The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has raised an alarm over a purported plot to undermine the interests of public universities in Nigeria.
At the 2024 ASUU Heroes Day event in Abuja on Tuesday, ASUU’s National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, accused the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) of working relentlessly to destroy Nigeria’s public education system.
The union lamented the prolonged delay in renegotiating its 2009 agreement with the Federal Government, noting that despite several Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) and Memoranda of Action (MoAs), the ASUU-FGN 2009 Agreement had yet to be renegotiated and finalised.
Osodeke also decried the continued enforcement of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) in public universities, even after the Federal Executive Council announced plans to remove the system from tertiary institutions.
“Comrades, like in the past, this year’s celebration of our heroes also takes place as we continue the struggle to rescue Nigeria’s public universities from the suffocating clutches of the World Bank and the IMF, whose determination to destroy and bury our public university system has not abated,” Osodeke stated.
He continued: “It is rather lamentable that we are still struggling to compel the renegotiation of our 2009 Agreement with the federal government, twelve years after it should have been concluded, and after four rounds of failed negotiations. It is most disheartening and egregious that despite the several Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) and Memoranda of Action (MoAs), the ASUU-FGN 2009 Agreement is yet to be renegotiated and finalised.”
The ASUU president also expressed concern about the Federal Government’s continued withholding of the union’s three-and-a-half-month salaries, as well as arrears of wages, promotions, and the Earned Academic Allowance, which remain unresolved.
READ ALSO: FG Suspends 13 Federal Govt College Students Over Bullying Incident
“Let me re-emphasise that we stand with our members at Kogi State University, Lagos State University, Ebonyi State University, and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University in their persecution for their principled support and solidarity in the struggle to defend the soul of public university education in Nigeria,” Osodeke said.
The union also announced that, as part of the Heroes Day celebrations, it would be offering PhD grants to some of its members across various public universities in Nigeria.
“As part of our Heroes Day celebration, this year, and in line with the NDC decision, the union will be offering PhD grants to some of our members across various public universities in the country. The grants, valued at five hundred thousand naira per recipient, will be based on the rigorous assessment of their proposals by experts in their respective disciplines,” Osodeke added.
In addition to discussing the union’s ongoing struggles, Osodeke also commended ASUU members across the country for their “courageous comradeship and sacrifices to the cause of our union, which forever resonate with the emancipation of Nigerian public university education and the suffering Nigerian people.”
The event also saw the recognition of several individuals for their contributions to ASUU and the Nigerian education system. Those honoured included Prof. T. Uzodinma Nwala, Prof. Bright Ekuerhare, Prof. Oye Oyediran, Mallam Bashir Kurfi, Prof.
The Name Ikiddeh, Mr. S.A. Fadipe, and Prof. Sola Olukunle. Others who received recognition were Nasir Hussain, Tunde Oduleye, Prof. Rasheed Abubakar, Akin Oyebode, Mustapha A. Danesi, A.T. Wins, and Dr. Peter Ozo-son.
