ASUU TRAUMA SO FAR!

As the “indefinite strike” embarked upon by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over a 2009 Agreement with the Federal Government moves into its third month, the initial support for the strike by Nigerians has been waning. The Prelate of the Church of Nigeria, Archbishop Nicholas Okoh, even called on the Federal Government to disband ASUU or restrict its activities to individual universities, saying organisations like ASUU do not exist anywhere in the world. He claimed that while the strike subsisted, ASUU members were busy teaching in private universities and earning money. This is, to say the least, very sad and sobering.

It is no longer possible to dismiss the suspicion that ASUU is playing politics with the strike because of its adamant position in the face of the conciliatory approach taken by the Federal Government. On Friday, August 23, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation met with the Vice Chancellors and chairmen of councils of public universities to disburse N100 billion for the implementation of the first phase projects listed in the Needs Assessment Report of Universities and N30 billion to support federal university councils in the payment of “earned allowances’’ to deserving staff. The earned allowances are post-graduate supervision allowance, teaching practice/industrial supervision/field trip allowance, honorarium for external/internal examination (postgraduate theses), honorarium for external moderation of undergraduate and postgraduate examinations, postgraduate study grant, external assessment of readers or professors, call duty, clinical duty or hazard, responsibility allowance and excess workload allowance.

The foregoing compels us to ask some pertinent questions. Are the professors and other qualified academics not currently being paid allowances by their respective universities for postgraduate supervision and all the other regime of earned allowances listed above? When professors assess their colleagues for readership or professorship, are they not paid honoraria by the universities that invite them? If lecturers have to be paid excess workload allowance for teaching extra courses, having extra student populations and marking extra scripts, what are they employed for  in the first place? Are Heads of Department, Deans and other lecturers carrying out administrative duties not currently being paid responsibility allowance? How then does anyone situate the double payment inherent in the current claims, in the first place?

It is an open secret that most of the professors are also “adjunct professors’’ in many other universities, earning substantial income apart from their substantive appointments in their home universities. There is in fact the reported case of a Fine Arts professor who is also an adjunct professor in five other universities. How can such an academic have time to carry out his primary responsibilities in his home university? Can he have time for postgraduate students in his home university? Yet, these academics are reportedly claiming fat earned allowances. 

It is even alleged that ridiculous estimates of earned allowances have been prepared in the universities across the country. When a lecturer on consolidated salary of less than N5 million is claiming over N10 million earned allowances, something is wrong somewhere. We fully endorse the government’s position that the so-called earned allowances and excess workload claims should be verified to ensure that only those with legitimate claims are paid, contrary to ASUU’s position that the payment should be made across board. That position is in itself symptomatic of deep-seated criminality and perverse values.

On the other aspects of the agreement, we are of the view that the government has substantially demonstrated enough commitment  for ASUU to shift ground and return to the classrooms. The Consolidated Salary Structure has been implemented fully and teaching and non-teaching staff have been on the consolidated salary since 2009. Government has also contributed its own counterpart funding of N250 million, in addition to other administrative support.

Although education is on the concurrent list, government has always assisted state universities through the federal intervention agencies.  The present special revitalisation programme covers both state and federal universities. On the request for transfer of Federal Government landed property to universities, we do not agree with ASUU that government  should transfer its landed properties to ASUU whether or not it can manage such property. The Federal Government is the employer of ASUU and not the other way round. The issue of the National Health Insurance Scheme has been implemented. The clamour by professors and readers for retirement at age 70 has also been met. The Budget Monitoring Committee (BMC) demand has been met, as the universities have been directed to establish BMCs.

Apart form members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), ASUU is another institution that maltreats its junior members. Some senior ASUU members are a threat to their junior colleagues, which is why some of the latter spend more than a decade acquiring a doctorate degree. ASUU members not only delay postgraduate students, they delay their members by refusing to assess them for readership or professorship for several years. It is a fact that some professors abandon their duties to their subordinates so that they can have time for their multiple engagements. These acts of sabotage, and not government’s failures alone, are the things that destroy the university system. ASUU should stop holding the entire nation to ransom. Students, their parents and the general public are tired of their antics.

However, ASUU members should stop comparing themselves with politicians. If some professors feel that councillors are better paid, they should resign their appointments and join political parties to test their popularity.

 ...Nigerian tribune....