid for those things, paid the lawyers, certainly not those students. Instead of resolving the issues, you are going to court. So those are basically the issues.

“And I have continued to talk to the students, we also have our children in the schools. We have our colleagues in school, we are the biggest people who are punished most. I have not been paid my salaries for the past seven months. My colleagues have not been paid for seven months and their children are at home.

“But what we are doing is for the future. If these things succeed and you have good universities, you will sit in the same class with the children of the president. You will share the same double bunk bed with the child of a senator. You will use the same lab with the child of a senator. Until we get there and you will be taught by lecturer from all over the world, so that you are not stereotyped.

“Somebody who is coming from England will give you his perspective from that country about what he is teaching you. A person coming from the Netherlands will give you that perspective. Just like we Nigerian are giving it to other countries.”

Professor Osodeke decried the great damage politicians and bureaucrats have done to the Nigerian University system. According to him, the usual tradition of merit has been sacrificed on the alter of tribalism and political connections.

“Go to South Africa, Nigerians are Heads of Departments. In one of the universities, a Nigerian is the Vice Chancellor, even in England. But in Nigeria where we have gotten to today is that no Yoruba man can be a VC in the North. No Hausa man can be a VC in the West and no Igbo man can be a VC in UNIABUJA. That is where we have reduced ourselves to.

“If you are not from Cross River, you cannot be a Vice Chancellor in University of Calabar. If you are not from River State, you cannot be a VC in University of Port Harcourt. But in the past, the first VC in University of Ibadan, was an Igbo man. The first VC in UNN was an Hausa man. But we have eroded all those ones. Because the politicians are interfering, the bureaucrats are interfering with the system in the university.

“They have refused to allow the universities to run well, to run competitively with other countries of the world. If we continue this way, we will be chasing the shadows as no Nigerian university is ranked among the first 1000 universities in the world. So that is the crisis and that is why we are on strike. So, we are appealing that those in power should intercede and ensure that this issue is resolved as quickly as possible”, he said.

September 17, 2022
NANS protest: We are just getting started – Chairman

Mr Abidemi Adeleke, Chairman of the Oyo State chapter of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has said they are just getting started after their protest paralysed vehicular movement on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.

TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that the protesting students on Tuesday blocked the Lagos-Ibadan expressway in protest against the continued closure of the nation’s universities over the prolonged strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The students in their hundreds blocked the expressway at Sagamu interchange in Ogun, leading to gridlock on the ever-busy road, a situation which left many motorists plying the road stranded with their passengers.

All entreaties to the aggrieved students by motorists and commuters did not yield any result as members insisted that they would not leave the road until their demands are met by the Federal Government.

Recall that ASUU had on Feb. 14, embarked on indefinite strike on the premise of inadequate funding of public universities, among other demands.

The protesting students, armed with placards of various inscriptions, were chanting solidarity songs, saying that they were tired of staying at home and demanded an end to the strike.

They also insisted that the Federal Government should yield to the demands of their lecturers for them to call off the strike.

In his reactions, Mr Abidemi Adeleke, NANS Chairman, Oyo State chapter, said that the students’ action followed the unresolved impasse between the Federal Government and the university lecturers.

“The protest was due to the lingering impasse between the Federal Government and ASUU, which had defied all solutions. We want the Federal Government to end ASUU strike permanently, that is why we are on the road protesting.

“This is just the tip of an iceberg. We are just getting started. Today, we are live at Lagos- Ibadan Expressway, just after Sagamu Interchange. And, tomorrow, by the special grace of God, we will be at another location, next tomorrow the same thing, until our voice is heard,” Adeleke said.

Several other students who spoke one after the other at the Sagamu interchange during the protest maintained that they will continue to occupy major highways in protest against the ongoing nationwide strike by ASUU.

Addressing journalists at the scene, Mr Afeez Akinteye, the National Vice-President, NANS External Affairs, said: “Our demand is not new; it is for the government to end the ASUU strike now.

“We have had enough of this. We started the protest today; we will continue until the strike is called off. We don’t want to know how they will do it, because government has the money and the power.

“We are just interested in going back to the classrooms, they should fund education and end the ASUU strike. With the new leadership of NANS, it is not going to be business as usual”.

Akinteye further said that the protest would be continuous, adding that students were ready to give it all it takes to go back to the classrooms.

“We have packed our loads from our homes and we are now ready for this struggle until the strike is called off. Over 500 of us from various universities nationwide are staging this protest, saying ‘End ASUU strike permanently,” he said.

Also, Mr Elvis Ekundina, the NANS Deputy Senate President, said that students would continue to block all the federal roads until the government resolve the issues with ASUU.

Ekundina said that quick action should be taken to enable the students to return to the classrooms, saying that they were most affected with the current faceoff between the Federal Government and ASUU.

Commenting, Mr Damilola Simeon, a NANS member, said that students were in support of proper funding of the nation’s educational sector.

Simeon appealed to the Federal Government to pay all the outstanding arrears and salaries of the lecturers.

”We are not in support of the policy of ‘No Work No Pay,” he said.

September 13, 2022
BREAKING: Heavy traffic hits Lagos-Ibadan expressway as students protest over ASUU strike

Heavy traffic on Tuesday locked down the Lagos-Ibadan expressway as students took over the ever-busy expressway to protest over the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that ASUU has been on a protracted strike since February 14th 2022 and several meetings between the union and representatives of the federal government ended in deadlocks.

Heavy gridlock hit the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway at the Shagamu Interchange section today as the students under the aegis of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) protested over the prolonged ASUU strike.

TNG reports that the protesting students brandished sticks and placards bearing different inscriptions, and prevented motorists from plying the busy road, leaving hundreds of commuters stranded as the protesters paralysed traffic flow.

After some minutes of blockage, a team of armed policemen stormed the area and prevailed on the students to open up the road for motorists to move. At exactly 1:00 pm, the protesters opened up the road and moved to another location to continue their agitation.

One of the protesters, who identified himself as Comrade Olusegun, the Global Deputy Senate President of NANS, told our correspondents that Nigerian students were tired of idling at home at the detriment of their academic pursuits.

He prompted the Federal Government to quickly resolve the issue with their lecturers and open their universities for academic activities. Olusegun asserted that the strike has made most undergraduates go into the taxi business to make ends meet while their female colleagues have taken to prostitution.

He said, “We are here to let the federal government know we are tired of their deliberate attempts to tamper with our future. Most of our male students are now cab drivers. Most female students are now into prostitution. We are tired and it’s a deliberate attempt of the Federal Government. Most of our leaders never schooled in Nigeria, and those who did, had free education and food but it’s unfortunate that they are now depriving us of education.

“I see no reason why the federal government should appoint Minister of Education who never believed in education and Minister of Labour who doesn’t possess the requisite criteria. This is the reason why we are here to let the world know that we can’t continue to tolerate this strike,” he added.

ASUU Strike: NANS calls for speedy resolution

NANS had earlier called for the immediate resolution to the ongoing ASUU strike. The newly elected President of NANS, Umar Faruq-Lawal, made the call in Abuja while addressing journalists on the development of the strike.

Faruq-Lawal called on ASUU to return to the negotiation table and re-open public universities across the country. He announced the association would protest against the eight-month-old strike, saying the labour crisis had brought untold hardship on the students, parents and the economy of Nigerians.

The president also said that it introduced the ‘Academic Reforms struggle’ in honour of one of NANS’ late officials to generate discourse on educational development in the country.

“The only thing I will say is that ASUU and the Federal Government should return to the negotiation table and resolve all the issues amicably and reopen our campuses.

“It’s not the students that pay the salaries of the lecturers, it’s the Federal Government so we don’t have the capacity to advise the government nor our lecturers, we can only insist that both of them return to the negotiation table,” he said.

September 13, 2022
ASUU: Protesting Nigerian students block Lagos-Ibadan expressway

University Students, under the umbrella of the National Association of Nigerian Students, stormed the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Shagamu interchange to protest the continued closure of Public universities by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, (ASUU) in the country.

NANS coordinator, South-West Zone, and National Public Relations Officer of NANS, Adegboye Emmanuel and Giwa Temitope, issued a statement on protest ground.

According to them, Nigeria’s president Muhammadu Buhari has failed in its promises and responsibility in revamping education in the country.

The statement reads in part “There is no point arguing about who is at fault or what is to be done, it is very clear that the rulers underfund education and the Buhari government is failing in its promises to revamp education.

“As it is today, no higher institution in Nigeria is world-class! Yet, our so-called public servants travell all over the world spending billions to send their kids abroad for studies.

“As major stakeholders in the educational sector, we are the ones who can save ourselves. We have monitored the yearnings of students from campus to campus through their social media platforms and also in their public writings. Students all over Nigeria stand with ASUU. Our lecturers suffer the same hardships and mal-developments we suffer. The staff houses are as bad as the students’ hostels. In South Africa, a professor’s laboratory is far more equipped than that of any university in Nigeria.

“History has been killed and undermined, so we the youths, do not know where we are coming from not to talk of knowing where we are headed. But we will not lament anymore. The new leadership of NANS is here to work with students to achieve our set aims and objectives. We believe that the student movement has its place in history. It is a task that we vow to fulfill. We will never let Nigerian students down!” The statement partly read.

Standing with ASUU, they stated their demands as follows:

“We call on ASUU leadership for a meeting as as soon as possible to discuss solidarity actions and plan for the next phase of the struggles.

“We pass a vote of no confidence on both Ministers of Labour and Education; We call for the proper funding of the educational sector as against what has been attainable in the past seven years; We Call on the Buhari government to pay all outstanding arrears and salaries of the lecturers. The policy of “No Work No Pay” is a fascist one, it’s therefore, condemnable and nonacceptable to all the millions of students in Nigeria.”

The students vowed to mobilise towards shutting down the Presidential Villa if their demands are not met.

Recall that the industrial action embarked upon by ASUU started on the 14th of February 2022 and still continues with no end in sight.

September 13, 2022
ASUU strike beyond NANS – NANS President

The President of National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Sunday Ashefon, has said the ongoing strike action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) was beyond the body to resolve.

Asheton made the statement on Thursday during the 40th Anniversary the association and described the strike actions in the tertiary education sector in Nigeria as a challenge that administrations of the student body will not be able to resolve.

“Perhaps the tertiary education sector in Nigeria is faced with one of the strongest tests in our history in the last few years. We have witnessed the total collapse of the sector as a result of the incessant strike,” he said.

He further stressed that “This challenge alone is bigger than what any NANS administration could resolve. However, our nation’s education system is on the brink and the entire nation must rise to the rescue. Where we go from here as a nation is dependent on how we collectively gather the crackers of the collapsing education system and rebuild it together as a nation.

Also Read

NANS reinstates Opeoluwa Awoyinfa as PRO after clearing him of rape allegations

“Nigeria does not belong here, our tertiary education system does not belong here and this is already taking its tore on the nation’s economy, security, and faith of the young people in the nation and its education system. We all must rise to the rescue.

“As we celebrate today, let us remember that we are only gathered here because education is part of our story and life, we must therefore do all it takes to ensure this part of our national life does not become a story of the past.”

August 25, 2022
NANS fixes August 27 for elections into various leadership positions

The National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, has fixed Saturday, August 27, 2022, for elections into various leadership positions.

The coordinator, South-West Zone D, Adegboye Emmanuel, disclosed this in a chat in Abuja.

“The elections will hold on Saturday,” Olatunji said.

TheNewsGuru.com reports that the soon-to-be outgoing President, Sunday Ashefon, was elected on December 4, 2020 during its national convention at the old parade ground, Abuja.

Asefon, a civil servant with the Ekiti State Government, got 155 votes to defeat his closest rival, Olushola Oladoja, who scored 100 votes.

Outgoing NANS President, Sunday Ashefon

The 45-year-old, reported to be a student of Ekiti State University, replaced Bamidele Akpan.

Despite the fact that the tenure of elective positions in the association was meant to last for one year, the elections were not conducted.

NANS is the national body of Nigerian students studying in Nigerian tertiary institutions and diaspora.

The union brings together Nigerian students both within Nigeria and across the diaspora.

NANS was founded in 1980 to replace the banned NUNS and itself theoretically banned as a result of the May 1986 riots, which called for dismissals of government, university, and police officials. Its call was supported by the NLC.

NUNS was founded in 1956, following structural changes in the West African Students’ Union. It brought together student councils in Ife, Zaria, and Nsukka.

In April 1978, Nigerian students were faced with the imposition of increased fees, and NUNS participated in a series of Campus protests across the whole of Nigeria known as the Ali Must Go protests.

The government responded by sending in the army and police, leading to the death or serious wounding of over twenty students.

Three universities were closed and NUNS was banned. Several university staff and students were dismissed.

TheNewsGuru.com reports that sometime in June last year, NUNs elected Comrade Abdulmajeed Oyeniyi as its National President.

This came a few months after a faction in the association announced Sunday Asefon as its President amid chaos and violence that characterized its convention at the old parade ground, Abuja.

The election was the last phase of the national convention held between 24th and 27th June 2021.

August 24, 2022
BREAKING: NANS Director of Logistics jailed for Internet fraud

The Director of Logistics of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) Chapter, Adeyemi Israel Abiodun has been convicted and jailed for internet-related fraud.

TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Abiodun, prosecuted by the Ibadan Zonal Command of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), is among 40 persons convicted on separate one-count charges before four judges of the Oyo State High Court, Ibadan.

Their offences bordered on impersonation, obtaining money under false pretence, obtaining property by false pretence and forgery, contrary to Sections 419, 467, 484, 516 and 508 of the Criminal Code Law Cap 38, Laws of Oyo State, 2000.

The other convicts are Yekeen Azeez Ishola, Okeniyi Sanuel Akiniyi, Theophilus Ademola Bukola, Salami Mohammed Adetayo, Pelumi Ajayi Temiloluwa, Lawal Abdullateef Olalekan, Okusanwo Mayowa Daniel, Oluwole Oluwasegun Ayomide, Adedotun Omodele Yusuf, Monday Nnaemeka Samuel, Idowu Adeshina, Olowe Nifemi Ayomide, Adubu Olamiotan Sunday, Kehinde Olatunji Kehinde, Oguntuase Tope Francis, Elijah Isaac Wisdom, Ogbanaya Chukwu Chukwu, Adekola Adekunle, Odebode Temiloluwa Kehinde, Joseph Odunayo Clement, and Andrew Adekunle Masika.

Others include Usman Mubarak Damilare, Isiaka Olumide Hammed, Uawu Osita Henry, Kareem Afeez Alabi and Ogunyemi Ayobami Samuel, Mimiola Victor Olamide, Adeeko Kolade Emmanuel, Egberongbe Adedayo Quam, Oyelaran Olayiwola Jeremiah, Hammed Rilwan Ishola, Adefowora Omotayo David, Adedeji Ibrahim Olamilekan, Emmanuel Timileyin Akinbowale, Michael Damola Olanrewaju, Ayanyemi Olaide Samuel, Boye Timilehin Emmanuel, Timileyin Ajibola Idowu and Azeez Tolulope Ayoade.

TNG reports Abiodun was arraigned before Justice Iyabo Yerima while thirty-nine others were prosecuted before Justices Bayo Taiwo, Akintola Ladiran and Olusola Adetujoye between August 15, 2022 and August 23, 2022.

The one-count charge against Abiodun reads: “That you, Adeyemi Israel Abiodun and Odaise Precious Abiola (aka Prezzy) (at large) on or about 30th March, 2022 at Ibadan, within the Ibadan Judicial Division did conspire to forge various United States of America Banks Cheques and purport same to be genuine and thereby committed the offence of conspiracy to commit forgery contrary to Section 516 and 467 of the Criminal Code Law, Cap 38, Laws of Oyo State, 2000.”

Abiodun and the others pleaded “guilty” to the charges filed against them by the EFCC. Consequently, Abiodun, Daniel and Ayomide were convicted and sentenced to one year imprisonment each without the “option of fine”, while Akiniyi bagged three months jail term and six months community service. Other defendants were convicted and sentenced to six months community service each.

Furthermore, the court ordered Abiodun to pay the sum of $1,000USD (One Thousand United States Dollars) in restitution and forfeit a white Mercedes Benz CLA-250 with customized NANS plate number worth N16million, a gold neck chain and one ice neck chain worth N3.6million, bitcoin worth $58, 854.88USD, one Apple MacBook Pro 2020 Model and an iPhone 12 Pro Max to the Federal Government of Nigeria. Other convicts were ordered to restitute their victims and forfeit all items recovered from them.

It will be recalled, that Abiodun, a 200 level student of Economics and Development Studies of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State was arrested on March, 30, 2022, alongside seventy-nine (79) others in a sting operation by the operatives of the Ibadan Zonal Command of the EFCC at Sango area of Ibadan, Oyo State for alleged internet fraud.

Investigations revealed that, between July 2021 and March 2022, Abiodun benefited N195, 274, 331.00 (One Hundred and Ninety Five Million, Two Hundred and Seventy Four Thousand, Three Hundred and Thirty One Naira) as cumulative heist from cyber-fraud involving forgery of over 25 US banks cheques.

August 24, 2022
ASUU STRIKE: Proposed agreement will not be binding on state universities -FG insists

The Federal Ministry of Education has insisted that its proposed agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, will not be binding on state universities.

Following this development, the industrial dispute between the Federal Government and ASUU may worsen, as Universities would remain shut.

“The state government will handle their own institutions” -Federal Ministry of Education

The spokesman for the Federal Ministry of Education, Ben Goong , in an interview on Wednesday, explained that the Federal Government could not dictate to states on education as it is on the concurrent legislative list.

A committee led by the Pro-Chancellor of the Federal University of Lokoja, Prof. Nimi Briggs, had reportedly recommended a 180 per cent pay rise for lecturers, but the government was said to have favoured a 100 per cent increase.

It was gathered that the ministries of finance, education, labour and employment, Budget Office of the Federation, Office of the Head of Service of the Federation and the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission were still working out the final details of the proposal.

The ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, insisted that any agreement reached with the Federal Government would be binding on the states, thus opening another battlefront between the union and the government.

TheNewsGuru.com reports that members of ASUU, including federal and state universities, embarked on a strike on February 14, 2022.

Following the inability of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige to resolve the strike, the President, major General Muhammdu Buhari (retd.), two weeks ago directed the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, to take over the negotiation with the ASUU leadership.

To compel a quick resolution of the crisis, the Nigeria Labour Congress held nationwide protests on July 26 and 27 in solidarity with the union.

However, ASUU on Monday extended the industrial action by another four weeks.

Responding to a question on whether the proposed agreement would be binding on all universities in the country, Goong said, “The agreement between the Federal Government is not binding on state universities. Education is on the concurrent list, the Federal Government cannot tell states what to do when it comes to the management of their institutions.

“Any agreement made with ASUU is only binding on the institutions owned by the Federal Government. The state government will handle their own institutions.”

“Issue of salary negotiation is exclusive to the union” -ASUU president

But reacting to the government’s position in an interview on Wednesday, the ASUU president stated that the university system is a single entity, arguing further that there was no disparity between state and federal universities.

Osodeke said, “I don’t know who you spoke to but that person doesn’t know what he is saying. I can tell you that the renegotiation team is made up of pro-chancellors of state and federal universities. So, how can anyone say the agreement won’t be binding on state universities? The person doesn’t know what he is saying.”

The ASUU leader contended that the few institutions that did not join in the strike were not their members.

He also warned that Nigeria had just one university system and as such the issue of salary is personal to the union.

Osodeke stated, ‘‘Whenever ASUU is on strike, it is not about state ASUU or federal ASUU. We have one ASUU representing all universities in the country; those schools that are not participating in the strike are not our members.

‘‘The issue of salary should be left to the union to decide because when there was minimum wage adjustment, both federal and state schools were a part of it; even TETFund, it funds both state and federal institutions. Do we have a federal NUC or state NUC?

‘’The issue of salary negotiation is exclusive to the union. If a state can increase it, good; but we have one university system in Nigeria, and the state cannot even pay lesser than what the Federal Government is paying.’’

“We are not part of the ongoing negotiation between the FG and ASUU”- Ekiti govt

Commenting on the controversy, Ekiti State Commissioner for Information, Akin Omole, said on Wednesday that the state was not part of the ongoing negotiation between the FG and ASUU, hence, any agreement reached could not be binding on it as far as ASUU members in Ekiti State University were concerned.

Omole said, “If Ekiti State must have any dialogue at all, it can only be with the ASUU in EKSU. The ASUU negotiation with the Federal Ministry of Labour and Federal Ministry of Education is not done with the concurrence of Ekiti State Government. It is a national issue and it is the FG that is involved.

“With the principle of federalism, it is the employer and the employee that determine the pay. The salaries of workers in all states of the federation are not the same, then the issue is that what happens in another state cannot be binding on them.”

Likewise, the Benue State Commissioner of Information, Culture and Tourism, Michael Inalegwu said the state government was not involved in the ongoing negotiation between the FG and the university lecturers.

While acknowledging the lean resources of the state, the commissioner said that any agreement reached between the FG and ASUU may have serious consequences on the resources of the state but expressed optimism that both the state government and the state chapter of ASUU would reach a compromise.

He said, “The Benue State Government is not involved in the negotiation; whatever agreement they reached may not be binding on us because they are different structures. But you should know that our state government places its lecturers in the state university at par with their counterparts at the federal level.”

“We are not backbenchers in education matters” -Anambra govt

But the Anambra State Commissioner for Education, Prof. Ngozi Chuma-Udeh, said the state wass involved in the negotiations and would implement the outcomes.

She said, “We have a governor who takes education seriously and he is also a unionist. We are involved in the negotiations of the Federal Government with ASUU and anything they arrive at will be duly effected in Anambra.

“Whatever negotiations other states are into, Anambra is also in it; we are not backbenchers in matters that have to do with education and especially when it has to do with progressivism.”

According to the Special Adviser to the Osun state Governor on Education, Jamiu Olawumi, said if the lecturers’ salary was reviewed, states would expect the FG to assist them in meeting the demand.

Reaction of Gombe, Ogun states and NANS

On his part, the Gombe State Commissioner for Higher Education, Meshack Lauco, said out of the eight demands highlighted by ASUU, the state government had defaulted only in the earned allowances, adding that they had reached an agreement.

The Ogun State Government explained that it would wait for ASUU to present the agreement reached with the FG before it would commit itself to any arrangement.

The state Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology, Prof. Abayomi Arigbabu said the government would need to know the nature of the arrangement first.

He said “The question is loaded, I cannot answer yes or no. I should know what I want to agree to. Education is on the concurrent legislative list. If it is acceptable, we can now see what to do.

“When they come back and see what we can do; immediately, we will always try to make sure we do something so that our institution will not be inferior to others. So, let’s see what they agreed on and see how to work it out.”

Meanwhile the National Association of Nigerian Students on Wednesday called for the resignation of the minister of education.

NANS in a statement in Abuja, said, “Since he became minister, ASUU has gone on strike for almost 18 months cumulatively and the entire educational structure of our tertiary education system is in total shambles under his watch.’’

August 4, 2022
Ikpeazu approves N450m as salary support for Abia Polytechnic workers

Gov. Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia has approved the release of N450 million as salary support to the State Polytechnic for immediate payment of four months salary arrears.

This is contained in a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary of the governor, Onyebuchi Ememanka in Aba.

This, followed the withdrawal of Abia Polytechnic’s accreditation by the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE) over non payment of 30 months salaries.

The governor gave the approval on Wednesday while hosting a delegation of Student Leaders from the tertiary institutions in Abia who paid him a visit at the Governor’s Lodge in Aba.

The governor said although the government is not responsible for the payment of salaries of tertiary institution workers in Abia including the polytechnic, his administration will not abandon them “What the State Government owes the institution is a monthly subvention of N90million and this administration has so far paid N7.1 Billion to the Polytechnic since I assumed office in 2015.

“This translates to N92 million every month for the 78 months I have been in office as governor.
“With this N450million additional support, the polytechnic has received over N7.5billion from this administration.

“One wonders why the institution is unable to manage their internal financial issues since they collect and retain all manner of fees from their students”, they said.

Ikpeazu insisted that the polytechnic must manage funds available.
On NBTE’s withdrawal of the polytechnic’s accreditation, Ikpeazu said the mandate of the NBTE does not extend to shutting down an institution on account of labour-related issues since it is not the National Industrial Court.

The governor wondered why NBTE has not withdrawn the accreditation of tertiary institutions in some parts of the country where insecurity had stopped academic activities for over two years.

He said the government and Abia State University management will meet on Friday, to resolve labour issues at the University, assuring of government’s commitment to all state-owned higher institutions.

He expressed happiness that the student leaders have risen to the occasion by refusing to be used as agents of destabilization on account of the challenge at Abia Poly.

The student leaders who spoke earlier, were drawn from the Students Union Government’s of all tertiary institutions in the state.

They told the governor that those who claimed to be student leaders who passed a vote of “No Confidence” on the governor were fake and were not students of any institution in Abia.

This, according to them, led them to swiftly address a news conference where they passed a resounding Vote of Confidence on the Governor.

The students whose names were not given were made up of members of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) and the National Association of Abia State Students (NAAS).

July 28, 2022