The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) Wednesday asked the federal government to address pending issues and meet its expectations to avert another avoidable crisis in the university system.
They insisted that the negative impact of government lethargy to the needs of the University and poor funding have discouraged young, vibrant, intelligent young Nigerians from wanting to be lecturers.
The Chairman, University of Ibadan chapter of the union, Prof. Ayo Akinwole, made the statements in a New Year message in Ibadan.
The ASUU chairman said the pending issues included the withheld 3½ months salaries and the third party deductions owed to the union members.
“It is expected that the withheld 3½ months salaries and third party deductions owed our members should be paid forthwith.
“We also expect that the Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) should be released, just as we expect that the funding for the revitalisation of the universities should be released in accordance with the FGN-ASUU MoU of 2012, 2013, and the MoA of 2017,” he said.
Akinwole added that “in the absence of visible and concrete efforts at addressing the pending issues and meeting our expectations, there is likely to be a long-drawn confrontation between our union and the federal government, which will probably lead to another round of untold avoidable crisis in the university system in Nigeria.”
The ASUU chairman frowned at the planned elimination of TETFUND under the tax administration bill, adding that this will kill the little infrastructural funding which TETFUND has been executing at tertiary institutions since 2003.
“This misbegotten policy will have huge and adverse implications for the university system in Nigeria.
“This is, no doubt, an attempt to destroy the major source of infrastructural funding for already struggling public tertiary institutions.”
“It is also an attempt to commodify university education in Nigeria. A part of the tax administration bill proposes eliminating the education tax, to be replaced by a development levy.”
