The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) has said
that it welcomes the decision of three trade
unions – the Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT),
the National Union of Petroleum and Natural
Gas Workers (NUPENG) and the National Union
of Electricity Employees (NUEE) – to embark on
solidarity strike actions to compel the Federal
Government to honour agreements signed with
the Academic Staff Union of Universities
(ASUU).
The National Coordinator of the ERC, Mr.
Hassan Soweto said this in a statement to
newsmen recently. Soweto urged the three
unions to take this beyond the realm of threats
and immediately name a day on which the
solidarity strike would take place. He said that
the unions should begin “active mobilisation of
their rank and file members as well as students
who are frustrated at home and concerned
Nigerians to come out en-masse for mass
protests and demonstrations on this day.”
Adding, the ERC Boss said: “We commend the
three unions for taking this decision which we
believe is in the best interest of the education
sector and the Nation at large. We agree that
the ASUU strike has gone on for far too long
and the plethora of strikes in the education
sector are just too many. Slowly the entire
public education sector is grinding to a halt.
For instance, the public polytechnics are
equally closed and it will not be too long
before the Colleges of Education Academic
Staff Union (COEASU) follow suit. The Colleges
of Education lecturers had recently held a 7-
day warning strike. Indeed, the Academic Staff
of Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) had to resume
the strike, they had suspended in July after
three months, due to the insensitivity and
insincerity of government to their demands
and terms of the suspension of the last strike.”
Soweto argued that such a solidarity strike
would be in the best interest of the education
sector and the country at large. He said: “The
three unions come from key sectors of the
Nation’s economy. As such their decision to
embark on solidarity strike if given full and
practical effect could help pile pressure on the
recalcitrant anti-poor Federal Government to
meet demands of striking education unions so
that public Universities and Polytechnics can
be reopened for academic activities to resume.
This would also serve as an example for other
unions and the entire labour movement to
follow. We want to stress that the solidarity
actions which the NUT, NUPENG and NUEE
have envisioned should also cover and back
the strikes of ASUP, COEASU and all other
unions in the education sector that have any
on-going dispute with the government over
pay, conditions and education funding. This is
the best way to ensure that all the outstanding
disputes in the education sector are resolved
and all public Universities, Polytechnics and
Colleges of Educations are opened for full and
undisrupted academic activities.” Soweto added
that the ERC understands the position of
Nigerians who believe that the entire sector
will crumble if such a union as the NUT goes
on strike. In response to this, he said: The
point that must be made is that with or
without strikes, the entire education sector
including secondary and primary education has
already been destroyed and shutdown in terms
of standard and quality that it is simply a pipe
dream to imagine any serious learning is going
on at any point in time in any of our public
schools.”
We are yet to distribute the N100 billion —VCs
After Seven full weeks of the widely reported
announcement of the distribution of N100
billion to 59 public universities, as part of
Federal Government’s commitment to fund the
implementation of identified needs of the
nation’s public universities, there are
indications that red-tapism or perhaps,
insincerity of purpose has hindered the funds
from getting to universities.
Grapevines from universities authorities,
comprising of Vice Chancellors reveal that the
monies have been gotten through the usual
official policy statements and memo, but not
in cash or cheque.
For the avoidance of doubt, this said money
was ‘gallantly’ shopped by the Governor
Gabriel Suswam-led Presidential
Implementation Committee on Needs
Assessment of Nigerian Universities within 16
days of its inauguration (July 26- August 1,
2013).
If this whooping N100 billion was shopped
from acclaimed sources like the Central Bank
of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian National Petroleum
Corporation (NNPC), Nigerian Communications
Commission (NCC) and other government
agencies, within 16 days of round-the-clock
work; if the sharing formular which will be
presented below was arrived at within 16 days
of heated debates and counter debates, should
there be any, then the expedient question is
why the delay in implementation, that is
disbursement to the nation’s decrepit
universities after the ‘nice’ sharing formular,
which has been made available to Vanguard
Learning.
In the words of one of the revered sources
contacted, Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie, Ag. VC,
Imo State University (IMSU), Owerri, who was
the immediate-past National President of the
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU):
“FG has only sent us a memo through the
Ministry of Education that IMSU is getting
N650 million from the funds. Until we get the
alert into the university’s account, we will
know how sincere, government is…”
Similarly, Prof. John Obafunwa, Vice
Chancellor, Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo
disclosed that the N1.200 billion earmarked
for the university has not been paid as cheque
or cash into the university’s account.
After about one month, what is preventing
universities official accounts from getting the
e-credit alerts.
According to the allocation, which grapevines
say was based on “students’ population and the
depth of infrastructural decadence glaring
individual universities in the face,” of the 40
National Universities Commission (NUC)
officially recognized Federal Universities, 27
will get varying amounts from the fund,
leaving out 13. For State universities, of the 39
officially recognized, 34 will get varying
amounts, leaving out 5.
0 100000:
Post a Comment