ASUU Strike: Federal Government Avoids Strike, Pays Lecturers

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The Federal Government has made a U-turn on its determination not to pay January salary of the staff of the federal universities, polytechnic and colleges of education, thereby aborting the nationwide strike billed to commence on Monday, February 3.

It is gathered that the Federal Government has decided to halt its enforcement mechanism for a month with a view that the issues surrounding the scheme would have been sorted out.
The rift between the academic staff of the federal institutions in Nigeria is as a result of the refusal of the academic staff to enrol under the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, IPPIS, scheme, claiming that it does not accommodate the peculiarities of the academic staff.
In a letter from the office of the Accountant General of the federation, signed by the Director of IPPIS, Olufehinti, O. J, dated January 21, 2020, and directed to the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, the Minister was ordered not to release funds for payment of January salaries of the tertiary institutions.
Sequel to this, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, directed its members nationwide to go on strike as soon as the Federal Government stops lecturers’ salaries.
However, a twist was introduced to the saga as staff of the universities today received their salaries for the month of January.
It is gathered that the staff of Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, and University of Ibadan, UI, have been paid January salaries.
Prior to the payment of salary, there was tension in the Premier University over the determination of ASUU not to allow the second semester’s examinations hold if the Federal Government kept its threat of not paying salaries until all the academic staff enrolled under the IPPIS.
Meanwhile, the Vice-Chancellor of the Premier University, Professor Abel Idowu Olayinka, has announced the commencement of the Second Semester’s Examination next Monday.

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Earlier: ASUU Mobilises Members for Strike

An indication emerged in Jos on Saturday that the Academic Staff Union of Universities [ASUU] has commenced mobilisation of its members across the country for a strike action.
The chairman of the University of Jos chapter of ASUU, Dr Lazarus Maigoro, gave this indication after a special congress of the body held behind close door at ASUU secretariat in University of Jos.
According to the branch chairman, Dr Maigoro, “We are just coming out of a special congress which was conveyed to review the extent to which the federal government has implemented the agreement it reached with ASUU since 2009
“After the review, we have realised that the federal government has reneged in most of the agreements, they have only implemented a part of it.
Recall that we embarked on strike in 2015 and had to suspend it later when the federal government promised to implement the agreement in full, reason we suspended the strike, but the federal government has failed to keep its promises to implement these agreements.”
He said, “Some of issues not implemented in the 1999 agreements include the issue of funding of the universities. For instance, in the agreement, there are modalities for the release of funds, there are timelines for the releases of funds to the universities; government only released N25 billion after the suspension of the strike and since then nothing has been released again.
“Then there is the issue of renegotiation of that 2009 agreement, what was signed in that agreement has to be reviewed every three years, but since it was signed in 2009, it has not been reviewed.
 “It is very unfortunate that government will often force ASUU to embark on strike before doing what is required of them, this one we are talking of an agreement they signed. So the next strike is not basically on IPPIS as Nigerians are already meant to believe, it is going to be on this pending breach of agreement.

However, the issue of IPPIS is a new development that also affects us and we have made our position known to the government.”