Education Minister Dr. Maruf Tunji Alausa said yesterday that all is being done to keep tertiary institutions running.
According to him, a holistic negotiation with various unions is ongoing and it is needless going on strike during the talks.
He urged the unions that have served strike notice to shelve their plan.
Dr. Alausa said government was making concerted efforts to meet the demands of the unions to prevent disruption in academic activities.
But he insisted that government would not rush into any agreement that has not been properly negotiated.
Alausa, who spoke with The Nation last night, pleaded with the unions to be patient as government makes attempt to address the contentious issues.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU); Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP) have issued strike notices over unmet demands.
On 14 August, ASUP President, Shammah Kpanja, told reporters after a National Executive Committee meeting of the union in Abuja, that the association would proceed on strike after 21 days over unresolved issues.
The ASUP ultimatum expired last night.
Also, during its 77th General Executive Council meeting in Kano State, SSANIP also served government a 21-day notice, starting from 27 August.
ASUU had embarked on a one – day nationwide protest on 26 August to draw the attention of the government to its demands.
Its President, Christopher Piwuna, said yesterday that the branch chairmen, who have met, would communicate the outcome of the meeting to their members.
He added that the union would make its decision known to Nigerians after the branch meetings.
Kpanja said the union leadership had met with Federal Government representatives to iron out the issues.
He said five meetings have been scheduled with government officials, adding that the outcome of the meetings would determine the next line of action.
Alausa urged the unions to shelve the strike as the government is working to address their demands.
The minister said: ‘I have met with them and assured them that the government is working to meet their commitment. They have given us proposals and we are working to put the Federal Government’s responses back. Whatever we do, we have to do it holistically in a way it will accommodate the interest of ASUU, ASUP and COEASU.
‘Things have been done in a disjointed manner before with parallel negotiations, but they are all in the academic sector. They all asked for the same thing. They asked for NEEDS Assessment; condition of service; 2025 wage balance; it is all the same. We have to be sure that we are talking to everybody together.
‘I have just expanded Yayale Ahmed committee to include all the various unions so that one person is dealing with them. We will deal with this in a way that has not been done before; in a holistic manner, to accommodate people in our tertiary institutions.
‘We will try as much as possible to meet what they want. We know they need more money but there is so much money that government has to give. We also have other competing needs but we will do everything with all honesty, all truthfulness and with mutual respect to everybody. These things take time and we are trying to work as fast as possible but it has to be something that government can afford.
‘Everybody knows President Bola Tinubu. When he makes promises, he fulfills them. We are not a government that, for the sake of averting strike, give bogus agreement to these unions.
‘The president has given me a mandate and that is what I will do in a way that we are all truthful and we get to the bottom of it once and for all’.
Alausa added: ‘Mr president has said he wants our children to be in school. I want our children to be in school. The academic and non academic unions I believe are on the same page to keep our children in school.
‘These are problems that have gone on for at least,16 years. We have met a lot of the low hanging things we could meet. I have done that. This condition of service we are working along with it and we are keeping all the various unions updated on what the government is doing.
‘This is a government that believes in communication and we are communicating with them. There is no reason for any strike to happen because government is working and I am meeting with the unions. They have easy access to me. Since I became a minister, I have met with academic unions more than any group.
‘They should give us time to get this problem resolved once and for all. I don’t want whoever that is going to come after us – many years from now – to face this same problem. We have to resolve it once and for all and that is what we are determined to do. We cannot rush these things’.
Some of the demands of ASUU include: conclusion of the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement based on Nimi Briggs Committee’s Draft Agreement of 2021; release of withheld three-and-half months salaries on account of the 2022 strike; release of unpaid salaries of staff on sabbatical, part-time and adjunct appointments.
Others are release of outstanding third-party deductions such as check-off dues and cooperative contributions; funding for revitalisation of public universities; proliferation of universities by Federal and state governments and others.
The demands by ASUP include: the non-release of circular by the National Salaries Incomes and Wages Commission (NSIWC) to cover the peculiar academic allowance; non-release of arrears of the 25/35 per cent salary review, non-implementation of same in state-owned polytechnics; delay in granting a dual mandate structure for polytechnics; non-release of second round of NEEDS Assessment intervention; policy on outsourcing of quality assurance activities in polytechnics; refusal to implement sectoral components on the approved road map of the FME as it affects setting up a dedicated commission for the sector; non-release of promotion arrears/non-implementation of promotion in many state-owned institutions and renegotiation of ASUP/FGN 2010 agreement.
Others are: refusal to domesticate the relevant portions of the Federal Polytechnics Act by state-owned polytechnics; sustained dichotomy against HND holders in the public service; stalled discussions on the release of CONTISS 15 arrears: militarisation of campus and undue intrusion in the activities of ASUP in Federal Polytechnic, Nekede and refusal to convene the FME/ASUP rapid response meetings.
Some of the demands of SSANIP include: the release of new schemes and conditions of service; setting up of the re-negotiation committee on the 2010 agreement; non-release of the 2023, 2024, and 2025 Needs Assessment funds; non-payment of arrears such as promotion arrears, 25/35% salary review arrears, wage award, and full implementation of the new minimum wage.
Strike looms in health sector
The Nigerian Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) reaffirmed its plan to embark on an indefinite nationwide strike from Wednesday, should the Federal Government fail to meet its outstanding welfare demands.
NARD President, Dr. Tope Osundara, said despite a meeting with government representatives last week, there had been ‘no positive response’.
He said the 10-day ultimatum issued to the relevant agencies will not be withdrawn.
Osundara said: ‘The 10-day ultimatum is still counting. Unfortunately, there has not been a positive response from the government. My people are angry, and I only hope there won’t be a breakdown in our healthcare system’.
The ultimatum was contained in a communiqué by Osundara, General Secretary, Dr. Oluwasola Odunmbaku, and Publicity Secretary, Dr. Omoha Amobi, after NARD’s Extraordinary National Executive Council meeting on 31 August.
The doctors condemned the Federal Government’s failure to pay the 2025 Medical Residency Training Fund (MRTF) to eligible members, alongside outstanding five months’ arrears from the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS) review and the 2024 Accoutrement Allowance.
They also criticised the Medical and Dental Council of Nigeria for downgrading West African postgraduate membership certificates and faulted the National Postgraduate Medical College of Nigeria for delaying the issuance of certificates.
NARD accused the Kaduna and Oyo state governments of failing to honour agreements with its members, stressing that ongoing strikes in affected hospitals would continue.
