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Academic activities in universities across the country may be grounded again, following a disagreement among labour unions over the sharing formula of the N22.127 billion approved by the Federal Government for the payment of earned allowances to university staff.
It was gathered that out of the approved amount, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is to take 75 per cent, while the other three unions will share the remaining 25 per cent.
The three unions are the Non-academic staff union of Education and Associated Institutions(NASU); Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities(SSANU) and the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT).
However, two out of the non-academic unions-NASU and SSANU- have rejected the sharing formula and warned the Federal Government to reverse it immediately so as not to disrupt the peaceful industrial atmosphere at the universities.
The two unions under the umbrella of the Joint Action Committee(JAC) gave the Federal Government two weeks to redress what they described as injustice meted out to them.
In a letter addressed to the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, the two unions urged the minister to intervene and prevail on the Federal Government not to go ahead with the sharing formula.
The letter, which was also copied to the Minister of Education and the Executive Secretary, National University Commission( NUC) was signed by General Secretary of NASU, Comrade Peter Adeyemi and the National President of SSANU, Comrade Mohammad Ibrahim.
“The leadership of the Joint Action Committee of NASU and SSANU is constrained to write the Honourable Minister in respect of the total failure of the Federal Government to positively address all the issues contained in the Memorandum of Action signed on 25th February, 2021, and the refusal of the Minister of Labour and Employment to finalise action on the subsequent Memorandum of Action reached at the meeting of 25th August, 2021.
“It is regrettable to note that the draft of the Memorandum of Action reached on Thursday, 25th August, 2021, which was handed over to JAC leadership for vetting was effectively returned on Monday, 30th August, 2021, and almost two months after the meeting, no action has been taken.
“Contrary to the content of the Memorandum of Action of 25th February, 2021, and the decision reached at the subsequent meeting of 26th August,2021, the information at our disposal as of the time of writing this letter indicates that the Federal Government has agreed to release another tranche of N22.127 billion for the payment of Earned Allowance to the Universities and Inter-University Center Staff at the ratio 75-25 per cent.
“We are alarmed at this lack of sensitivity on the part of government when not long ago, non-teaching staff protested the sharing formula applied by the Federal Government at 75-25 for the disbursement of the last tranche of N40 billion released for payment of Earned Allowances to both the teaching and non-teaching staff of our universities.
“To again embark on this provocative and unacceptable sharing formula in the next release will only ignite industrial disquiet in our university system. We urge the Honourable Minister to prevail on the Federal Government not to allow the present peaceful industrial atmosphere in the Universities and inter-university centres in our country to be disrupted.
“We, therefore, request for positive redress of the issues presented above by the Federal Government within the next two weeks, failing which JAC may be forced to ask its members across the length and breadth of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to take a position on the need to resume to the suspended strike,” the unions said.