The Academic Staff Union
of Universities (ASUU), has condemned the recent removal of Vice Chancellors of 12 universities by the Federal Government and the appointment of new ones to replace them, saying, the action of government undermines the autonomy of the universities.
The Zonal Coordinator of ASUU, Port Harcourt Zone, Prof. Beke Sese, who made the condemnation while addressing newsmen in Yenagoa recently said it was the responsibilities of the Governing Councils of the universities to appoint Vice Chancellors and inform the Visitor, as clearly spelt out in the Universities (Miscellaneous) Provisions Amendment Act 2003, 4(b).
He also noted that the Federal Government goofed by recently dissolving the Governing Councils of the University of Port Harcourt and Obafemi Awolowo University.
ASUU equally called on the Federal Government to exempt universities from the implementation of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), considering the peculiarities of the tertiary institutions, stressing that “it undermines the autonomy of universities and makes it extremely difficult for them to discharge their core responsibilities of teaching, research and community services”.
According to him, the dynamic nature of universities and the fluidity of their programmes make the TSA impractical in universities.
The ASUU Zonal Coordinator also condemned the discrepancy in the retirement age of academics on professional cadre, as the Pension Reform Act excludes Associate Professors from its definition of professional cadre by restricting the provision only to the retirement of Professors.
He decried a situation where Professors who are still in the Contributory Pension Scheme had been forced to retire earlier than agreed and also denied their retirement benefits.
He also expressed dismay over non-payment of salaries of its members and the shortfall in their salaries since December 2015, and called on relevant authorities to address this problem.
“Staff salaries are not paid in time and not paid fully and correctly. Inspite of the assurances of government to address this anomaly, the situation has remained sadly unchanged with universities unable to pay salaries fully to July 2016,” he said.
He singled out the Niger Delta University (NDU), where he said ASUU members were still being owed four months salary arrears even after recently suspending its four-month strike, saying, this has become an undesirable trend in several universities across the country.
To this end, Sese called on the Federal Government to implement the 2009 Agreement it entered with ASUU without further delay, adding that the government had over the years breached the agreement including the payment of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA), among others.

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