Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Abuja chapter, Clement Chup, has alleged that the Federal Government was yet to remit the N100 billion it promised universities in the country for development of infrastructure.
This claim is contrary to the position of the Federal Government which, in September “disbursed” the N100 billion to the various universities’ governing councils in an elaborate event in Abuja presided over by Secretary to Government of the Federation Pius Anyim.
The disbursement which came in a letter assigning various amounts to the universities for infrastructural development took place shortly after ASUU walked out on government.
But Chup claimed in an interview in Abuja on Sunday that government was systematically evading the implementation of the 2009 pact, insisting the agreement remains binding on government.
He vowed that the union would not be intimidated to call off its four-month-old strike because of what he described as cheap propaganda by government.
“To buttress their of insincerity, government would claim and they have been telling the general public that they released N100 billion two months ago; up till now that we are talking one kobo has not been released to any university.
“Rather, what government is trying to do is to run away from the agreement and we cannot accept that because the agreement is binding.
“So when they say we would as from next year make budgetary provision for so and so amount, the question we should be asking ourselves is what was spelt out in the agreement.
“Government must be honourable and responsible and implement the 2009 agreement,” he stated.
Reacting to the allegation by government that ASUU’s strike has been unduly politicised, Chup said: “A thief always thinks that every other person is a thief, because they believe politics is all about falsehood; they think others are reasoning like them.
“The question they should be answering is whether ASUU has any basis for going on this strike?
“Let anyone of them come out and say no. Does the agreement exist and did the Federal Government sign the agreement and the answer is yes.
“They have the machinery for propaganda at their disposal, they can disseminate whatever false information they want and they think everybody is like them, we are for goodness sake a union of intellectuals, we do not just come out to say anything or do anything, we subject it to scrutiny,” the ASUU chieftain added.
Similarly, University of Ibadan (UI) chapter of ASUU has condemned Senate President, David Mark, over his comment on the 2009 agreement.
Mark had been quoted as condemning the team raised by the government to negotiate with ASUU on its behalf, saying: “For those who negotiated on behalf of the Federal Government with ASUU in October 2009, the facts made available to us today by the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education, Uche Chukwumerije, showed that they are people who do not know their right from their left.
“In the process, they put the Federal Government into the problem it is facing today, because when the agreements were read out, I thought they were mere proposals, only for Chukwumerije to confirm that they signed the largely un-implementable agreements characterised by payment of all manner of allowances.”
But at its congress at the weekend, the union’s chairman, Olusegun Ajiboye, flayed Mark over the comment, describing it as a derision of the personality of an elder statesman, Gamaliel Onosode, who led the government team to the negotiation table in 2009 with ASUU.
In the resolution after the congress, the union asked the Senate President to tender an unreserved apology to Onosode, saying “the elder statesman, an alumnus of the University College Ibadan, who has served as the Chairman of Governing Councils of UI and UNILAG, a great successful businessman who has served the country in various intervention capacities, deserves respect as a man of proven integrity and impeccable character.”
In a related development, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) has kicked against how the Federal Government spent N4.8 billion in 2011 for the education of children of Nigerian diplomats abroad.
The Congress also vowed that it will continue to resist “attempts by government to sell the 104 Federal Unity Schools.”
Speaking at a national summit/dialogue on education, good governance and national unity organised by the Unity Schools Old Students Association (USOSA) in Abuja at the weekend, President of TUC, Bobboi Bala Kaigama, called on Nigerians to prevail on government to give priority to the nation’s education sector.
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