No End To ASUU Strike Soon As Union Gives FG Tight Condition for Call-off

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The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) have given the Federal Government certain conditions to be met before the union could call off its four-month old strike.The conditions are based on the agreement the union reached with the Federal Government during their last meeting which the President said will be communicated to their members for a final decision.
The leadership of the union engaged government delegation led by President Goodluck Jonathan in a 13-hour marathon meeting  in Abuja between Monday and Tuesday, where some agreements as to the implementation of the contentious 2009 agreement was reached.
A key component of the agreement reached by both ASUU and the Federal Government was that government would inject N1.1trn into public universities in the next five years. Government is expected to inject N220bn yearly into the public university sector beginning from 2014.  But government said it could only release N100bn this year, noting that the amount had already been processed.
The Federal Government also indicated that the N1.1trn would be domiciled at the Central Bank of Nigeria to show its commitment to the agreement. The money is expected to be released on quarterly basis to the universities so that there won't be any problem about funding the deal.
The National Universities Commission and the Trade Union Congress will be the joint guarantors of the agreement while the Minister of Education will be the implementing officer. Government, according to sources at the meeting, also agreed to revamp public universities by ensuring that all the issues that always lead to strike are dealt with once and for all.
But in order to ensure that this agreement reached with President Jonathan does not end in similar circumstances that will lead to another round of strike, the union have asked the Federal Government to commit more into the agreement.
Part of this condition the union is asking for is that all federal parastatals in charge of fund, labour, and education must sign the agreement purportedly reached between its leadership and the Federal Government on Tuesday.
A prominent member of the union, who craved anonymity because he was not authorised to speak on behalf of the union, said doing so would give the association the confidence that "the Federal Government knows what it is doing when it signed the agreement."
He said, "I must tell you that our mandate remains. The only mandate we have is that 2009 agreement must be met. We have not reached any agreement with the Federal Government.
"Since the Federal Government wants to be releasing N220bn every year for five years, then all monetary and regulatory agencies must sign. The Central Bank of Nigeria, Ministries of Finance and Labour, National Assembly, Office of the Presidency, National Universities Commission, Tertiary Education Trust Fund, Trade Union Congress and our umbrella body, the Nigeria Labour Congress, must sign with consequences stated.
"The reason we will ensure this is that we don't want argument tomorrow that the agreement was entered in error or that they don't know the implication of signing the agreement. If possible, documents that will provide for automatic deduction of the agreed money at a particular/agreed date must be provided."
Though it was generally perceived that both ASUU and the Federal Government achieved breakthrough in negotiation for the first time after the lengthy meeting with the President, Saturday PUNCH learnt that the lecturers might not be  in a hurry to go back to class.
Another  source close to ASUU who was also part of the marathon meeting  with the President in Abuja, said there was nothing new in what the President promised members of the union.
According to him, government had always failed in implementing agreements reached with ASUU. He said, "Truly the President sat down for more than 13 hours with us. He told us that we were not leaving the venue until the issues were resolved.  The Federal Government also promised to inject funds into the system, but a promissory note is not enough.
"Where would the money come from? There is no assurance that government will provide money especially with the mop-up policy in place that ensures that unspent money is refunded to government's coffers at the end of every year.''
Asked when the lecturers would call off the strike, he said, "I doubt if the strike is ending soon.  The problem is with the Finance Minister. Where is government getting N1trn  from? A government that could not implement agreement between 2009 and 2013, what is the guarantee that they would honour this agreement.
"It is all politics.  We are still awaiting directives from our branches. We have told them the outcome of the meeting with the President but we are waiting for them to tell us what they think of government's proposal.
"Imagine the Minister of Education has travelled out of the country. He was appointed Vice President for UNESCO General Assembly.  How can he travel out of the country without resolving the crisis in the education sector?''
He said the Federal Government should spend the trillions of dollars in its Sovereign Wealth Fund to finance university education and improve infrastructure in the country.