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Pay Salary Backlog Or Forget Unfinished Academic Sessions, ASUU Tells FG

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ASUU Strike
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The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has insisted on the payment of the salary backlog to lecturers, maintaining that without the move, unfinished academic sessions should be forgotten.

President of the union Professor Emmanuel Osodeke made the remark on Friday, explaining that though public varsities have been shut since February, the lecturers should be paid since they have to teach to make up for time lost during the closure.

Osodeke was speaking during an interview on Channels Television’s breakfast show, Sunrise Daily following the government’s insistence on non-payment of the lecturers over the industrial action.

“Let me tell you the difference between ASUU and other labour unions. When other unions go on strike and come back, all those periods for which you are on strike, you don’t need to do the backlog of work,” the ASUU chief explained.

“But for ASUU, when we go back today, we are going to start from the 2020/2021 session. For these two sets of students that have been admitted by JAMB, we have to teach them over these periods to ensure that we meet up with the system.

“So, we are going to do the backlog of the work we have left behind. We are not going to start today and say ‘This session is 2022/2023, therefore, all these two sets of people that have been admitted by JAMB are cancelled. We have to take another admission for the 2023/2024 session’.”

According to him, if the government maintains its stance on the non-payment of salary backlog, members of the union are not obliged to make up for the lost academic time.

“If we agree on that, therefore, the lectures we should have given [to students] for 2020/2021 and 2021/2022 [sessions], they should be allowed to go so we start a new session 2022/2023 within September which is when a new session should start,” Professor Osodeke added.

“Therefore by July next year, I would go on my leave as we used to have in those days so that the backlog is gone. All the lectures that remain; all the two sets of admissions that JAMB has given that are waiting should become irrelevant.”

He said that ASUU does not need a pity party over the government’s withholding of the lecturers’ wages,  maintaining that the union “can take care” of its members.

Education

FG Directs Higher Institutions To Establish Sexual Assault Referral Centres

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Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim
Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim
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The Federal Government has called on Nigerian universities to set up Sexual Assault Referral Centres (SARCs) to address cases of sexual harassment and ensure timely intervention.

The Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Suleiman-Ibrahim, made the call at a national summit on sexual harassment in Nigerian tertiary education held in Abuja on Monday, November 25, 2024.

Suleiman-Ibrahim described sexual harassment as a global menace and a pervasive violation of human rights, particularly against women and girls.

The minister stated that the effects of sexual harassment transcend physical harm, leaving survivors with emotional, psychological, and socio-economic scars.

Suleiman-Ibrahim highlighted the present administration’s commitment to zero-tolerance against gender-based violence through several initiatives, including supporting the Violence Against Persons Prohibition (VAPP) Act 2015 and the Sexual Harassment Prohibition Bill passed by the 9th Senate in July 2020.

Suleiman-Ibrahim pledged her commitment to championing gender equality principles and addressing gender-based violence, including sexual harassment eradication, in all its forms.

She also emphasised the need for universities to prioritise the safety and well-being of their students by enforcing policies, establishing gender-sensitive frameworks, and creating safe reporting channels

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Striking SSANU, NASU Ask Wale Edun To Pay Withheld Salaries

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Wale Edun
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Two striking university unions in Nigeria have asked the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Wale Edun, to pay their four months’ withheld salaries, following an approval of the payment by President Bola Tinubu.

The striking unions ruled out the possibility of any meeting or negotiation with the Federal Government, insisting that the Ministry of Finance “do the needful” and remit their withheld salaries electronically to all their members.

“The President has given the approval, the Ministry of Education has conveyed the approval. It is within the precinct of the Ministry of Finance. So, the Minister of Finance should just do the needful. That’s all,” SSANU President, Muhammed Ibrahim said on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief programme on Tuesday.

On Monday, members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) commenced an indefinite nationwide strike within campuses of public universities to demand the immediate release of their four months’ withheld salaries.

The two unions said it was appalling that despite several ultimatums issued to the government, no positive result has come from the government.

The two unions directed their members in all public universities and inter-university centres throughout the country to “hold a joint congress in their respective campuses on Monday, October 28, 2024, and proceed on an indefinite, comprehensive and total strike action as no concession should be given in any guise”.

Our correspondents observed that public universities across the nation were shut down and nothing moved administratively within public varsities in Nigeria as hostels and varsity gates were locked up and electricity supply was cut off by disgruntled non-academic staff.

The SSANU President said the government reached out to the striking unions on Monday but the meeting was nothing to look forward to based on antecedents of failed negotiations.

He said, “Well, in terms of reaching out, yes, informally, we have been reached out to but we are not too excited about it because we have had it severally but we hope that this time it will be different.

“There is a very short and fast way to solve this problem. Every process and procedure has been followed. What is remaining is for the payment to be made. The government should just direct that these payments should be released, with the touch of a button, because everything is electronic now.

“Once the payments are made, we will resume back to work. Nobody is happy. Prolonged renegotiation won’t achieve any result. What we want is action.”

Before now, the two unions had staged several protests and warning strikes to protest their withheld salaries by the Federal Government.

Virtually all schools were closed across Nigeria between March and July 2020. Most schools only fully reopened in January 2021, with social distancing measures in place.

The two unions berated the Federal Government for paying withheld salaries to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) while neglecting the non-academic unions.

All the unions had embarked on an eight-month strike in 2022 to press home some of their demands including a better welfare package. The administration of then President Muhammadu Buhari subsequently invoked a ‘No Work, No Pay policy’ against the unions but President Bola Tinubu last October approved the release of withheld salaries to ASUU members.

SSANU and NASU accused the Federal Government of unfair treatment and discrimination by failing to pay them the full eight months’ salaries like their academic counterparts.

Then Education Minister Tahir Mamman had in April blamed a “communication problem” for the non-payment of the full amount to SSANU and NASU members, whilst he insisted that they were not discriminated against.

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Senate Approves Establishment of Federal Universities in Ilaro and Kachia

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Nigerian Senate
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The Nigerian Senate, on Tuesday, approved the third reading of two bills aimed at establishing the Federal University of Technology in Ilaro, Ogun State, and the Federal University of Applied Sciences in Kachia, Kaduna State.

The approval followed the presentation of a report by the Senate Committee on Tertiary Education and TETFUND, chaired by Senator Dandutse Mohammed (APC, Katsina South).

The report supported the creation of these two institutions to promote higher education and technological advancements in Nigeria.
According to the committee’s report, the establishment of the Federal University of Technology in Ilaro is based on the upgrading of the existing Federal Polytechnic Ilaro to a full-fledged university.

The bill for this upgrade was sponsored by Senator Solomon Adeola (APC, Ogun West) and was first introduced during the 9th Senate but did not pass at the time.

In a related development, the Senate also passed the bill for the establishment of the Federal University of Applied Sciences in Kaduna State. However, the committee recommended changing the institution’s location from Manchok, as initially proposed by the bill’s sponsor, Senator Sunday Katung (PDP, Kaduna South), to Kachia, Kaduna State.

After a detailed clause-by-clause review of the reports, the Senate passed both bills for the third reading, moving them closer to becoming law and enabling the establishment of the two universities.

 

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