SSANU begins strike, Lists grievances, Says action’ll collapse vasity system

updated: 29-06-2009

Sam Egwu, Minister of EducationAfter over five years of warnings, threats of strike and meetings between the government and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), which failed to resolve the grievances and agree on amicable resolution, SSANU gave a 21-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to address their demands three weeks ago. But the association finally begins a strike action today across all the universities in the country and directed all its members to stay at home. SSANU President, Comrade Promise Adewusi, gives the reasons why they took that decision as a last option, in an interview with SOJI-EZE FAGBEMI.

PRESIDENT, after your NEC meeting held at the University of Abuja , you declared a strike action and ordered your members to stay at home. Why did you take this hard position?
As you know, we have given them more than enough time, including the last ultimatum for the government to put its house together and make these things work, but within this time, nothing happened beyond having two meetings with the minister of education and these meetings did not produce any positive result. In as much as we understand and appreciate the stand of the minister, who seems to be doing all he can do to remedy the situation, we cannot say so of the other government officials and there is a limit to what he, the minister, can do as a person.

What was the outcome of your meeting with the minister that has warranted your declaring this strike?
At the last meeting we had with him, he told us that the government has finally set up an inter-ministerial committee. But we told the minister that before now, he had tried to set up internal committee in his own ministry, which we kicked against. What the minister did then was to set up an internal committee to harmonize all the agreements reached by the four unions. Now, government had gone ahead to set up an inter-ministerial committee to review unilaterally, the product of the collected agreement.

For us, it is against all the conventions of the ILO on collective bargaining because once a product comes as a result of a collective bargaining, then it becomes binding on the two parties, except all the parties come together to take a look at it in order to change it again. However, none of these things were put into consideration before they take their decision.

We learnt that the committees have two months to make available the outcome of their findings. The committees’ terms of reference are the issue of the new salary negotiated; the issue of 65 years retirement age and the university autonomy. Their positions in all of these were not acceptable to us because the issue of the 65 years retirement age, for instance, has gone beyond what you want to review, because this was the product of our agreement since 2001, but up till now, government is still foot dragging on it.

But what was the end result of all your meetings and negotiations with the government under the committee headed by Dr. Gamaliel Onosode. We learnt at a time that you agreed on these issues and that it only remained the signing of the document, which you were all invited sometimes to do?

The last negotiation that was headed by Onosode almost revalidated those 2001 agreements. As government keeps dragging its foot, a lot of our members have been retired at 60 years and these are some of the hands that we have in the university system, that government had invested so much on and trained. Before you become a university registrar, one must have been up to the age of 58 and above, while at 60 they would be forced to retire.

Government is complaining that the standard of education, which is also hinged on the administration of the system, is falling. But still, they are letting these people who they had invested so much on to go. For us, we say no and the issue has been agreed upon since 1995; because most of us, our appointment letters stipulated that our service will terminate after 65 years; so, for them to call for review now is totally unacceptable.

It is true that we have agreed on the issues at the tripartite committee headed by Dr. Onosode and it only remained to be put together for all parties involved to sign. Even, as a result of the agreement reached by the tripartite committee, the minister of education told the National Assembly that the Federal Government had accepted improved salary structure for the university workers and that commencement of payment would depend on the availability of N70 billion.

We’ve not been able to regularise our session ‘cos of strikes - Professor Eromosele, DVC, Academics, UNAAB

By Ayo-Lawal Gbenoba

Virtually all the unions in higher institutions of learning are on strike at a period the citadels of learning are busy conducting various examinations in preparation for the intake of new students. In this interview, the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academics, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Professor I. C. Eromosele, speaks with DEPUTY EDITOR, AYO-LAWAL GBENOBA, on the effect of incessant strikes on university education in Nigeria. Excerpts:

PRACTICALLY all the unions are on strike, how has that affected academics?
My candid view is that, strike, from time immemorial, has always been disruptive, particularly for universities. Most of the time, the strikes arise from conflicts between the unions, and the government. For most times, the problem has always been more of mistrust between the government and the union with regard to the best way of moving the universities forward.

That mistrust manifests in issues of not agreeing on the percentage of the total budget to commit to education.The union has always insisted on a minimum of 26 per cent for education, but government, on the other hand, says there are other competing needs that will not allow them meet that target, which is a reasonable excuse.So, it is now a question of how the two parties see what ought to be the order of priority and that has been the problem over the years, it is not just starting now. The present situation is an opportunity to agree and move the university system forward, because the issue here is that an agreement has not been signed and government has not made any pronouncement on why they don’t want to sign it, and that is unfortunate.

For us, in the university system, we have not been able to regularise our session because of strikes. The university calendar has to be regularised for a number of reasons among which is the interest of students who go on NYSC. We should be able to harmonise our calendar with that of the National Youth Service Corps. Secondly, the lecturers should have periods to go on break and it should be such periods that they can also travel out and interract with their counterparts all over the world.

We are missing in all these things and it becomes a moral question on whose interest is served between the union and the students. In most cases the students’ interest is said to be served, but I’m afraid it’s not being served now because once we are on strike, the students are disadvantaged. On the other hand, the issues over which the union is on strike are germane. We need more funds in the university system for us to operate very well; more funds to carry out research, teaching and other learning processes. We talk about Vision 20:2020 but that can only be realised with good education, so I do hope that the union and government will find a common ground that will serve the interest of our education.

How are you copiny with the chalenges sir? about the post Jamb that you want to do come Saturday.

Well the union recognises that this is an external matters, the students are not here yet, they are candidates seeking interest of sound higher education in Nigeria.

How can our universities compete favourably with the rest of the world?
On a more serious note, it is part of the contradiction that the ranking of the university system in Nigeria has shown the level we are operating and the level we should. Those of us who had good education know the difference. We need to recognise that education is fundamental to all our development objectives. Government at all levels should commit more reasonable fund to education to push it forward, because it’s simply not the number; the quality of education is not judged by the number, but by access to qualitative education that will transform an individual to be creative and in all circumstances, to be able to adapt him/herself to changing situations, for the benefit of him/herself and the society.

That is the kind of education we are talking about and that kind of education does not come cheap, so we must recognise that it will be sad that you have a medical doctor that is not trained well; it will be sad that you have a nurse that is not properly trained. There are fundamental issues in regard to education and until we re-address those issues at all levels, both state and federal, even the local government level, things will not move forward. If this country must move forward and if this country must reflect its giant status in Africa, education must be reckoned with.

NPC holds 5th Foundation Day Lecture

The National Productivity Centre (NPC) held its fifth Foundation Day Lecture on, ‘The Role of Productivity in National Economic Growth and Development,’ in Abuja, last Thursday, with a key lecture from the President, World Confederation of Productivity Science and Vice- President, World Academy of Productivity Science, Dr. A. N. Saxena, from India.

According to the Director-General of NPC, Dr. Paul Mari Bdliya, the lecture and the invitation of Dr. Saxena, an authority on productivity and economic issues, as relating to national development, was to make the centre key into the vision of the present administration of making Nigeria one of the best economies in the world by the year 2020.

He said the programmes of the NPC have been enriched and stepped up to ensure that the centre not only actualize its mandate but is properly keyed into the seven-point agenda of the government.

Dr. Bdliya said the centre is to stimulate and promote productivity consciousness in all sectors of the Nigerian economy, with the ultimate aim of generating visible improvement in the quality and quantity of services rendered, and goods produced.

Minister of Labour, Prince Adetokunbo Kayode, while speaking at the event, pointed out that Nigeria’s underdevelopment, over the years, could be attributed to the low performance of the various sectors of the economy, adding that Nigeria was classified among the 19 poorest nations of the world, while unemployment is steadily on the rise, as food crisis is looming and indeed virtually every sector of the economy is in difficulty.

He said that it was against this backdrop that the present administration has articulated several reform programmes based on development strategies that seek to consolidate the gains of the past, unlock Nigeria ’s dormant potentials and provide the basis for sustained development.

In his lecture, Dr. Saxena said that it had been recognised in India that economic growth “can only be more stable and satisfying through a process of social development, since its prime function is to iron out disparities and differences subsisting in the systems at various levels.”

Rather than the capital resource, he emphasised that “economic growth, in a larger measure, is attributable to human skills,” adding that investment in human resource was directly related to economic development and growth by promoting the knowledge and application of science and technology.

He, however, warned that any development “which overlooks ecology and environment can be disastrous, not only to the wellbeing of the people in one country, but to humanity at large.”