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Sack Threat ASUU Dares FG
L-R: Chairman, Forte Oil, Mr Femi Otedola, former Senate President, Senator Ken Nnamani and CBN Governor, Malam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, during a break-out session at the 15th meeting of the Honorary International Investors Council in London, recently.
Photo: NAN
The Federal Government yesterday ordered the Academic Staff Union of Universities to reopen the institutions within one week or get sacked.
The supervising Minister of Education, Barr. Nyesom Wike, disclosed this at a press briefing in Abuja.
He described the ongoing varsity teachers’ strike as “act of sabotage.”
“The continuation of the strike despite several meetings, especially with President Goodluck Jonathan is an attempt by the union to sabotage all efforts by government to address the issue,” he said.
Wike stated that government had directed that all Vice Chancellors of federal universities that are currently on strike should immediately reopen for academic and allied activities.
ASUU embarked on the strike on July 1 to protest government’s non-implementation of the 2009 agreement signed by both parties.
The minister disclosed that government had met all its commitments and obligations with respect to the agreement.
According to Wike, government took the decision to reopen the universities following ASUU’s new conditions which are “not tenable. “
His words: “On November 4, 2013 President Goodluck Jonathan met with ASUU executive, labour union leaders from the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and the Trade Union Congress (TUC), where all the issues were resolved and firm commitments made to address the lingering crisis.
“It is noteworthy that Mr. President’s gesture was more than sufficient to guarantee the commitment of government to address all issues raised at the meeting with Mr. President. At the end of the meeting, the ASUU team promised to convene a meeting of its National Executive Committee to present the resolutions reached and report back by Friday, November 8, 2013. It is unfortunate that while travelling to attend the NEC meeting in Kano, we lost a key member and former President of the union, Prof. Festus Iyayi.
“Government sympathizes with the family of the late Iyayi and ASUU. It is however amazing that three weeks after the meeting with Mr. President, ASUU responded by giving new conditions for suspending the five month old strike. I have never seen anywhere in any country where you sit down with Mr. President. That is the highest level of discussion. If you cannot believe Mr. President, then who else will you believe?”
“Any academic staff who fails to resume on or before December 4 automatically ceases to be a staff of the institution. Vice-Chancellors are also directed to advertise vacancies (internal and external) in their institutions. The National Universities Commission is hereby directed to monitor the compliance of these directives by the various institutions. The Federal Government has met all its commitments and obligations with respect to the FG/ASUU 2009 Agreement. We appeal to all stakeholders to appreciate the position of government which is in the best interest of our dear country.”
The Academic Staff Union of Universities condemned the Minister over his comments that the union was making new “outrageous” demands, describing it as a lie.
The union said it had only asked President Goodluck Jonathan to facilitate the endorsement of resolutions reached with him and to also be signed by a top government official preferably the Attorney-General of the Federation but not a Permanent Secretary.
National Treasurer of ASUU, Dr. Ademola Aremu, stated the position of the union while speaking in Ibadan last Wednesday. Aremu praised the intervention of Jonathan but pointed out that some of the resolutions reached with him were not contained in the letter sent to the union.
ASUU said its representative and President of Nigeria Labour Congress should stand as witnesses when the document was to be signed.
The union added that it wanted the N200bn agreed as 2013 revitalisation fund for public universities to be kept with the Central Bank of Nigeria and disbursed to the benefiting universities.
Aremu said Wike should have told Nigerians that apart from the N30bn earned allowances released for university staff, the government had yet to release any other fund.
He said, “We are not making fresh demands. In fact, the National Executive Council of the union would have suspended the strike but the concern of our congresses is that many of the things agreed with the President, during the November 4 meeting, were not included in the letter signed by a Permanent Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Education, Dr. Mark Nwobiala.”
He promised that the strike would end as soon as the omissions were corrected in the new resolution.
ASUU said it was evident now that the Federal Government was not ready to implement any resolutions it reached with the union.
“It is a pity if the federal government is not willing to perfect the resolutions reached with the union. This is why we find it difficult to trust our leaders by their words. How can someone be threatening to sack lecturers when universities are already short-staffed by almost 60,000. We are not in military era. The military tried it and failed, this one will fail again”, ASUU said.
ASUU chairman, Dr. Clement Chup of UniAbuja Chapter, said the union dared the Federal Government to sack its members over the prolonged universities’ strike.
He said in a telephone interview that “the school can go ahead and ask students to resume but we won’t do any work; we won’t teach them. It is not our responsibility to resume until ASUU decides. “We’re not afraid of that (sack). He (Education Minister) can go to the motor park to recruit lecturers that will lecture the students. You can now see the insincerity of some people in government.
We told the government when we met that we’re ready to suspend the strike once we’re able to clarify some issues in our agreements with them. But they went ahead without clarifying those issues at stake. We dare them to sack us,” Dr. Clement Chup said.
In his reaction, Chairman, University of Lagos branch of ASUU, Dr. Oghenekaro Ogbinaka said that the development was strange and laughable.
He said that this was so considering the fact that the union was yet to get back to the government, after their deliberations with President Goodluck Jonathan.
“Our reaction is simple. Let us just wait for the seven days to come around.” What government has just done shows that they were not committed in the offer they made with the union that had the Trade Union Congress President and the Minister of Labour in attendance,” he said.
Immediate past Dean, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos, Prof. Oyelowo Oyewo simply described the development as “a glorified joke and laughable”.
Oyewo noted that it was funny that one of the parties which had before now been holding dialogue, would try to intimidate the other.
Also commenting on the directive, Head of Department of Political Science, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Prof. Sat Obiyan said that the ultimatum was not the best approach to resolving the issue.
The Coordinator of Education Right Campaign (ERC), Mr Hassan Soweto, said that the ultimatum would only worsen the problem, noting that it was against the principle of public bargaining.
“What ASUU wants is some level of commitment from the Federal Government before it will suspend the strike. “It is not right for the government to use force in a democracy,” he said.
A student of Lagos State University, Ojo, Mr. Agbomeji Ibrahim urged the Federal Government not to be authoritative by giving lecturers one week to return to classes or face sack.
Ibrahim urged the Federal Government to be more sensitive in its decision and pleaded that ASUU should also have a rethink as the strike was old enough to be called off.
“The Federal Government must be careful, logical and realistic in its decision, because of the importance of the sector. “Both the Government and ASUU need to accommodate each other on the negotiation table because both parties cannot get all their demands and must be ready to shift grounds,” Ibrahim said.
Chairman of ASUU at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Dr Ifeanyichukwu Abada, said lecturers were not worried by the return-to-work order by the federal government.
Abada said in Nsukka that the union was not dealing with the minister who gave the order but with President Goodluck Jonathan.
“It is unfortunate that the minister thinks that he can use his office to threaten lecturers. The December 4 ultimatum to lecturers to resume work or risk being sacked cannot work,” Abada said.
He said it was unfortunate that rather than pursue amicable resolution of the crisis, the minister was issuing a ‘military order’.
Vice President Kashim Shettima has arrived in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, for an official State visit at the invitation of the Prime Minister, Dr. Abiy Ahmed.
Upon arrival yesterday, Shettima was received at the airport by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ethiopia, Dr. Gedion Timothewos, and other members of the Ethiopian and Nigerian diplomatic corps.
Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Communication, Stanley Nkwocha, revealed this in a statement he signed yesterday, titled: “VP Shettima arrives in Ethiopia for official state visit.”
During the visit, Vice President Shettima will participate in the official launch of Ethiopia’s Green Legacy Programme, a flagship environmental initiative.
The programme designed to combat deforestation, enhance biodiversity, and mitigate the adverse effects of climate change targets the planting of 20 billion tree seedlings over a four-year period.
In line with strengthening bilateral ties in agriculture and industrial development, the Vice President will also embark on a strategic tour of key industrial zones and integrated agricultural facilities across selected regions of Ethiopia.
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RSG Tasks Farmers On N4bn Agric Loan ….As RAAMP Takes Sensitization Campaign To Four LGs In Rivers
The Rivers State Government has called on the people of the state especially farmers to access the ?4billion agricultural loans made available by the State and domiciled in the Bank of Industry.
This is as the State Project Implementation Unit (SPIU) of Rural Access and Agricultural Marketing Project (RAAMP), a World Bank project, took its sensitization campaign to Opobo/Nkoro, Andoni, Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpor local government areas.
The campaign was aimed at enlightening community dwellers and other stakeholders in the various local government areas on the RAAMP project implementation and programme activities.
The Permanent Secretary, Rivers State Ministry of Agriculture, Mr Maurice Ogolo, said this at Opobo town, Ngo, Port Harcourt City and Rumuodumanya, headquarters of the four local government areas respectively, during the sensitization campaign.
Ogolo said apart from the ?4billion, the government has also made available fertilizers and other farm inputs to farmers in the various local government areas.
The Permanent Secretary who is the Chairman, State Steering Committee for the project, said RAAMP will construct roads that will connect farms to markets to enable farmers and fishermen sell their farms produce and fishes.
He also said rural roads would be constructed to farms and fishing settlements, and warned against any act that will lead to the cancellation of the projects in the four local government areas.
According to him, the World Bank and Federal Government which are the financiers of the programme will not condone such acts like kidnapping, marching ground and other acts inimical to the successful implementation of the projects in their respective areas.
At PHALGA, Ogolo asserted that the city will benefit in the areas of roads and bridge construction.
He noted that RAAMP was thriving in both the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; Lagos and other states in the country, stressing that the project should also be given the seriousness it deserves in Rivers State.
Speaking at Opobo town, the headquarters of Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Area, the project coordinator, RAAMP, Mr.Joshua Kpakol, said the programme would reduce poverty in the state.
According to him, both fishermen and farmers will maximally benefit from the programme.
At Ngo which is the headquarters of Andoni Local Government Area, Kpakol said roads will be constructed to all remote fishing settlements.
He said Rivers State is lucky to be among the states implementing the project, and stressed the need for the people to embrace it.
Meanwhile, Kpakol said at PHALGA that RAAMP is a project that will transform the lives of farmers, traders and other stakeholders in the area.
He urged the stakeholders to spread the information to their various communities.
However, some of the stakeholders at Opobo town complained about the destruction of their farms by bulls allegedly owed by traditional rulers in the area, as well as incessant stealing of their canoes at waterfronts.
At Ngo, Archbishop Elkanah Hanson, founder of El-Shaddai Church, commended the World Bank and the Federal Government for bringing the projects to Andoni.
He stressed the need for the construction of roads to fishing settlements in the area.
Also, a former Commissioner for Agriculture in the state and Okan Ama of Ekede, HRH King Gad Harry, noted that storage facilities have become necessary for a successful agricultural programme.
Harry also stressed the need for the programme to be made sustainable.
In their separate speeches, the administrators of Andoni and Opobo/Nkoro Local Government Areas, pledged their readiness to support the programme.
At Port Harcourt City, the Administrator, Dr Arthur Kalagbor, represented by the Head of Local Government Administration, Port Harcourt City, Mr Clifford Paul, said the city would support the implementation of the programme in the area.
Also, the administrator of Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Dr Clifford Ndu Walter, represented by Mr Michael Elenwo, pledged to support the programme in his local government area.
Among dignitaries at the Obio/Akpor stakeholders engagement is the chairman, Rivers State Traditional Rulers Council and paramount ruler of Apara Kingdom, HRM Eze Chike Wodo, amongst others.
John Bibor
President Bola Tinubu has ordered the commencement of personnel audit and skill gap analysis across all cadres of federal civil servants.
The president gave this directive in Abuja, yesterday, while speaking at the International Civil Service Conference, reaffirming his resolve to achieve efficiency and professional service delivery in the civil service.
“I have authorized the comprehensive personnel audit and skill gap analysis across the federal civil service to deepen capacity. I urge all responsible stakeholders to prioritize timely completion of this critical exercise, to begin implementing targeted reforms, to realize the full benefit of a more agile, competent and responsive civil service,” the president announced.
Tinubu further directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), to prioritise data integrity and sovereignty in national interest.
He called for the capture, protection and strategic publication of public sector data in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Act of 2023.
“We must let our data speak for us. We must publish verified data assets within Nigeria and share them internationally recognized as fruitful. This will allow global benchmarking organisation to track our progress in real time and help us strengthen our position on the world stage. This will preserve privacy and uphold data sovereignty,” Tinubu added.
President Tinubu hailed the federal civil service as the “engine” driving his Renewed Hope Agenda, and the vehicle for delivering sustainable national development.
He submitted that the roles of civil servants remain indispensable in modern governance, declaring that in the face of a fast-evolving digital and economic landscape, the civil service must remain agile, future-ready, and results-driven.
“This maiden conference is a bold step toward redefining governance in an era of rapid transformation. An innovative Civil Service ensures we meet today’s needs and overcome tomorrow’s challenges.
“It captures our collective ambition to reimagine and reposition the civil service. In today’s rapid, evolving world of technology, innovation remains critical in ensuring that the civil service is dynamic, digital” the President said.
Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Didi Walson-Jack in her welcome address told the President that his presence and strong words of commendation at the conference has renewed the morale and mandate of public servants across the country.
Walson-Jack described Tinubu as the backbone of driving transformation in the Nigerian civil service, and noted that the takeaways from past study tours undertaken to understudy the civil service in Singapore, the UK and US under her leadership, is already yielding multiplier effects.
Walson-Jack assured Tinubu that her office, in collaboration with reform-minded stakeholders, will not relent in accelerating the implementation of the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan, FCSSIP 25.
She affirmed that digitalisation, performance management, and continuous learning remain key pillars in strengthening accountability, transparency, and service delivery across MDAs.
Walson-Jack reaffirmed that the civil service is determined to exceed expectations by embedding a culture of innovation, ethical leadership, and citizen-centred governance in the heart of public administration.