You
could say it again: the negotiations over the last Academic Staff Union
of Universities (ASUU) strike, were perhaps, the most arduous in the
history of strikes in Nigeria.
Initially, the President, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, did not want to be involved directly. He only wanted to do so through proxies.
It
started with Governor Gabriel Suswam-led universities Needs Assessment
Implementation Committee and later Namadi Sambo-led mediation committee,
none of which succeeded in brokering agreements that could bring an end
to the strike.
Much
later, the Senate led by its President, David Mark, dismissed the 2009
agreement between the Federal Government and the striking union as
unrealistic, while the House of Representatives offered to approve a
budgetary intervention to enable ASUU end the strike.
The
Speaker, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, who was briefed by the Aminu
Suleiman-led House Committee on Education asked to investigate and
recommend solution appealed to the warring parties to resolve the issues
involved in the interest of the students and the educational future of
the nation. None of the arguments cut an ice with ASUU.
Crisis
of confidence occasioned by unguarded remarks on the part of government
negotiators, and suspicion, on the part of ASUU national officials led
by the President, Dr. Nasir Isa Fagge, leading to prolonged impasse,
eventually made Jonathan to personally wade into the matter, after ASUU
had refused to call off the strike despite his pleas to it to do so, in
many a public forum.
Setting the stage for a fruitful discussion
Whereas
the Federal Government delegation led by Jonathan had on its team, the
Vice President, Namadi Sambo, the Secretary to the Government of the
Federation (SGF), Anyim Pius Anyim, Chief of Staff to the President,
Mike Oghiadomhe, Coordinating Minister and Minister of Finance, Dr.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, supervising Minister of Education, Ezenwo Nyesom
Wike, Minister of Labour and Productivity, Emeka Wogu; National
Universities Commission (NUC), Executive Secretary, Prof. Julius Okojie
and other presidential aides, including Dr. Reuben Abati, Special
Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, the ASUU nine-man team
led by Dr. Fagge, included former ASUU Presidents like Prof. Dipo
Fashina and Prof. Festus Iyayi, President, Nigeria Labour Congress
(NLC), Abduwaheed Omar; President, Trade Union Congress (TUC), Boboyi
Kaigama, Prof. Abdullahi Sule-Kano and Suleiman Abdul, among others.
Earlier
while entering the conference room, Jonathan had said, in the course of
exchanging pleasantries with Dr. Fagge: “My President, I am sure the
problem will be over today. Our children must go back to school.” And,
when he got to where Omar was seated, he said: “My President, with you
here, it is signed and sealed.”
So,
what was it that was discussed afterward that brought us to the stage
where we are now? Both officials of ASUU and government representatives
had kept sealed lips on the details of discussion and outcome of the
13-hour marathon meeting which started at 2.40 pm last Monday, and was
adjourned about 7pm for a 15-minute break before being reconvened later
in the evening and continuing into about 3am of the following day.
But
Education Review understands from source close to the Presidency that
after more banters inside the conference room, the meeting kicked off on
a more earnest note with the President expressing his wish to see the
end of the strike and to do anything within his power, to make whatever
concessions he can to break the deadlock so that universities can be
re-opened.
Reminding
the audience of the various efforts he’d made and committees he set up
to resolve the crisis, including the Suswam and Namadi Sambo-led
committees, the President was said to have argued that they showed his
earnest desire to have the issues involved resolved amicably so that
students and staff can go back to school. But he had to personally take
it upon himself, to come in, he said, when stalemates ensued.
Reiterating the commitment of his administration to adequately fund the
universities and provide the necessary infrastructures to aid the
education sector, he added that that was why he was anxious to see the
matter resolved by inviting stakeholders present to the meeting at the
State House. He noted that his administration is as concerned as ASUU,
about the state of infrastructures in our universities and is determined
to see that something is done about the situation within the limited
resources available. It was because of this, he said, that he approved
the setting up of the Needs Assessment Implementation Committee as well
as the creation of TETFund (Tertiary Education Trust Fund) from the
former ETF (Education Trust Fund).
Government
has also increased the budget of education progressively from N234.8
billion in 2010 to N426.5 billion in 2013 with N55.74 billion allocated
to the university sub-sector alone, he said.
Responding,
Fagge while thanking the President for the gestures, was said to have,
however, expressed his misgivings over what he calls the efforts of
Federal government’s functionaries/representatives to blackmail the
union by misrepresenting the facts of the case to the Nigerian public on
the government’s inability to honour and implement the Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) reached with the union in 2009.
Meeting points
It
will be recalled that the agreements ASUU signed with the Federal
government in 2009 included funding requirements for revitalisation of
the Nigerian universities; Federal government assistance to state
universities; establishment of NUPEMCO and progressive increase in
annual budgetary allocation to education to 26 per cent between 2009 and
2020; and earned allowances.
In
the agreement, ASUU had demanded for N1.5 trillion within a spate of
three years from the federal government for the funding of universities
outside the normal yearly budgetary allocation.
Aside
the N1.5 trillion funds for universities from 2009-2011, ASUU equally
demanded for ‘Earned Allowance’ outside its conventional monthly
emoluments. They include allowances for the following: postgraduate
supervision allowance, teaching practice/ industrial supervision/field
trip allowance and honoraria for external / internal examiner. Others
are honoraria for external moderation of undergraduate and postgraduate
examination, post-graduate study grant, external assessment of readers
or professors, call duty/clinical duty / clinic hazard, responsibility
allowance and excess workload allowance.
But
during last Monday’s talks with the President, sources privy to the
meeting said that Fagge reportedly recalled that an Implementation
Monitoring Committee for the 2009 agreement, made up of two members
representing the Committee of Pro-Chancellors, The Chairman, Committee
of Vice-Chancellors, one member representing the NUC Secretary, one
member representing the Federal Ministry of Education, five members
representing ASUU, NAAT, SSANU, NASU, one representative of the Senate
Committee on Education, one representative of the House of Committee on
Education, Chairman, Pro-Chancellor of State Universities, and Chairman,
Committee of Vice-Chancellors of State Universities was set up and
wondered why ASUU was being demonized over its reference to the state
universities in the course of its agitation over the implementation of
the 2009 agreement.
In
addition, he was said to have politely begged to disagree with the
President’s remarks during the his media chat in October that the major
reason for the strike which he (the President) said, has been
politicised, is the N79 billion Earned Allowance arrears. He argued that
contrary to the government propaganda and misinformation, the strike
was for the betterment of university education in the country, which he
noted was in shambles.
Following
apologies, assurances and corrections over mirespresentations and
misconceptions of public speeches, the meeting reportedly went into a
prolonged negotiation over the main agenda: the contentious 2009 Govt/
ASUU agreement. It was after exhaustive deliberations and negotiations
that ran into hours that Jonathan offered N220 billion per annum over
the next five years. He was also said to have withdrawn the no-work,
no-pay threat, even as he assured the union that his administration was
not thinking of forcefully reopening the universities, contrary to the
rumours making the rounds in the media. The President also promised to
personally sign the new MoU that will be reached, after the meeting of
ASUU’s NEC (National Executive Council).
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