Clement Idoko, Author at Tribune Online

THE Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU) has called on the Federal Government to pay University professors N800,000 as against the N1.2 million negotiated by the Nimi Briggs committee. News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the proposal was made during a meeting with the Federal Government on Tuesday in Abuja. The proposal represented about 50 percent salary increase as against the 23 percent increase being proposed by the Federal Government. The committee also set up a sustainable peace team of elders to resolve the lingering impasse between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). According to NAN report, this was confirmed by the former Secretary-General of CVCNU and co-ordinator of the team, Professor Michael Faborode, on Tuesday in Abuja through ‘The Sustainable Peace Team Working Paper’. Faborode said that the goal of the team was not to allow the current impasse in the ASUU strike to linger as its toll on all stakeholders and the nation had been colossal. Faborode said that to arrive at the final list, no serving vice chancellor or pro-chancellor is included and membership was based on the record of service as recorded by the CVCNU. ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE How I Slept With Girl After Deliverance Session To Exorcise Spirit Of Death From Her —Pastor Five Signs Your Partner Is Cheating Husband Impregnates 15-Year-Old Niece: Who Bears The Shame? What To Eat During Pregnancy TUESDAY FLAT OUT: Wike, South And The Sword In Ayu’s Hand EDITORIAL: UAE’s Expanding Non-Oil Trade He said that the team comprised former vice-chancellor, University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), Professor Jibril Aminu; former vice-chancellor, University of Ibadan (UI), Emeritus Professor Olufemi Bamiro; president, Academy of Science, Professor Ekanem Braide and former pro-chancellor, University of Calabar (UNICAL), Dr Nkechi Nwagogu. Other members of the team are former vice-chancellor, Nnamdi Azikiwe University (UNIZIK), Professor Joe Ahaneku; former vice chancellor, Federal University, Dutse, Professor Fatima Mukhtar and former Vice Chancellor of University of Uyo (UNIUYO), Professor Akpan Ekpo. Also in the team are Secretary General, Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU), Professor Yakubu Ochefu and former Secretary General, CVCNU and former vice chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Professor Michael Faborode. He said, “We should not fold our arms and watch our ‘house’ collapse on us as elders. So, we should speak or act now. We do not have any other industry other than the university system. “Whatever can be done to bring all the actors to reason and broker peace using the Professor Briggs committee recommendations as the fulcrum will be worth the effort. A lot had been done already and such patriotic efforts should not be wasted nor despised.” Faborode said that the “Peace Team of Elders” would operate under the auspices of the CVCNU/CPC, noting that both the Federal Government and ASUU are being reached to accept the intervention of the independent team of elders. He said, “How do we engage with the Nimi Briggs committee? I am personally in touch with the chairman and he feels the outstanding issues are not insurmountable. “These include Federal Government raising its offer of salary increase from 23 per cent to may be 50 per cent that will ensure a professor receives up to N800,000 monthly as opposed to the negotiated N1.2 million. “Also, the review of the decision on salaries during strike to a mid-position, not zero per cent nor 100 percent as ASUU wants. How can we further this admonition to both sides? “Fundamentally, the following facts should be noted: the subsisting condition of Nigerian higher education is unacceptable and inconsistent with the economic development roles envisaged for them. “Things have been allowed to deteriorate for too long. This must be halted by all as we embark on an integrated revitalisation agenda in the education sector, in the interest of our economic development.” FG can only afford 35% increment for professors, 23.5% for others, may reverse position on ‘no work no pay’ ―Minister Meanwhile, the Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, has said on the offer made by the government to ASUU and other staff unions, the Federal Government could only afford a 23.5 percent salary increase for all categories of the workforce in federal universities, except for professorial cadre which will enjoy a 35 per cent upward review. This is just as the Federal Government constituted a 14-member committee to further look into the issue of withheld salaries of the striking ASUU as a result of no work, no pay policy of the government. The committee, which is chaired by the Minister of Education, is also to review other outstanding issues, including the proposed salary increase for university workers flowing from the recommendation of Professor Nimi Briggs led renegotiation committee on 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement. The Minister of Education, who spoke through the Director, Press and Public Relations, Mr Ben Bem Goong, on the outcome of the meeting with the pro-chancellors and vice-chancellors of Federal Universities held at the National Universities Commission (NUC), said the report of the committee would be presented to President Muhammadu Buhari in the coming days. The committee which has the Minister of Education as chairman has four pro-chancellors and five vice chancellors as members. Members of the committee are Professor Nimi Briggs, Professor Olu Obafemi, Senator Udo Udoma, Alhaji Bashir Dalhatu as pro-chancellors. It also has the vice-chancellors of the universities of Ibadan, Nsuka, Benin and Ahmadu Bello University (ABU), Zaria, respectively. Others are the presidents of Academy of Letters, Science, Medicine, Science and Social Sciences. The Registrar, Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Is-haq Oloyede, and Executive Secretary of National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Abubakar Rasheed are also members of the committee. Adamu, however, said the issue of University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) as the payment platform for university lecturers was not discussed at the meeting, adding that it was also not part of the issues the 14-member committee would tackle. He added that henceforth, allowances that pertain to ad hoc duties of the academic and non-academic staff shall be paid as and when due by the governing councils of universities to which such services are rendered and to the staff who perform them. FG to make provision for N150bn revitalisation fund in 2023 budget Adamu added that “A sum of N150 billion shall be provided for in the 2023 Budget as funds for the revitalisation of federal universities, to be disbursed to the institutions in the first quarter of the year, and “That a sum of N50 billion shall be provided for in the 2023 Budget for the payment of outstanding areas of earned academic allowances, to be paid in the first quarter of the year,” he said. Salary increase without collective bargaining unacceptable ―ASUU In its reaction, the ASUU has insisted that it will not accept any form of salary increase by the Federal Government without subjecting it to the principle of collective bargaining in line with the provisions of the labour law. Chairman of ASUU, University of Abuja chapter, Dr Kassim Umaru, told the Nigerian Tribune that what government is saying is not an offer that could be accepted by ASUU, saying the Federal Government should sign and implement the recommendations of the Professor Nimi Briggs renegotiation committee that exploited the principle of collective bargaining. He noted that there were a lot of compromises during the engagement with the ASUU by the Nimi Committee making it the most reliable report that the union could work with.