ASUU-FG NEWLY SIGNED AGREEMENT: A Product of ASUU’s Years of Resilience and Determined Struggle against Persistent Attacks on Public Education

The ERC Calls for Full and Lasting Implementation of the Agreement and Other University Staff Unions’ Demands

We Reiterate Our Call for a United Struggle of ASUU, SSANU, NASU, NAAT, and Students’ Unions for Adequately Funded and Democratically Managed Public University Education

The Education Rights Campaign (ERC) welcomes the newly signed agreement between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government. We consider it a product of the years of resolute struggle against persistent attacks on public education and for the uplifting of public tertiary institutions. If not for the resilience and determination exhibited by ASUU members and its leadership, the Tinubu-led Federal Government would not only have refused to sign the agreement, like its predecessors did, but might also have sought to undermine the very essence of collective bargaining.

As far as we are concerned, this agreement is a step forward in the struggle for a better public university education sector. However, there is no doubt that it remains inadequate compared to what is required to reverse the years of decay that have characterized public university education. This is despite the fact that the agreement includes a 40% pay rise on the component of lecturers’ salaries known as Consolidated University Academic Staff Salary (CONUASS), the incorporation of the Earned Emolument Allowance (EEA) as a monthly salary component, and the inclusion of the Consolidated Academic Tools Allowance (CATA), which is meant to cover the cost of teaching and research tools

Nevertheless, we believe that if fully implemented and renegotiated after three years, this agreement will bring substantial relief to Nigerian academics, who are currently lagging behind their peers globally. Unfortunately, given the history of the government, at all levels, disregarding agreements with the union, it cannot be assumed that the full implementation of this agreement will occur automatically without a consistent struggle by ASUU members and leadership. It will be recalled that when the 2013 strike action forced the Federal Government to agree to the release of Needs Assessment Funds for university revitalization, it took another round of struggle before the first tranche was eventually released. This is aside from several Memoranda of Action (MoA) and Memoranda of Understanding (MoU) signed with ASUU that have been disregarded by successive Nigerian governments.

The partial implementation of the agreement in January, including the payment of CATA only to federal university lecturers, without the implementation of the 40% pay rise on CONUASS and the payment of EEA, did not occur without controversy. Lecturers in some universities were short-changed following delay in payment by vice-chancellors. This offers a glimpse of the potential challenges that may arise in the implementation of the agreement, especially since some components are expected to be funded through internally generated revenue by universities.

In light of this, we call on the rank-and-file members of ASUU to remain vigilant, as it is clear that the struggle is far from over. Even if the agreement is fully implemented, we strongly believe that more serious commitment than the ₦30 billion pledged by the Federal Government in the new agreement is required to resolve the infrastructural crisis currently plaguing public tertiary institutions. Therefore, ASUU and other unions must continue to prioritize the demand for proper funding of public education and call for democratization of the decision-making organs of institutions to include the active participation of elected representatives of staff unions and students. Without such demands and a relentless struggle to drive them home, the crisis in public education will persist. Therefore, ASUU must not be swayed by these limited offers, which the Tinubu government was forced to grant. The struggle for functional and quality public education is winnable through the united action of all unions in the education sector.

We call on the government to also immediately conclude negotiation with other staff unions and arrive at agreement which includes pay rise and improved condition, among others. Otherwise, entering agreement with ASUU alone would be a clear attempt to create artificial divisions among university workers in order to weaken their much-needed unity.

Ogunjimi Isaac

Deputy National Coordinator

Adaramoye Michael Lenin

National Mobilisation Officer

E-mail: [email protected]