THESE may not be the best of times for the
Nigerian education sector as the comprehensive
and indefinite strike action embarked upon by the
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has
continued. Twelve weeks on, and with no end in
sight to the impasse between the union and the Federal Government, Vanguard Learning critically
examines issues raised by the industrial action. Twelve weeks after the commencement of ASUU
strike, a major cabinet shake-up by President
Goodluck Jonathan hit the sector as the Education
Minister, Professor Ruqqayatu Ahmed Ruf’ai, was
sacked from office alongside eight others, leaving
the Minister of State, Mr. Nyesom Wike, to take charge until the appointment of a substantive
minister. Investigation reveals that her sack was not
unconnected with political calculations in the
countdown to the 2015 general elections and her
alleged passivity to settling the agitations of
tertiary institutions’ staff unions, which led to a
two-month strike by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), and the ongoing ASUU strike.
This is even as Colleges of Education Academic
Staff Union (COEASU) just ended a seven-day
warning strike to call government’s attention to
the welfare of its members. As Rufai’s sack continues to raise mixed feelings
among stakeholders, another dust was raised
with the call by the Primate of the Church of
Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Nicholas
Okoh, to disband ASUU over its adamant position
to continue with the strike unless government meets 100 per cent of its demands.
Amidst the ongoing knife-to-the-throat situation,
the National Association of Nigerian Students
(NANS), last Wednesday, disapproved of the
protracted strike by their aggrieved lecturers, and
called on them to resume negotiations with government to ensure that public universities
were reopened without further delay.
The issues
The issues raised in the 2009 agreement and then
modified in the 2012 MoU include: “Funding and
requirement for revitalizing the universities;
Federal Government’s assistance to state
universities; progressive increase of annual budgetary allocation to education from 2013 to
2020; Earned Academic Allowances (EEA);
amendment of the pension/retirement age of
academics on the professorial cadre from 65 to
70 years; establishment of a pension fund
administration for universities; reinstatement of university governing councils; transfer of Federal
government’s landed property to the universities;
setting up research and development units by
companies operating in Nigeria and the Budget
Monitoring Committee.” Of the 10 items agreed upon in the MoU, it’s
arguable that the fulfilled are reinstatement of the
Governing Councils and the retirement age of
lecturers in the professorial cadre. Three weeks after the lecturers downed tools,
government intervened by inaugurating a 22-
member implementation committee on National
Economic Empowerment Development Strategy,
(NEEDS) Assessment of Nigerian Universities
headed by Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State and Professor Mahmood Yakubu, TETFUND
Executive Secretary, as Vice Chairman. The Suswam-led committee was mandated to
interface with all agencies providing support to
public varsities with the aim of channeling
assistance to priority areas, as well as stimulating
private sector investment into public varsities;
monitor the progress of project implementation; produce quarterly report for submission to
government; and intervene in matters that would
be crucial to the achievement of the assignment. Controversial allocation After a week of heated debates and consultations,
the Suswam-led committee submitted its report
to government, which culminated into a letter to
disburse N100bn for the implementation of
identified needs of the public universities and
another N30bn to off-set the EAA of teaching and non-teaching staff. Despite this acclaimed commitment by
government, ASUU still stood its ground, vowing
to continue with the strike over issues bordering
on government’s insincerity and the fact that the
acclaimed disbursed funds are yet to translate
into cash for earmarked varsities. A critical examination of the distribution
document made available to Vanguard Learning
reveals some controversies in the disbursement of
funds to federal and state varsities. While ASUU is
contending that the N100bn is nothing near the
N500bn due for 2012 and 2013, as contained in the 2009 ASUU/FGN agreement and the January
2012 MoU signed by both parties, some other
discrepancies discovered include that
government’s claim to distribute the released
funds to varsities based on student population
was not religiously followed. Partitioned under four categories with student
population of 30,000 and above; 29,000 and
25,000; 24,000 and 15,000; 14,000 and below, it
was found that some varsities with lower student
populace got more funds than their counterparts
with higher populace. For instance, Ebonyi State University, with student
population of 23,437 got N3.050bn while Lagos
State University with the highest student
population of 90,885 got N1.300bn, University of
Abuja, with 62,528 students got N3bn; National
Open University of Nigeria N850m with 57,759 students and University of Calabar N1.250bn with
29, 357 students. Also, our findings revealed that
of the 40 federal varsities, 13 were left out. They include: Federal University, Gashua; Federal
University, Dutse, Jigawa; Federal University,
Dutsin-ma, Katsina; Federal University, Kashere,
Gombe; Federal University, Lafia, Nassarawa;
Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi; Federal University,
Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi; Federal University, Otuoke, Bayelsa; Federal University, Wukari, Taraba;
Federal University, Birnin-Kebbi, Kebbi; Federal
University, Gusau, Zamfara; Federal University, Oye
Ekiti, Ekiti and Police Academy, Wudil, Kano State. While of the 39 state varsities, Bukar Abba
Ibrahim University, Damaturu, Yobe; Northwest
University, Kano; Sokoto State University, Sokoto;
Tai Solarin University of Education; Ijebu-Ode,
Ogun and Technical University, Ibadan, Oyo State,
were left out. With about 18 public universities left out of this
distributed funds, what is the guarantee that their
local ASUU chapters won’t shut-down their
schools within the shortest period to fight for
their share? Minister’s sack makes no difference
Following the sack of Minister for Education, Prof.
Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i last Wednesday,
stakeholders in the education sector have said
that the sack will not make a difference in the
sector. ASUU President, Dr. Nasir Fagge, in a phone
interview, said: “I am not too sure whether the
minister’s sack will have much of an effect on the
sector but we’d just have to wait and see. She did
her best at the beginning of her tenure, but as we
realised in our talks with government on the ongoing ASUU strike, she wasn’t really on top of
the situation. She kept on referring to the
Secretary to the Government and other
government officials on issues pertaining to the
2009 agreement.” The National Secretary, Colleges of Education
Academic Staff Union (COEASU), Mr. Ade Adepoju,
he believes the minister’s sack will not resolve the
crisis facing the sector. “She didn’t perform woefully as her hands were
more or less tied. It is government that is
responsible for the policies in the sector as well as
budgetary allocation to education. Even if you
bring in an angel as the new minister, that person
will still have the same problems as Rufa’I because the challenges prevailing in the sector
have been on long before she came into office. It
is only when stakeholders come together to put
heads together that these issues can be resolved.” The Coordinator, NANS, Zone D, Mr. Adeyemo
Monsur said: “I have mixed feelings about this; if
she is replaced with someone who can bring
about positive results in the sector, that is a good
thing. But if the next person who comes in still
makes a mess of the sector, then nothing good has come out of it. Also, we must understand that
the problem facing the education sector is
beyond the sacking and appointment of
ministers; government must realise that before
the sector can move forward, there has to be
adequate funding of education.” Disbandment of ASUU Meanwhile, ASUU has described, as laughable, the
call by Most Rev. Okoh, for the disbandment of
the national union. Pointing out that the union is
duly registered, ASUU Chairman, University of
Lagos chapter, Karo Ogbinaka, and the Ibadan
Zonal Chairman, Dr. Adesola Nassir separately said disbanding the union would not resolve the
problems in the sector. “Rather than call for our disbandment,
government should make known its short and
long-term plans of funding education so that we
don’t keep repeating the same issue over and
over again. Anyone calling for the disbandment of
the union must be on helium as the union is fighting for the good of the university system,”
they said. Accept the N130bn and go back to the classroom
According to the NANS President, Comrade Yinka
Gbadebo, rather than continuing the strike, ASUU
should seek plan ‘B’, which is ‘to file a legal suit
against government, return to the classroom and
resume negotiations with government.’ “We wish to categorically state here that it has
become imperative for the government and ASUU
to understand the position of Nigerian students in
the tripod that constitutes the varsity community,
which is management, teachers and students. “Having taken a holistic review of the details
inherent in the agreement as signed by FG and
ASUU, it has become germane for us to call on
ASUU to reconsider its present adamant stand on
the continued closure of our universities. “We must, as Nigerians, accept that the problem
with our universities have developed over decades
and would, therefore, be unimaginable that ASUU,
with its present stance, wants it totally resolved
within the spate of four years that this agreement
was signed.” Collective agreement In the same vein, Ogbinaka said the members
have worked for their earned allowances and
therefore, should be paid what is due them. “Based on the collective agreement between
ASUU and government, we have worked for three
and a half years without being paid our
allowances. This is not free money as some
people would want to believe but our sweat, so
we should be paid what we deserve.” Describing the claim to have released the N130bn
intervention fund to universities as fraudulent, the
ASUU Ibadan Zonal Chairman, Nassir said what
government did was to hijack the resources of
TETFUND which already belonged to varsities as
intervention fund. He explained: “Aside hijacking TETFUND,
government is offering N30bn and is asking
Governing Councils of varsities to source for the
remaining funds. If we agree to this, it invariably
means that the buck would lie on the students
and their parents. By hijacking the resources of TETFUND, government has automatically blocked
the regular intervention of TETFUND to varsities,
and this is fraudulent. Despite its claim,
government is yet to release a dime of the
amount other than the letters written to the
Governing Councils of universities by the National Universities Commission (NUC).”
Nigerian education sector as the comprehensive
and indefinite strike action embarked upon by the
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has
continued. Twelve weeks on, and with no end in
sight to the impasse between the union and the Federal Government, Vanguard Learning critically
examines issues raised by the industrial action. Twelve weeks after the commencement of ASUU
strike, a major cabinet shake-up by President
Goodluck Jonathan hit the sector as the Education
Minister, Professor Ruqqayatu Ahmed Ruf’ai, was
sacked from office alongside eight others, leaving
the Minister of State, Mr. Nyesom Wike, to take charge until the appointment of a substantive
minister. Investigation reveals that her sack was not
unconnected with political calculations in the
countdown to the 2015 general elections and her
alleged passivity to settling the agitations of
tertiary institutions’ staff unions, which led to a
two-month strike by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), and the ongoing ASUU strike.
This is even as Colleges of Education Academic
Staff Union (COEASU) just ended a seven-day
warning strike to call government’s attention to
the welfare of its members. As Rufai’s sack continues to raise mixed feelings
among stakeholders, another dust was raised
with the call by the Primate of the Church of
Nigeria, Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Nicholas
Okoh, to disband ASUU over its adamant position
to continue with the strike unless government meets 100 per cent of its demands.
Amidst the ongoing knife-to-the-throat situation,
the National Association of Nigerian Students
(NANS), last Wednesday, disapproved of the
protracted strike by their aggrieved lecturers, and
called on them to resume negotiations with government to ensure that public universities
were reopened without further delay.
The issues
The issues raised in the 2009 agreement and then
modified in the 2012 MoU include: “Funding and
requirement for revitalizing the universities;
Federal Government’s assistance to state
universities; progressive increase of annual budgetary allocation to education from 2013 to
2020; Earned Academic Allowances (EEA);
amendment of the pension/retirement age of
academics on the professorial cadre from 65 to
70 years; establishment of a pension fund
administration for universities; reinstatement of university governing councils; transfer of Federal
government’s landed property to the universities;
setting up research and development units by
companies operating in Nigeria and the Budget
Monitoring Committee.” Of the 10 items agreed upon in the MoU, it’s
arguable that the fulfilled are reinstatement of the
Governing Councils and the retirement age of
lecturers in the professorial cadre. Three weeks after the lecturers downed tools,
government intervened by inaugurating a 22-
member implementation committee on National
Economic Empowerment Development Strategy,
(NEEDS) Assessment of Nigerian Universities
headed by Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State and Professor Mahmood Yakubu, TETFUND
Executive Secretary, as Vice Chairman. The Suswam-led committee was mandated to
interface with all agencies providing support to
public varsities with the aim of channeling
assistance to priority areas, as well as stimulating
private sector investment into public varsities;
monitor the progress of project implementation; produce quarterly report for submission to
government; and intervene in matters that would
be crucial to the achievement of the assignment. Controversial allocation After a week of heated debates and consultations,
the Suswam-led committee submitted its report
to government, which culminated into a letter to
disburse N100bn for the implementation of
identified needs of the public universities and
another N30bn to off-set the EAA of teaching and non-teaching staff. Despite this acclaimed commitment by
government, ASUU still stood its ground, vowing
to continue with the strike over issues bordering
on government’s insincerity and the fact that the
acclaimed disbursed funds are yet to translate
into cash for earmarked varsities. A critical examination of the distribution
document made available to Vanguard Learning
reveals some controversies in the disbursement of
funds to federal and state varsities. While ASUU is
contending that the N100bn is nothing near the
N500bn due for 2012 and 2013, as contained in the 2009 ASUU/FGN agreement and the January
2012 MoU signed by both parties, some other
discrepancies discovered include that
government’s claim to distribute the released
funds to varsities based on student population
was not religiously followed. Partitioned under four categories with student
population of 30,000 and above; 29,000 and
25,000; 24,000 and 15,000; 14,000 and below, it
was found that some varsities with lower student
populace got more funds than their counterparts
with higher populace. For instance, Ebonyi State University, with student
population of 23,437 got N3.050bn while Lagos
State University with the highest student
population of 90,885 got N1.300bn, University of
Abuja, with 62,528 students got N3bn; National
Open University of Nigeria N850m with 57,759 students and University of Calabar N1.250bn with
29, 357 students. Also, our findings revealed that
of the 40 federal varsities, 13 were left out. They include: Federal University, Gashua; Federal
University, Dutse, Jigawa; Federal University,
Dutsin-ma, Katsina; Federal University, Kashere,
Gombe; Federal University, Lafia, Nassarawa;
Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi; Federal University,
Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi; Federal University, Otuoke, Bayelsa; Federal University, Wukari, Taraba;
Federal University, Birnin-Kebbi, Kebbi; Federal
University, Gusau, Zamfara; Federal University, Oye
Ekiti, Ekiti and Police Academy, Wudil, Kano State. While of the 39 state varsities, Bukar Abba
Ibrahim University, Damaturu, Yobe; Northwest
University, Kano; Sokoto State University, Sokoto;
Tai Solarin University of Education; Ijebu-Ode,
Ogun and Technical University, Ibadan, Oyo State,
were left out. With about 18 public universities left out of this
distributed funds, what is the guarantee that their
local ASUU chapters won’t shut-down their
schools within the shortest period to fight for
their share? Minister’s sack makes no difference
Following the sack of Minister for Education, Prof.
Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i last Wednesday,
stakeholders in the education sector have said
that the sack will not make a difference in the
sector. ASUU President, Dr. Nasir Fagge, in a phone
interview, said: “I am not too sure whether the
minister’s sack will have much of an effect on the
sector but we’d just have to wait and see. She did
her best at the beginning of her tenure, but as we
realised in our talks with government on the ongoing ASUU strike, she wasn’t really on top of
the situation. She kept on referring to the
Secretary to the Government and other
government officials on issues pertaining to the
2009 agreement.” The National Secretary, Colleges of Education
Academic Staff Union (COEASU), Mr. Ade Adepoju,
he believes the minister’s sack will not resolve the
crisis facing the sector. “She didn’t perform woefully as her hands were
more or less tied. It is government that is
responsible for the policies in the sector as well as
budgetary allocation to education. Even if you
bring in an angel as the new minister, that person
will still have the same problems as Rufa’I because the challenges prevailing in the sector
have been on long before she came into office. It
is only when stakeholders come together to put
heads together that these issues can be resolved.” The Coordinator, NANS, Zone D, Mr. Adeyemo
Monsur said: “I have mixed feelings about this; if
she is replaced with someone who can bring
about positive results in the sector, that is a good
thing. But if the next person who comes in still
makes a mess of the sector, then nothing good has come out of it. Also, we must understand that
the problem facing the education sector is
beyond the sacking and appointment of
ministers; government must realise that before
the sector can move forward, there has to be
adequate funding of education.” Disbandment of ASUU Meanwhile, ASUU has described, as laughable, the
call by Most Rev. Okoh, for the disbandment of
the national union. Pointing out that the union is
duly registered, ASUU Chairman, University of
Lagos chapter, Karo Ogbinaka, and the Ibadan
Zonal Chairman, Dr. Adesola Nassir separately said disbanding the union would not resolve the
problems in the sector. “Rather than call for our disbandment,
government should make known its short and
long-term plans of funding education so that we
don’t keep repeating the same issue over and
over again. Anyone calling for the disbandment of
the union must be on helium as the union is fighting for the good of the university system,”
they said. Accept the N130bn and go back to the classroom
According to the NANS President, Comrade Yinka
Gbadebo, rather than continuing the strike, ASUU
should seek plan ‘B’, which is ‘to file a legal suit
against government, return to the classroom and
resume negotiations with government.’ “We wish to categorically state here that it has
become imperative for the government and ASUU
to understand the position of Nigerian students in
the tripod that constitutes the varsity community,
which is management, teachers and students. “Having taken a holistic review of the details
inherent in the agreement as signed by FG and
ASUU, it has become germane for us to call on
ASUU to reconsider its present adamant stand on
the continued closure of our universities. “We must, as Nigerians, accept that the problem
with our universities have developed over decades
and would, therefore, be unimaginable that ASUU,
with its present stance, wants it totally resolved
within the spate of four years that this agreement
was signed.” Collective agreement In the same vein, Ogbinaka said the members
have worked for their earned allowances and
therefore, should be paid what is due them. “Based on the collective agreement between
ASUU and government, we have worked for three
and a half years without being paid our
allowances. This is not free money as some
people would want to believe but our sweat, so
we should be paid what we deserve.” Describing the claim to have released the N130bn
intervention fund to universities as fraudulent, the
ASUU Ibadan Zonal Chairman, Nassir said what
government did was to hijack the resources of
TETFUND which already belonged to varsities as
intervention fund. He explained: “Aside hijacking TETFUND,
government is offering N30bn and is asking
Governing Councils of varsities to source for the
remaining funds. If we agree to this, it invariably
means that the buck would lie on the students
and their parents. By hijacking the resources of TETFUND, government has automatically blocked
the regular intervention of TETFUND to varsities,
and this is fraudulent. Despite its claim,
government is yet to release a dime of the
amount other than the letters written to the
Governing Councils of universities by the National Universities Commission (NUC).”
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