By Okhide Em’ya David.
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Ambrose Alli University (AAU), Chapter Ekpoma, says the Union is highly justified for embarking on ongoing nation-wide strike as it would ‘encourage’ government to review its neo-liberal nonchalant strategy to commercialize education and neglect adequate funding of Public Universities.
ASUU also said Government should be adequately confronted for its plan to raise the cost of education beyond the reach of the vast poor majority of Nigerians.
In a statement released in Benin City on Friday and signed by Dr. Monday Igbafen, the Chairperson of ASUU AAU Ekpoma Chapter, the Union tasked all stakeholders in the education sector, particularly the students and parents on the need to join the patriotic struggle to defend adequate funding of education in the country,.
ASUU, added that the ongoing strike is also a veritable motif to bring about quality education in the country.
The Union said in the statement that: “Nigerians should bear with us. ASUU is doing their battle. Our Union is struggling to ensure that the children of the poor, who cannot afford the prohibitive cost paid in private universities or do not have opportunities to study outside Nigeria, get quality education which is not priced beyond their reach”.
ASUU said “This will only happen when government adequately funds public universities and addresses the rot and decay in them.”
The statement accused some leaders in government of gross insensitivity to the sad realities in public universities, the reason being that their children are not in Nigerian universities but schooling in foreign universities.
The ASUU alleged that “this is responsible for the obvious lack of committed interest and concern of the government to the earnest resolution of the issues which led to the ongoing strike.’
The Statement observed that the Union had granted substantial concession in its demands to pave way for easy and quick resolution of the crisis, and described the attitude and approach of the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige to the earnest resolution of the strike as falling short of expectation of a concerned Minister.
ASUU chairperson further said: “While the Union had shifted positions in some respects, namely for instance, the reduction of one tranche (N220b) of the outstanding revitalization fund by 50%. The union has also agreed that N30b out of the so far verified arrears of N40b of the earned academic allowances (EAA) should be paid while the balance of N10b could be spread over the next two tranches. There is also steady progress on other issues”.
He added however that what has stalled meaningful dialogue was government’s insistence that payment of the withheld salaries and other entitlements of ASUU members would only be effected through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
Igbafen insisted on the Union’s irrevocable opposition against IPPIS, adding that government should release all what is due to the members of the Union and the Union itself without the conditionality of IPPIS.
Meanwhile, ASUU AAU Ekpoma Chapter has called on the Edo State Government to urgently intervene in the crisis of payment of staff salaries in Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma to avoid the prolongation or continuation of the ongoing nation-wide strike in the university after the eventual resolution of the strike at the national level.
The branch chairperson who painted a sad story of the trauma the staff of the university are passing through as a result of non-payment of salaries for four months running and check-off dues and other deductions in the university since March this year, expressed worries over the seeming silence of the state government on the matter.
Igbafen strongly advised that the salary crisis in the university should, in this period of nation-wide strike, be sorted out to avoid the continual keeping of students of the University at home after the end of the nation-wide strike.
