The National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU), Dr. Emmanuel Osodeke, has warned that public universities in Nigeria risk experiencing the fate of the moribund National Electric Power Authority (NEPA), Nigeria Airways, Nigeria Railways among others if ASUU members make salaries the sole pivot of the Union’s struggle.
Osodeke reminded ASUU members that Unions which made members’ salaries and welfare the focal points of their struggles when they should have fought perseveringly for the survival and efficiency of public institutions and system, lost their jobs and welfare at the end of the day when those institutions collapsed.
The ASUU President specifically said the staffers of NEPA, Nigeria Airways and Nigeria Railways lost their jobs as those public institutions buckled and collapsed, stressing that had their unions fought for the survival and preservation of such public institutions, they would have still been standing till today as national assets and employers of labour.
Osodeke spoke while making remarks during a three – day ‘University – wide Seminar themed: The Demands of Scholarship in the 21st Century’ which entered its final day today at the Olabisi Onabanjo University(OOU) Ago Iwoye, Ogun State.
The programme was organised by the ASUU national body and OOU – ASUU local branch under the auspices of the Centre For Popular Education (CEPED) to sanitize members to understand that ASUU struggle is not about salaries only but about quality university education for egalitarian society, quality outputs, better funding and better Nigeria.
No fewer than 12 indigent students of OOU received scholarship grants from ASUU national body and OOU ASUU branch to cushion the effects of the current economic hardship in the country. While the ASUU gave grants of N200,000 each to two students, OOU – ASUU awarded N100,000 grants to each of the 10 beneficiary – indigent students.
He said public varsities accounted for 95% of students population as it remains accessible and relatively affordable to the ordinary Nigerians from modest backgrounds and following the ASUU’s persistent struggle over the years that the system must not die but be made better through adequate funding for posterity.
He expressed concern over the practicability of the Federal Government students loan scheme, saying it’s not in favour of the ordinary Nigerians because of the stringent conditions for accessing the scheme.
According to him, it may end up serving only the interest of children from already wealthy families.
He said the requirement stipulating that a guarantor of such credit scheme must be a level 12 officer, takes it away from the reach of the poor students in public higher institutions across the country.
ASUU President said, “We need to educate our members we need to let them know why we are struggling and to let them know about the union. We also need to bring them up to the principle of the union. They need to know why we take some actions like strike because we have some new members among us.
“In my opening remarks I tell that look, immediately you start struggling for your salaries alone and the system dies, then you have no job again and that is why today, those things that we there in th 60s 70s, were not there again. For instance, we used to have Nigeria Railways. Nigeria Railways is the best in Africa, but the workers left the system and were fighting for themselves and were fighting for their salaries alone and today no railway again and they have lost their jobs but if they had been fighting for the system, fought to have Railways working from Calabar to Port Harcourt, Benin – Lagos, Kano Maiduguri and others working, their jobs would still be working and the union, would still be stronger.
“The Nigeria Airways too used to have strong union but what do you have now and also see NEPA. NEPA left the institution and was fighting for themselves, today NEPA is no more. The same thing is happening to the Nigeria Union of Teachers NUT, the public primary school and secondary schools are dead while private ones have taken over and when they are private, they do not unionised.
“Go to private universities. None of the private universities in Nigeria are unionised They are not unionised. Go to private universities and see what the lecturers are facing because they are not unionised. They are suffering but they cannot speak out. In fact, if yoy see what lecturers in private universities are facing, you will be shocked. That is why we are left to speak for the institution. All our hospitals are going the same way. In fact, go to our government hospitals, they are not what you can be proud of. That is why when you have some level of commitment, we must struggle for the system. That is why we talk of TETFUND and today, we have public universities and they acount for more than 95 percent of universities population.
“We still have the public universities working because of the fees and because of the environment where you are free to express yourself freely unlike when you still have to go to one church where the owner of the university that you must be a member of that church, where you must pay tite and that is the difference.”
He urged Federal Government to pay salary arrears owed members in some universities, saying there was nothing to celebrate about the two – month recently paid out of the seven and half months arrears.
According to him, the Government has capacity to pay if it makes arrangement on way to go about it.
He said, “They are owing us seven and half months salaries. They have paid some of our members two months. So there is nothing to celebrate. Things should not continue that way. What we are saying is that let us meet and decide on timeline. If it is to be paid within one year, let us have definite arrangement. That is the way to go. Even if we agree that pay us current one and if it is two months that can be paid along, let us know. If you say you do not have money to pay now, let us know if it is within eight months that the money can be paid, let us know. That is the way to go, then our people will not go on strike.”
