AS
the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) meets today
in Abuja, the issue of resumption from their five months-old strike will top
the agenda of the meeting as expectations of Nigerians is to see the
universities resume for lectures soonest.
The ASUU president, Comrade
Nasir Isa Fagge’s demand that the Federal Government should show commitment of
meeting the disbursement of N200 billion for the year 2013 allocation to the
universities through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was said to have been
met, according to the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Dr. Doyin
Okupe, last week.
The Federal Government’s threat
to disengage any lecturer that fails to resume lectures on December 4, earlier
conveyed by the Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, has also been denied by
President Goodluck Jonathan. With all these expected areas of conflict removed,
many Nigerians are pleading with ASUU to suspend the strike and resume work.
Indeed, feelers after the burial
of the former ASUU President, Professor Festus Iyayi, are that the consensus
among majority of ASUU members are that the universities should resume for
lectures against the backdrop of various consultations.
Daily Newswatch investigations
indicated that expectations are high among students, parents and Nigerians that
the universities will finally resume from its five-month-old strike at the end
of today’s meeting. According to a member of ASUU, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, the ASUU president will be addressing some select journalists in
Abuja today on when to end the strike.
The threat by the Federal
Government to sack lecturers that refuse to abide by the ultimatum fixed for
today had done some incalculable damage to the relationship between ASUU and
the government, especially the fairly smooth meetings between the lecturers and
President Jonathan.
However, already there are
indications that many universities will resume work latest first week of
January owing to the Yuletide period.
Of course, some of the
universities appeared to have heeded the government’s ultimatum to reopen for
lectures. The reopening of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) brings to five the
number of universities that have resumed. The other schools include University
of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo
State; Enugu State University of Technology (ESUT), Enugu, and the Ibrahim
Badamosi University, Lapai, in Niger State.
The authorities of the
University of Ibadan have, however, announced plans to commence academic activities
on January 6, 2014. A circular released by the management of the university
stated that its actions were sequel to the directives of the Committee of
Pro-chancellors (CPC) of federal universities.
The revised academic calendar
for the remaining part of the Second Semester 2012/2013 shows that students are
expected to arrive on Saturday and Sunday, January 4 and 5, while lectures will
commence on January 6.
Teaching is expected to take
place for 11 weeks, from Monday, January 6 to Friday, March 21, while revision
will take place from March 24 to 28.
Students of the university will
sit for their examinations from Monday, March 31 to Friday April 11. The senate
of the university would meet on May 12 to consider the results of the
graduating students.
Also, the authorities of the
Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, yesterday, December 8, directed the
students to go back to class. According to a statement by the Public Relations
Officer of OAU, Mr. Biodun Olarewaju, “the authorities of the Obafemi Awolowo
University, Ile-Ife, have announced Sunday, 8th December, 2013, as the
resumption date for the 2012/ 2013 rain semester.
“Accordingly, students of the
university are expected to come into residence on the above date as lectures
will commence immediately.”
The statement noted that
lectures would commence immediately after the resumption. Students of the
university narrowly escaped not completing their Harmattan Semester exams when
the strike began on July 1.
It was gathered that the
university was lagging behind with a semester compared to other Federal
universities in the country.
At the University of Lagos
(UNILAG), Akoka, Lagos, Daily Newswatch investigations showed that many
lecturers of the university have continued to mount pressure on the chapter’s
ASUU to call off the strike.
The lecturers were said to have
held a congress last week and a large percentage of them in the UNILAG voted
for calling off of the strike and resuming work, especially over their
inability to carry out research.
A lecturer who spoke with Daily
Newswatch on the condition of anonymity said although the outcome of today’s
meeting will confirm the resumption date, but he stressed that they hoped the
strike would be called off before January.
However, candidates that were
offered admission into the UNILAG have been going through screening and
registration processes since two weeks, although the lecturers said the strike
continues until they receive directives from the National Executive Council of
ASUU after today’s meeting.
“Government owns the school, not
us, so, we have to work with the decision of government. The decision of the
owner (the Federal Government) supersedes that of any pressure groups in the
school. By now, schools are working their calendars and adjusting them in preparation
for resumption, so, one cannot just jump into the class and begin to teach,”
the source said.
However, Daily Newswatch
investigations showed that in schools where management had forced resumption,
only partial academic activities were going. For instance, at Ebonyi State
University (EBSU), Abakaliki, which management had pulled out of the nationwide
strike since November 23, with an order that all academic activities on all the
campuses of the university should resume on November 26, full academic work was
yet to kick off.
The EBSU ASUU Chairman, Prof.
Ndubuisi Idenyi, had promised a showdown with the management, should they try
to force the lecturers to resume, reiterating that they were waiting for ASUU
national body to call of the strike before they could comply.
The statement signed by the
Registrar, Sam N. Egwu, Idenyi calling of the strike, stated that following the
inability of Federal Government and ASUU to reach an agreement over the
lingering strike, the university management had resolved to commence its
academic activities.
But when contacted, Idenyi
stated the ASUU chapter of EBSU dissociated itself from the purported reopening
by the management and maintained that the strike was still in progress until
they got directive from the national leadership.
Asked what would be their
reaction if the school management decided to punish their members for refusing
to resume work, Idenyi said they were ready for showdown with the school
management if they dared them.
A similar scenario was the case
at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), with some lecturers of
the institution complying with the directive by the management of the school to
commence lectures.
Although lectures have not
started fully in all the departments, a visit to the school campus showed that
lectures had started in some of the faculties/departments, including Faculties
of Arts and Education.
It was also gathered that
timetables for lectures for the second semester of the 2012/2013 academic
session had been released by each of the departments, to signal the
commencement of academic exercise. Also, meetings of the heads of departments
in each of the faculties were held to ensure proper course allocation among the
lecturers.
The Vice Chancellor of the
university, Professor Femi Mimiko, and principal officers of the institution
went round the campus to monitor the level of compliance with the directive.
Speaking after the monitoring
exercise, Professor Mimiko expressed satisfaction, saying the development
showed that about 60 per cent of the academic staff were back on campus.
“I am satisfied with the level
of response that we have received so far viz-a-viz the directive that
management gave that lectures should resume today. I have personally gone round
and I also sent my principal officers to go round the classrooms and it was
discovered that quite a number of classes held.
“As we speak, lecturers are in
the classrooms teaching; yes, the students are just coming back to campus, that
is not unexpected, but the good thing there is, more than half of the total
number of lecturers have indicated their desire to teach and they are all over
the place teaching. I hope and believe that from tomorrow, the situation will
improve,” he said.
Professor Mimiko said it was a
matter of individual choice if a parent chose to listen to ASUU and kept his
child at home, adding that there was little or nothing that could be done to
that.
Also, students and lecturers of
the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), last week Monday,
returned to school, following a directive by the school authorities.
Authorities of the university
had directed the lecturers to resume classes on December 2 and commence
preparations for the 2012/2013 second semester examination.
It was reported that at the
Enugu and Agbani campuses of ESUT, students were in their various departments
exchanging pleasantries and checking the notice boards.
At the faculties of engineering
and management sciences on the Enugu campus, students in their numbers were
copying the second semester examination timetables pasted on the notice boards.
The lecturers, on the other
hand, held a meeting with the governing council of the university at the Agbani
campus on the resumption of work.
Addressing the lecturers,
Chairman of the council, Chief ChiloOffiah, appealed to them to sheathe their
sword and return to classes in the interest of the students.
Offiah thanked the lecturers for
attending the meeting and assured them that the council would do all it could
to ensure the improvement of their welfare.
The executive members of the
ESUT branch of the ASUU did not, however, attend the meeting.
It was, however, a different
situation at the Enugu campus of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), as
only a few students and lecturers were on campus. Few lecturers were also found
in their various offices, while the non-academic staff members were busy
working.
Some of the lecturers said they
were waiting for directives from both the school authorities and the ASUU
branch.
A drama took place at the
Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) as the university’s senate
announced the sack of all academic staff on its payroll with immediate effect
for failure to return to classroom.
The sack order was made known by
the Public Relations Officers (PRO) of the institution, MrChikeEzenwa, while
speaking in Owerri, through the telephone.
According to him, the senate of
the university had declared all the positions of academic staff in the
institution vacant, adding that they would be advertised soon.
The senate council, he
explained, had already compiled the list of vacant positions in the school,
adding that whoever was willing to resume would be adequately protected.
But the FUTO branch of ASUU has
said any attempt to break their ranks would be strongly resisted. This was
contained in a communiqué issued at the end o their meeting held last week and
signed by both the Chairman and Secretary, DrIkennaNwachukwu and Dr F.M. Eke,
respectively.
The communiqué urged members to
ignore the resumption notice by FUTO management, adding that the branch would
not engage in any academic activities until the Federal Government committed
itself to implementing the ASUU-FGN agreement.
In another development, the
authorities of the University of Jos (UNIJOS) have directed all academic staff
to commence work with immediate effect, while the branch chairman of ASUU said
the union would not succumb to threat and intimidation.
The authorities of the
university, in a circular signed by the registrar/secretary to the council,
MrJilliDandam, stated that all academic staff of the university shall return to
their various departments, units and directorates and commence work
immediately.
It added that daily compliance
register would be kept by all heads of department for all academic staff, while
it further directed every head of department to publish lecture time-table for
all academic programmes by today.
However, the branch chairman of
ASUU, DrJangkamWannang, said the union would not succumb to threat to call off
its strike, adding that conditions to call off the strike were well spelt out.
He said intimidation and harassment of any form would not force the union to
call off the strike.
“We will not succumb to threat;
the strike is for the improvement of the system. The threat and intimidation by
both the government and governing council of a university will rather
complicate the problem than addressing it,” he said.
Also lecturers at the Gombe
State University are yet to resume classes, despite the directive to do so by
the government. Branch Chairman of ASUU, Mallam Umar Adamu, confirmed that none
of the lecturers of the university had resumed work. Adamu said the union would
meet today to decide on the strike.
The premises of the university
was, however, calm as security operatives were seen keeping vigilance at the
main gate.
But the academic staff of
Federal University in Kashere, also in Gombe State, did not join the strike.
But appeals to ASUU to end thje
strike continue to mount as the National Parent-Teacher-Association of Nigeria
(NAPTAN) has asked the striking teachers to see the extension of the resumption
deadline as a sign of goodwill from the Federal Government.
The NAPTAN North Central
Coordinator, AlhajiDanladiAliyu, said the extension showed that the government
was committed to ending the strike. Aliyu said, “I am pleading with both
parties not to see this issue as a war that must be won or lost as both are
working in the interest of moving the nation forward.
“ASUU should use this deadline
extension to resume duties, while we also urge the Federal Government not to
come down hard on them,” he said.
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