The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said university lectures have remained on same salary structure for 15 years.
The union said the development was caused by the failure of the Federal Government to implement the agreements it reached with the university teacher in the past decade and a half.
It urged the Federal Government to review the FGN/ASUU 2009 renegotiation agreement to reflect the current economic realities.
The union also urged the Presidency to sign the draft agreement the government reached with the Nimi Briggs Committee.
Addressing reporters after the union’s meeting, ASUU’s Owerri Zone Coordinator, Prof. Dennis Aribodor, regretted that the 2009 agreement renegotiation had dragged for seven years – since 2017.
The union leader said the signing of the agreement would restore dignity in the academia, promote industrial harmony and peace in the universities.
Aribodor said: “The reluctance of the Federal Government to conclude the renegotiation is the reason the government’s committee has had three chairmen: from Wale Babalakin through Munzali Jibril to Nimi Briggs. This means academic workers in our universities have been on the same salary structure for 15 years.
“The most obvious implication of the truncation of the renegotiation of the agreement is that university teachers in Nigeria have been on the same salary regime since 2009, when the value of the naira to the dollar was N120 as against N1,800 today.”
Describing the step the Tinubu administration had taken to pay four months out of the withheld salaries of university teachers as one in the right direction, Aribodor also urged the government to clear the balance to end further agitations.
“That struggle by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, instigated by the failure of government to honour agreements, was, after all, in the national interest. Meeting ASUU’s demand in this regard is a panacea for industrial peace in our universities,” he said.
On the proliferation of universities in the country, the union expressed worry that federal and state governments were not matching the increase in the number of institutions with adequate funding.
“The proliferation of universities was one of the issues that led to the strike actions of 2020 and 2022, and part of the Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) signed by ASUU and the Federal Government stressed the need to review the National Universities Commission (NUC) Act to make it more potent in arresting the reckless and excessive establishment of universities. The review has not been done.
“The massive and reckless manner by which federal and state governments are establishing universities without making adequate preparations for their funding should be brought to a halt.
“Federal and state governments should focus on adequately funding existing universities to enhance their capacity to admit more students,” ASUU added.
