Gbenro Adesina
The long-awaited emergency meeting initiated by the National Universities Commission (NUC) between the Federal Government and the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian federal universities on ways to amicably resolve the FGN/ASUU impasse was held on Tuesday, September 6, 2022. Before the meeting, there was apprehension regarding whether the Federal Government in its usual autocratic manner will use the respected nation’s universities’ administrators to scuttle the genuine demands of ASUU, which are geared towards repositioning the nation’s universities for excellence and find their places among the Ivy League world universities. Also, the apprehension revolved around the courage of the VCs to face the Federal Government and tell it the basic truth it will not want to hear – better funding for education which will contribute to the navigation of Nigeria out of her current socio-political, economic and religious crises. Better funding of education will strengthen and energize the nation’s democracy, earning the nation the respect and dignity it deserves and restore the nation’s education back to the 60s and 70s as aspired by Mallam Adamu Adamu, the Minister of Education, in his welcome address at the emergency meeting.
PrimeStar News boldly notes that the Committee of Vice Chancellors has credibly played its part and rightly reiterated Nigerians’ expectations toward education, particularly, university education. No nation can grow above its educational system and the standard of education of a nation determines the quality and patriotism of its political leaders. As a way of taking a position, the political elites in Nigeria need to be prosecuted for destroying the nation’s educational system from kindergarten to university thereby paving way for the various social ills in the name of yahoo-yahoo, ritualism, banditry, ethnic and religious polarization, comatose state of health facilities, corruption, of which the public and civil servants take the lead.
Undoubtedly, if the Federal Government can be humble to heed the advice of the wise (Committee of VCs), then the revitalization of education has begun.
The CVCs in their mediating role appealed to both the Federal Government and ASUU to adopt a give-and-take option to resolve the lingering FGN-ASUU crisis. For instance, contrary to the government position, the CVCs appealed to the Federal Government to source funds to immediately pay N50 billion meant for the payment of Earned Allowances in line with the 2020 MoA to put a close to the 2009 FGN-ASUU. This will be a sign of goodwill and keeping faith with the 2020 MoA on the side of the government. It, however, appealed to ASUU to take the offer of the Federal Government on the N170 billion to complete one tranche of the needs Assessment Revitalization fund. The Federal Government has appealed to ASUU to be patient till next year for the N170 billion saying that it would accommodate it in the 2023 budget and that once the budget is passed, it shall be disbursed to universities.
According to a resolution paper the CVCs Chairman, Professor Sulayman A. Abdulkareem signed after the emergency meeting, the CVC was not comfortable with the unwillingness of the Federal Government to release the white paper on the 2021 Visitation Panels report saying, “Government should expedite action on the release of the white paper as soon as possible”.
The CVC knocked the Federal Government’s hard position on “no-work-no-pay” saying, “The position of the government on this item will create more damage to the system because the students would bear the brunt of ASUU’s response. Universities, because of the peculiar nature of their operations, must cover the scheme of work as provided by the curriculum. The CVC appeals to the Federal Government to reconsider its stand and pay the withheld salaries on compassionate grounds and especially in the interest of Nigerian students. The Government’s acceptance of this appeal would no doubt facilitate a quick resolution of the impasse.”
The CVC also informed the Federal Government of its support for salary adjustment considering, pointing out that it was ridiculous and unacceptable for lecturers in Polytechnics and Colleges of Education who are not in the professorial cadre, the apex cadre in academics to earn higher than professors.
It states, “CVC supports the call for salary adjustment, especially in the present dispensation where the templates used by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission and the IPPIS have depleted the salaries of academics and vice chancellors, to an all-time low. Chief lecturers in polytechnics and colleges of education now earn more than professors in universities. The proposal by the Nimi Briggs Committee should be revisited as their figures represent a better offer that will stem the tide of unrest in the universities. Financial autonomy should be extended to governing councils to allow them to determine the salaries of the staff in their various universities subject to a national minimum as agreed by all stakeholders.”
On the platform for paying universities’ lecturers, the CVC notes, “CVC is aware that a technical committee was set up by the Federal Government to subject the three platforms to integrity tests. The technical committee has since completed its assignment and its final report should be speedily acted upon. The updated platform must take care of the peculiarities of the universities as pointed out by the various unions.”
In its conclusion, the CVC pointed out, “CVC sympathizes with our students, parents and other stakeholders over the prolonged strike which is the second longest in our history. By 2023, it will be 50 years since academics first went on strike in Nigeria. It is evident that by the time we resolve this dispute, we will need to return to the table to re-think the philosophy of university education in Nigeria. It is funding and governance structure and the role each strategic stakeholder or partner will play. The public universities have in the past five months lost a substantial number of Nigerian academics who have resigned from their appointments and are taking on jobs outside academia or seeking more financially rewarding opportunities in other climes.
“Furthermore, the embargo on employment and other bureaucratic bottlenecks which universities are made to pass through in their process of recruitment to replenish existing vacancies is not helping the already bad staffing situation.
“As chief executives of our various institutions, we can only advise and caution our principals against a forceful reopening of universities as this would be most counterproductive. First, it must be noted that no Federal university was formally shut down. Second, the power to open or shut down a university is vested only in the Senate of each university. Third, any attempt to keep students on campus without their being fully engaged in academic and other activities may have disastrous consequences.
“We also note that the six months of industrial action has triggered unintended consequences such as prolonging the academic session, exhausted financial reserves, and creating two and in some cases, three backlogs of admission exercise. Many special equipment especially in our laboratories will need to be re-calibrated, physical facilities need to be renovated and electricity and water bills are outstanding. Given that many of us have not received their overheads, the government will need to support the universities with special grants for re-opening.
“We urge all parties to adopt a give-and-take option in the negotiations and employ decorum and decency in the language of communication. All hands must be on deck as we speak to make the required sacrifices for the sake of university education in Nigeria.”
