Minister Lists ASUU’s Demands Already Met By Nigerian Government

Minister Lists ASUU’s Demands Already Met By Nigerian Government

The Nigerian government has highlighted several key demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) that it claims to have addressed. These demands, which had been a source of prolonged strikes and disruptions in Nigerian public universities, have been a focal point for negotiations.

Education Minister Tahir Mamman, a professor, outlined some of the fulfilled demands during a briefing on Thursday, emphasizing the government’s efforts under President Bola Tinubu.

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ASUU’s Demands

In its most recent industrial action lasting eight months in 2022, ASUU, the largest academic staff union in Nigeria, articulated several major demands. These included autonomy for public universities, increased funding, settlement of outstanding academic allowances, and a raise in remuneration for its members.

During the strike, which involved at least three workers’ unions in universities, the former administration of Muhammadu Buhari implemented a No-Work-No-Pay policy and maintained it until the end of his tenure. The unions participating in the strike comprised the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), and the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), among others.

When ASUU declined to suspend its strike concurrently with other unions, Mr. Buhari’s government took legal action against ASUU. The court subsequently ordered the union to halt its industrial action, which had already endured for eight months.

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Govt address demands

However, during a press briefing on Thursday, Mr. Mamman announced that the federal government has implemented a 35 percent salary increase for workers in public tertiary institutions. Additionally, in line with Mr. Tinubu’s directive, four of the eight months’ withheld salaries of certain workers during last year’s industrial action have been disbursed.

Mr. Mamman further stated that the government has granted autonomy to universities by removing them from the Integrated Payment and Payroll Information System (IPPIS). Autonomy has also been extended to the recruitment of staff.

The education minister emphasized the commitment of the Tinubu administration to addressing issues causing intermittent disruptions in academic activities at public tertiary institutions. He highlighted that the achieved resolutions resulted from informal consultations with unions in the tertiary education sector.

”No Nigerian would be happy with the epileptic delivery of academic activities in our tertiary institutions occasioned by long-unresolved agreements,” he said.

“Under the guidance of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu GCFR, we engaged in informal consultations with the tertiary institutions-based unions and have begun to build trust as exemplified by the resolution of (a) 35 per cent increase in salaries of workers in our tertiary institutions; (b) 4 months payment of salaries for the 8 months they were on strike in 2022; (c) Removal from the Integrated Payment and Payroll Information System; (d) Granting autonomy for recruitment.”

The education minister also provided assurance to Nigerians and the unions that his ministry would work in collaboration with the Ministry of Finance and the Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation to guarantee the implementation of the announced resolutions.

Furthermore, Mr. Mamman shared that policies aimed at tackling the prevalent issue of sexual harassment in tertiary institutions are currently in progress to establish a secure learning environment.

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