The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has issued a warning of a potential strike after a 14-day ultimatum, expressing dissatisfaction with the treatment of academics by successive governments in Nigeria.
During a press conference in Uyo on Monday, Comrade Happiness Uduk, Chairman of ASUU’s Calabar Zone, spoke on behalf of the chairpersons from various institutions, including Abia State University, Akwa Ibom State University, Ebonyi State University, Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, University of Cross River State, University of Calabar and University of Uyo.
Uduk said the union has exhausted all avenues to urge the government to honour its commitments.
She said the government’s failure to implement various Memoranda of Understanding and Action from 2013 to 2022 has hindered industrial harmony in public universities.
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She noted that although renegotiations have dragged on for over seven years, the government has yet to acknowledge or implement the agreements.
Efforts to engage President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration in adopting these agreements have been met with frustration, she added.
“Given the current economic realities, even the wage awards and palliatives cannot substitute for the renegotiated agreements reached through the time-honoured principle of Collective Bargaining,” Uduk stated.
She also expressed disappointment over the government’s neglect of non-monetary issues, notably the failure to extricate universities from the problematic Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), despite a Presidential Directive and a Court order issued in December 2023.
The situation is exacerbated by the government’s refusal to implement the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), a locally developed alternative to IPPIS initiated by the federal government in 2020.
“Despite its superior performance compared to IPPIS, UTAS remains unrecognized and unimplemented. Currently, university staff find it challenging to ascertain their exact salaries, which fluctuate monthly, while third-party deductions are inconsistently managed,” Uduk explained.
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