Strike: ASUU Disagrees With FG On Exclusion Of State Varsities From Pay Raise

The impasse between the Federal Government and the striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is on the verge of taking an ugly turn as the Federal Ministry of Education has insisted on excluding state universities from the proposed agreement with the union.

Speaking to Punch in an interview in Abuja on Wednesday, the spokesman of the Federal Ministry of Education, Ben Goong claimed that state universities were on the concurrent list as such, matters regarding education in the institutions could not be dictated by the federal government.

When asked whether the proposed agreement would be binding on all universities in Nigeria, Goong said “The agreement between the Federal Government is not binding on state universities. Education is on the concurrent list, the Federal Government cannot tell states what to do when it comes to the management of their institutions.

“Any agreement made with ASUU is only binding on the institutions owned by the Federal Government. The state government will handle their own institutions.”

The committee set up by the federal government, led by the Pro-Chancellor of the Federal University of Lokoja, Prof. Nimi Briggs, had reportedly suggested a 180 per cent increase in the salaries of lecturers but this was said to have been countered by a 100 per cent raise by the government.

It was also gathered that relevant ministries, Budget Office of the Federation, Office of the Head of Service of the Federation and the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission were yet to give final details of the said proposal.

Reacting to the government's stance on the pay rise excluding state universities, the President of ASUU, Emmanuel Osodeke said the union is a body, adding that anyone dealing with state and federal universities differently is ignorant.

“I don’t know who you spoke to but that person doesn’t know what he is saying. I can tell you that the renegotiation team is made up of pro-chancellors of state and federal universities. So, how can anyone say the agreement won’t be binding on state universities? The person doesn’t know what he is saying,” he said.

He maintained that since state and federal universities have been funded by relevant bodies including TETFUND  as a union, the issue of salary payment should not separate them.  

‘Whenever ASUU is on strike, it is not about state ASUU or federal ASUU. We have one ASUU representing all universities in the country; those schools that are not participating in the strike are not our members.

‘‘The issue of salary should be left to the union to decide because when there was minimum wage adjustment, both federal and state schools were a part of it; even TETFund, it funds both state and federal institutions. Do we have a federal NUC or a state NUC?

‘"The issue of salary negotiation is exclusive to the union. If a state can increase it, good; but we have one university system in Nigeria, and the state cannot even pay lesser than what the Federal Government is paying," he added. 

Members of ASUU embark on industrial action on February 14, 2022, due to the failure of the government to meet their demands.

The five-month-old strike was on Monday extended by four weeks to give the government more time to grant the union's requests.