Universities (ASUU) meet with President
Goodluck Jonathan today, the union has said
the President lacks the right to arbitrarily
reopen the universities, which were shut down
following the union's national strike.
ASUU was reacting to reports that the
President had directed the reopening of
universities with or without ASUU.
Its Chairman at the University of Calabar
(UNICAL), Dr James Okpiliya, spoke yesterday
with The Nation in Calabar, the Cross River
State, on the matter.
He said: "The President has no right to reopen
schools. In the first place, he did not close the
schools. ASUU also did not close the schools.
If he likes, let him direct the vice chancellors
to reopen the universities. But the issue is that
academics will not return to the classrooms
until all the issues in the 2009 agreement as
well as the Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) between the union and the Federal
Government are sufficiently implemented.
"In the military era, the Head of State never
used force to resolve its impasse with the
union; not now, when we are in a democracy.
If he opens the schools, he can come and
teach in the universities. If he uses brute
force, as it is rumoured, he can as well return
to the classroom to teach.
"I advise him to sit down sincerely with the
leadership of ASUU with a view to resolving
the knotty issues in the implementation of the
2009 agreement and the MoU. These are the
main issues in contention in the current
struggle.
"I believe Mr President has not been
adequately briefed; that is why he has been
insinuating that the strike is political. The
meeting should, therefore, afford him the
opportunity to hear from ASUU himself with a
view to resolving the issues.
"Remember the strike itself would not have
been avoidable if those who midwifed the
negotiation of this agreement had it captured
in the previous budgets. But because they
failed to put the financial implication of this
agreement in the budget since 2009, we find
ourselves here today.
"The only thing that can bring about normalcy
is when the issues in contention are resolved."
The ASUU has said no amount of threat of
forceful reopening of universities will end its
nationwide strike.
The union said the government's threat would
only be counter-productive rather than achieve
the intended goal.
In a statement by its Secretary at the
University of Ibadan (UI), Dr Ayodeji Omole,
titled: Federal Government's Reported Plan to
Forcefully Reopen Varsities, the union said the
reported threat was capable of portraying the
government as anti-democratic.
Omole said: "The attention of our union is
drawn to a new report alleging that the
President would direct the reopening of
universities with or without ASUU. "We wish to
state that while the President has invited the
leaders of our union for a dialogue, it will be
unacceptable to our members, if the
government fails to come out with a clear
agenda for implementing the 2009 agreement.
"Authoritarian posturing has never solved and
will not solve the impasse. We are calling on
Mr President to toe the path of honour and
respect the 2009 agreement.
"Any proposal not based on a clear acceptance
of a framework for implementing the 2009
agreement will, instead, seek to impose a
solution regarding the impasse, and will not be
a solution to the present crisis."
Members of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University
(UNIZIK) branch of the Academic Staff Union
of Universities (ASUU) have urged President
Goodluck Jonathan to ensure an amicable end
to the union's crisis and other challenges
facing the country.
In a statement in Awka, the Anambra State
capital, by the chairperson of the UNIZIK-
ASUU, Prof Ike Odimegwu, the union advised
that the meeting between ASUU and the
President today should be on the
implementation of the 2009 agreement, the
2012 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU)
and the report of the NEEDS Assessment
Committee.
The statement said: "Anything to the contrary
will amount to a repudiation of contracts,
shirking of responsibility and imposition, which
cannot bring a solution but will rather increase
the crisis."
The union leader said its members were happy
that Dr Jonathan decided to intervene in the
protracted crisis.
The chairman of the Michael Okpara University
of Agriculture, Umudike, (MOUAU) chapter of
the ASUU, Dr Uzochukwu Onyebinama, has
expressed the hope that the union's meeting
with President Goodluck Jonathan on the strike
would end the industrial action.
The meeting, which is expected to hold today
between the Presidency and the union's leaders
in Abuja, would enable both sides to end the
ASUU's strike, which has lingered for about
fourth months.
A statement by the MOUAU-ASUU in Umuahia,
the Abia State capital, which reads: "As the
national leadership of our union, the Academic
Staff Union of Universities meets with
President Goodluck Jonathan, on November 4,
2013, we hope that the meeting …will lead to a
mutually acceptable fair and far-reaching
solution.
"The solution is expected to be within the
context of the implementation of the 2009
agreement, the 2012 Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) and the
recommendations of the NEEDS Assessment
Report.
"Any proposal by government should be based
on a clear acceptance of a framework for the
implementation of the 2009 agreement. Any
imposition will not present a solution to the
current crisis.
"We, therefore, call on President Goodluck
Jonathan to be guided by the principle of
honouring agreements in the interest of justice
and industrial harmony in the country."
Ahead of today's meeting between President
Goodluck Jonathan and national leaders of the
ASUU, the Federal University of Technology,
Akure (FUTA) branch of the union has
cautioned the President to honour the
government's agreement with the union.
In a statement yesterday in Akure, the Ondo
State capital, by the FUTA-ASUU Chairman, Dr.
A. C. Odiyi and Secretary, Dr. K.S Adegbie, the
union hoped that today's dialogue would lead
to a mutual implementation of the 2009
agreement.
The statement reads: "The strike has entered its
fifth month. During this period, the ASUU was
subjected to all forms of threats, intimidation,
blackmail and traditionally known gimmicks by
the Federal Government to call off the strike.
"Undeterred by these, we have remained firm
in our just cause to get the government to
honourably implement the 2009 agreement,
which it freely entered into with our union.
"Since the 1980s, the ASUU has been engaging
the Federal and state governments on the need
to reposition the Nigerian university system to
effectively deliver on its mandate. This became
imperative in the face of massive brain drain,
deplorable state of facilities for research,
teaching and learning, poor living conditions
for students, gross underfunding and steady
erosion of university autonomy by successive
governments."
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