ASUU Breaking News This Evening, Oct. 22
Evening evening! Brainnews is back with the latest on the ASUU Strike this evening before you retire to bed.
Below is the latest on ASUU Strike:
1. Strike: Again, FG, ASUU disagree on payment platform
The meeting between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities deadlocked again on Wednesday, following the disagreement over the payment platform that would be used in disbursing the salary arrears and the N30 billion Earned Allowance of the university lecturers.
The FG team led by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, had offered to pay the salary arrears and the N30 billion Earned Allowances of the university lecturers through the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System platform pending the roll-out of ASUU’s preferred platform, the University Transparency and Accountability Solution.
But the ASUU delegation led by its National President, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, reportedly insisted that the university lect would not enrol on the government salary platform.
2. ASUU strike now anti-people
The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has been on its latest strike since March 23, 2020. Prolonged strikes have been part of the unenviable traditions of the Union. They date back to the 1970s, and this has contributed in no little way in devaluing tertiary education in Nigeria, part of the very objectives that the frequent strikes are out to promote.
These strikes have frustrated the academic pursuits of Nigerian students, especially the children and wards of the middle and lower economic classes seeking education and knowledge as a means of escaping poverty and destitution. Students lose many years of their youthful lives staying idle at home. Many are forced to abandon education altogether.
3. Strike: N30bn earned allowance to be shared between ASUU, NASU, SSANU, others — FG
The federal government has said that the contentious earned allowances, promised to be released for the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), will also be shared with non-academic staff unions.
A meeting between the negotiating teams of the government and ASUU, last week, held to put a stop to the six-month old strike, resolved that a sum of N30 billion will be paid as part of the unpaid earned allowance to workers.
Meanwhile, after a meeting with representatives of the non-academics on Wednesday, it was agreed that the monies will be shared between the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), and Non Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU).
“On the matter of non-payment of earned allowances, the meeting resolved that the recipients of the N30 billion, earlier agreed on with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), would include all the unions in the university sector,” said the spokesperson of the Ministry of Labour, Charles Akpan Wednesday.
Mr Allan said that the unions would work with the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation, National University Commission (NUC) and Federal Ministry of Education to achieve that by the end of December 2020.