The Minister
of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, has disclosed that the Federal Government
has begun the payment of salary arrears of the striking university
teachers.
But the lecturers, under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union
of Universities (ASUU) insisted that the Federal Government must remit N200
billion into the universities’ revitalisation fund before the ongoing strike can
be suspended.
ASUU leaders, who came to the negotiation
table with a former President of the union, Prof. Assisi Asobie and President of
the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Abuba Wabba, explained that the payment of
their salary arrears without getting a commitment to the payment of the N200
billion for the rehabilitation of the universities would portray the union as
being only concerned with the welfare of its members and not the general
improvement of the teaching conditions in the institutions.
Issues in
contention include the registration of Nigerian Universities Pension Management
Company (NUPEMCO); fractionalisation of salaries in federal universities and
gross under-funding/non-funding of state universities and arrears and the
implementation of earned academic allowance; and the non-release of funds for
the revitalisation of public universities as spelt out in the 2013 Memorandum of
Understanding.
Other issues are guidelines for the retirement benefits of
professors in line with the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement; Treasury Single Account
(TSA), etc.
