The President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd), has said the Federal Government remains committed to honouring promises made to the Academic Staff Union of Universities to prevent disruptive strikes, engender uninterrupted academic programmes and improve funding of education institutions.
He also appealed to the academic body to be cognizant of the fiscal pressures that the government was currently facing.
Buhari made the pledge on Tuesday in Abuja while receiving members of the Nigeria Inter-Religious Council led by the co-chairs, the Sultan of Sokoto, Muhammad Abubakar III, and the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Dr Samson Ayokunle.
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, disclosed this in a statement titled, ‘President Buhari promises to honour agreement with ASUU’.
The President, who commended the leadership of NIREC for intervening in the year-long strike by ASUU and holding consultations with the parties, said no society that wishes itself well would neglect its educational system and all its component parts.
He told NIREC that in its subsequent consultation with members of ASUU, it was important that it should share with the lecturers that the government regarded them very highly and the service they provide to the nation.
Buhari said, “However, they should be cognizant of the fiscal pressures that we are currently facing. Nevertheless, we remain committed to honouring our promises.
“For their part, I would like to encourage ASUU to continue to work with us towards finding resolutions to the challenges that confront us.
“My administration is committed to this engagement and dialogue, and I urge them to stay the course towards a joint resolution in the best interest of our children and nation.”
Responding to concerns raised by the leadership of NIREC on finding sustainable solutions to the perennial and disruptive strikes that threaten the sanctity and integrity of the nation’s university system, Buhari said he had directed his Chief of Staff, as well as the ministers of Labour and Employment and Education to prioritise resolving the issue.
He also explained that several payments had been made over the last six months to address several of the issues raised by the union.
The President added that funds had been provided for infrastructure development across several public universities and several of them had begun drawing down on the facility to improve their level of infrastructure.
“Finally, and perhaps the most contentious of issues is that regarding the decision to use either the Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System or the University Transparency Accountability Solutions.
“As you may be aware, the IPPIS was introduced as a means of blocking leakages. Through the IPPIS, the Federal Government was able to save over N100bn annually from the core civil service alone. In view of the resistance from ASUU, we devised the UTAS, which is now on the table.
“I have also been informed that the System Assessment Report conducted by NITDA has been shared by the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy to all stakeholders, including ASUU, and they are to make the appropriate modifications and report their recommendations.”
Speaking on behalf of the council, the CAN President said the meeting with Buhari was meant to avert strikes in the universities and address the challenges of ASUU, which were considered to be in the national interest.
Ayokunle told the President that from NIREC’s meeting with ASUU on January 10, 2022, the university lecturers outlined that the bone of contention between them and the Federal Government as eight issues, including inconclusive renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement, UTAS, IPPIS and distortion in salary payment.
According to him, other contentious issues are visitation panels to federal universities, funding of the revitalisation of public universities, earned academic allowance, state universities and promotion arrears.
The NIREC leadership, while acknowledging that some of the issues had been addressed by the government, appealed to the President to direct the immediate return to the table to conclude the re-negotiation of the 2009 agreement.
