The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has rejected its inclusion in the Federal Government’s newly launched Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Fund, describing the move as an attempt to “conscript the union as guarantor of loans it knows nothing about.”
This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end of its National Executive Council meeting held at Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto, and signed by its president, Christopher Piwuna, on Tuesday.
ASUU maintained that rather than introduce loan schemes, the government should pay its members’ withheld salaries, which it described as more valuable to workers than loans.
The communiqué read, “NEC resolved to reject the ploy to conscript ASUU as guarantor of loans the union knows nothing about and demands that ASUU be delisted from the process.
“NEC also resolved to press for the release of the withheld three-and-a-half-month salaries of ASUU members instead of loans that will add little or no value to their lives.”
The union accused the government of deliberately stalling the implementation of key agreements, particularly the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN-ASUU pact.
“NEC calls on the government to fast-track the conclusion and implementation of the lingering renegotiation of the FGN-ASUU agreement by the Yayale Ahmed-led committee, guided by the principles of collective bargaining,” the communiqué added.
ASUU listed its unresolved disputes with the government to include conditions of service, funding, university autonomy, academic freedom, as well as the review of laws governing the National Universities Commission and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board.
Rising from the meeting, ASUU directed its members nationwide to prepare for simultaneous protests at all branches, accusing the Federal Government of failing to address outstanding issues.
“NEC discussed the state of the struggle and the government’s slow pace in addressing the issues in contention. Consequently, NEC resolved to organise protests across all the branches simultaneously on a fixed date.
“As part of the protest activities, press conferences would be held in all branches. The date for the said protests and press conferences would be communicated in due course,” the union stated.
Recall that the Federal Government, through the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, last week launched the TISSF, a zero per cent interest loan scheme for academic and non-academic staff of tertiary institutions to access up to ₦10m.
Eligibility requirements included at least five years left before retirement and membership of recognised staff associations such as ASUU, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions.
In a related development, the union disclosed plans to unveil a new accountability platform, the Tertiary Institutions Transparency and Accountability Solution (TITAS), which it said would replace the earlier University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).
ASUU noted that the product was already at an advanced stage, with many universities showing interest in adopting it to support their operations.
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