FG, ASUU sign pact

Written by Duncan Thursday, 22 October 2009

University teachers and the Federal Government yesterday signed the contentious 2001 renegotiated agreement, ending the standoff that has been behind the closure since June of most universities  in the country.

Details of the agreement were not made public at the end of the signing in Abuja, but a top ASUU official told Daily Trust that under the new pact, the teachers got a pay raise slightly above the 40 per cent earlier offered by the Federal Government, and ASUU accepted the new offer “for now” because the government pleaded that it has financial constraints.

The Federal Government also dropped its earlier position that ASUU must negotiate with university governing councils. Thus, pro-chancellor of the University of Maiduguri and chairman of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors Dr. Wale Babalakin signed on behalf of all councils of Federal universities. Deacon Gamaliel Onosode signed the agreement on behalf of the government while ASUU President Professor Ukachukwu Awuzie signed for the lecturers.

Also, the agreement serves as minimum funding standard for anyone who establishes a university in Nigeria including state governments and private bodies.

The agreement contains a ‘no victimisation’ clause, which means no one who took part in the strike would be penalised.

With the signing of the new agreement, the National Executive Committee of ASUU will meet and announce the calling off of the industrial action. No date has, however, been fixed for the NEC meeting.

ASUU had been on strike since June, demanding higher wages, autonomy and increased funding for universities as well as increase of retirement age from 60 to 70 years. Negotiations with the Federal Government broke off, and later interventions by vice chancellors, pro-chancellors and chancellors all failed to end the strike.

Present at yesterday’s signing ceremony were Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, who helped broker the truce that led to the suspension of the strike two weeks ago, Education Minister Sam Egwu, Minister of State for Education Aishatu Dukku and Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission Professor Julius Okojie. Past presidents of ASUU were also present while members of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) served as witnesses to the signing of the agreement.

Awuzie declined to comment on the details of the agreement saying that the most important thing was that a solution had been found. “It is not really important what the grey areas are, the important thing is that we have signed the agreement. We have overcome any difficulty, any problems and arrived at where we are going,” he said.

“Of course, you know that in collective bargaining, there is give and take. Because we are all patriots, we want the best for this country. So, all of us had to make compromises here and there and at the end we have an agreement which we have now signed.”

He added: “The key thing is that we have signed the agreement and left the worst stage; the stage of collective bargaining. We have finished with that and proceed to the next stage which is the implementation of the agreement. Signing agreement is one thing, implementing agreement is another one. We are hoping and we are confident that all parties will keep their part and will move education forward.”

He said only the ASUU NEC will give a date for calling off of the strike, adding that a NEC meeting would be called “very soon.”

Awuzie said there will be no conflict between state and federal universities because the agreement created a benchmark for every university.

On his part, Egwu said both government and ASUU had to make concessions in the best interest of the nation.

“We talked about the issue of autonomy, the issue of conditions of service, we talked about retirement age, talked about the entire funding of the university system. All these areas were discussed and we tried to make concessions. ASUU shifted grounds in the original position and government shifted grounds in the original position. We had to meet at a point so that we move forward,” he said.

Oshiomhole said both parties exhibited a high sense of patriotism, and thanked President Umaru Yar’adua for the opportunity given to him to intervene in the standoff.

“I think it came out very well. Like what I said before, there is no substitute to dialogue. I agree that what has happened today has shown that we have a president that is clearly a statesman and like a statesman, he has put the country first. We have seen a president who was ready to reverse himself to show flexibility to make additional concession without which the whole process wouldn’t have worked.

“I think ASUU had also demonstrated a level of patriotism, that at the end of the day we all mean well. We might not appreciate the same style and all of that but Nigeria is all that we have and at the end of the day we are all patriots. I think ASUU has also demonstrated that today.

“Now the challenge is to ensure that this time around, that this agreement is implemented to the letter so that next time, ASUU and government won’t have this crisis of confidence. I think that accounted for the prolonged disputation and I am satisfied,” he said.