Govt okays 50% pay rise for university teachers

UNIVERSITY teachers won yesterday their long battle for better pay and more conducive environment for work.

The Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) finally signed the controversial 2001 Agreement. The action is likely to end a three-month strike that kept the universities shut.

The ASUU President, Prof Ukachukwu Awuzie, signed on behalf of the union. The Chairman, FGN/ASUU Re-negotiation Committee, Deacon Gamaliel Onosode, and Dr. Wale Babalakin (SAN), Chairman, Committee of Pro-Chancellors (CPC) of the Federal Universities, signed on behalf of the government.

The next comprehensive review of the Agreement shall be in 2012 in accordance with International Labour Organisation (ILO) Convention 98 and within the framework of Medium Term Sector Strategy (MTSS) and Vision 2020.

A source said last night that the government agreed to increase the lecturers’ salary by over 50 percent. This is an improvement over the 40 percent salary increase earlier rejected by the union. But the union is insisting salary is not their major concern in the dispute.

However, there is an indication that this may be the last time there will be collective bargaining as parties agreed that there shall be a review of the collective bargaining machinery in the university system, including procedure and substance of negotiations.

The sacked 49 lecturers of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN) issue remains unresolved.

Although the Re-negotiation Committee had initially agreed that the matter be resolved out of court, the Federal Government still preferred that the matter before the Supreme Court be concluded. But ASUU insisted that an out of court settlement was appropriate and preferable, and should continue to be pursued.

Both parties have, however, agreed that nobody shall be victimised in any way whatsoever for his or her role in the process leading to this re-negotiation and agreement.

Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole, who played a major role in the reconciliation, praised the two teams for showing understanding.

He said: "There is no substitute to dialogue. What has happened shows that we have a president that is a statesman and has put the country forward. Some other president will just say… given all that has happened it is going to be difficult.

"We have seen a president who was ready to reverse himself through flexibility to make additional concessions without which the whole effort would not have worked.

"ASUU has also been able to demonstrate a level of patriotism that at the end of the day we all meant well. We might not appreciate the same style and all of that but Nigeria is all that we have. We are all patriotic; ASUU has demonstrated that."

Oshimohole said the next challenge is for the parties to ensure implementation of the agreement to the letter so that next time ASUU and government would not have a crisis of confidence, which he said accounted for the prolonged strike.

Asked if his state would implement the agreement, Oshiomhole, who said state governments shall not be obliged because the Federal Government cannot negotiate for them, added that his state would obey the agreement.

"Edo State will have to obey this agreement because there is what we call the neighbourhood effect," he pointed out

Education Minister, Dr. Sam Egwu, told reporters. "We have shifted ground so that we can move forward and what we did is in the interest of the country.

He declined comments on the details of the agreement.

The ASUU president said the union would soon convoke a National Executive Council meeting to take some decisions, especially on the strike, which was suspended for just two weeks the meeting is likely to hold tomorrow.

He admitted that both teams had agreed on "a lot of issues".

Awuzie said: "As you know in collective bargaining there is give-and-take and because we are patriots, we want the best for the education system. So, all of us have to make compromises here and there and at the end of the day we have an agreement.

He went on: "Every human society is dynamic. We have made commitment in writing. We hope every party to that agreement will keep its own part. When these are done, there will be progress. No academic went into university to go on strike but we cannot allow the system to decay. I have children in school and they are at home. We have a duty to this nation and posterity to give them education that is competitive in Nigeria and the world.

"We are going to pursue the next stage, which is the implementation of the agreement; signing of agreement is one thing; implementing it is another one. We are hoping that all parties will keep their parts".

On whether the agreement would be binding on state governments, Awuzie said: "We created benchmark for every university. We are all patriots; we want education to work."

ASUU warned the government not to set unions against one another.

It also demanded immediate payment of the lecturers, four months salary, which was withheld.