ASUU Strike: Nigerian government extends ultimatum for university lecturers to resume work

The ultimatum was
extended to December 9
in honour of late Festus
Iyayi, the NUC boss said.
The Federal Government on Monday
extended its
deadline for striking
university lecturers to
resume work. The
deadline was moved from
December 4 to December
9.
The government, through the acting
Minister of
Education, Nyesom Wike,
had ordered the striking
members of the Academic
Staff Union of Universities
(ASUU) to resume work
onDecember 4.
The Executive Secretary of the National
Universities
Commission (NUC)
, Julius Okojie, announced
the new date while
addressing journalists in
Abuja on Tuesday.
Mr. Okojie explained that “Government
decided to
shift the deadline after it
received notification of
Prof. Festus Iyayi’s funeral
rites slated for between
December 5 and 7.
Mr. Iyayi, a former President of ASUU, died
on
November 12, 2013 in
auto crash in Lokoja on his
way to attend the
association’s meeting in
Kano. The accident was
reportedly caused by the
convoy of the Kogi State
Governor, Idris Wada.
According to Mr. Okojie, the decision is
also to
avoid a situation where
government and ASUU will
have to deal with the
ultimatum during the
funeral of the former ASUU
President.
“We just received information that the
burial
rites of Festus Iyayi begins
on the December5 and
would last till Dec. 7.
“Based on this information, government
decided to shift the
resumption deadline to
December 9, to enable
lecturers to participate in
the burial,” the professor
said.
The executive secretary said the directive
had
been communicated to
the various university
Governing Councils and
Vice Chancellors for
onward transmission to
the academic staff.
Mr. Okojie added that there was no
intention to
victimise any lecturer for
participating in the strike.
He said the victimisation
clause which members of
ASUU were using to
discredit the government
never came up when the
unionists met with
President Goodluck
Jonathan on November 4.
“On the November 4, Jonathan had a
meeting
with ASUU. In attendance
were senior government
officials, the Ministers of
Labour, Finance, Education,
NLC, TUC, SGF, Chief of Staff
to the President and a
host of others.
“I recall the remarks Mr. President made
that day
that something has to
happen, that all parties
had to find solution to the
nagging problems of our
universities.
“ASUU came out from that meeting which
lasted for
over 13 hours, to say they
would communicate with
us through their principal
officers.
“Let me also emphasise that the drafting
of that
communiqué had the
input of ASUU,” he said.
The NUC boss said he
wondered why ASUU
would return three weeks
later, after it had failed to
get back to government
on November 8 as agreed,
demanding addition of
new clauses.
“The 2009 agreement stipulates that any
party
that wants a re-
negotiation should inform
the Ministry of Labour.
“If ASUU had said they would resume, but
the
outstanding issues must
be addressed, government
would have no choice,” he
said.
On the N200 billion Revitalisation Fund,
which
ASUU wanted government
to disburse within two
weeks; Mr. Okojie said the
money had been
deposited in an account in
the Central Bank of
Nigeria.
He explained that the money could not be
disbursed based on ASUU’s
demand because it was
meant for capital projects.
According to Mr. Okojie, the order does
not require
students to commence
lectures immediately.
“The school environment had to be made
habitable
for both students and the
entire staff of the
universities.’’
He said any lecturer who resumed work
after the
expiration of the new
deadline would not have
his or her salary arrears
paid.
“You cannot pay someone who has failed
to resume
work. You are on strike
and you want to be paid?
“What if some has already left the system?
Some of
our very bright lecturers
may have got jobs
elsewhere.’’
Mr. Okojie said government, as employer
of labour, could not fold
its arms while the
institutions remained shut
at the detriment of
students.
The ASUU President, Nasir Fagge, had
earlier
explained that the union
did not add any new
demands in its letter to
the president. Mr. Fagge,
who said the strike would
continue, condemned
government’s ultimatum;
same was condemned by
other lecturers and civil
society groups.
The ASUU boss explained that the
government’s
letter after the meeting
with President Jonathan
was not a total reflection
of what transpired during
the meeting.
“In the ordinary meaning of the word
“resolution”
the government’s letter
was not a resolution. The
document was a report of
Government’s
understanding of the
decisions or agreement
reached on the matters
discussed with ASUU,” he
said.