AS the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) meets today in Abuja, the issue of resumption from their five months-old strike will top the agenda of the meeting as expectations of Nigerians is to see the universities resume for lectures soonest.
The ASUU president, Comrade Nasir Isa Fagge’s demand that the Federal Government should show commitment of meeting the disbursement of N200 billion for the year 2013 allocation to the universities through the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was said to have been met, according to the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Dr. Doyin Okupe, last week.
The Federal Government’s threat to disengage any lecturer that fails to resume lectures on December 4, earlier conveyed by the Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, has also been denied by President Goodluck Jonathan. With all these expected areas of conflict removed, many Nigerians are pleading with ASUU to suspend the strike and resume work.
Indeed, feelers after the burial of the former ASUU President, Professor Festus Iyayi, are that the consensus among majority of ASUU members are that the universities should resume for lectures against the backdrop of various consultations.
Daily Newswatch investigations indicated that expectations are high among students, parents and Nigerians that the universities will finally resume from its five-month-old strike at the end of today’s meeting. According to a member of ASUU, who spoke on condition of anonymity, the ASUU president will be addressing some select journalists in Abuja today on when to end the strike.
The threat by the Federal Government to sack lecturers that refuse to abide by the ultimatum fixed for today had done some incalculable damage to the relationship between ASUU and the government, especially the fairly smooth meetings between the lecturers and President Jonathan.
However, already there are indications that many universities will resume work latest first week of January owing to the Yuletide period.
Of course, some of the universities appeared to have heeded the government’s ultimatum to reopen for lectures. The reopening of the University of Benin (UNIBEN) brings to five the number of universities that have resumed. The other schools include University of Nigeria (UNN), Nsukka, Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, Ondo State; Enugu State University of Technology (ESUT), Enugu, and the Ibrahim Badamosi University, Lapai, in Niger State.
The authorities of the University of Ibadan have, however, announced plans to commence academic activities on January 6, 2014. A circular released by the management of the university stated that its actions were sequel to the directives of the Committee of Pro-chancellors (CPC) of federal universities.
The revised academic calendar for the remaining part of the Second Semester 2012/2013 shows that students are expected to arrive on Saturday and Sunday, January 4 and 5, while lectures will commence on January 6.
Teaching is expected to take place for 11 weeks, from Monday, January 6 to Friday, March 21, while revision will take place from March 24 to 28.
Students of the university will sit for their examinations from Monday, March 31 to Friday April 11. The senate of the university would meet on May 12 to consider the results of the graduating students.
Also, the authorities of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, yesterday, December 8, directed the students to go back to class. According to a statement by the Public Relations Officer of OAU, Mr. Biodun Olarewaju, “the authorities of the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, have announced Sunday, 8th December, 2013, as the resumption date for the 2012/ 2013 rain semester.
“Accordingly, students of the university are expected to come into residence on the above date as lectures will commence immediately.”
The statement noted that lectures would commence immediately after the resumption. Students of the university narrowly escaped not completing their Harmattan Semester exams when the strike began on July 1.
It was gathered that the university was lagging behind with a semester compared to other Federal universities in the country.
At the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, Lagos, Daily News watch investigations showed that many lecturers of the university have continued to mount pressure on the chapter’s ASUU to call off the strike.
The lecturers were said to have held a congress last week and a large percentage of them in the UNILAG voted for calling off of the strike and resuming work, especially over their inability to carry out research.
A lecturer who spoke with Daily News watch on the condition of anonymity said although the outcome of today’s meeting will confirm the resumption date, but he stressed that they hoped the strike would be called off before January.
However, candidates that were offered admission into the UNILAG have been going through screening and registration processes since two weeks, although the lecturers said the strike continues until they receive directives from the National Executive Council of ASUU after today’s meeting.
“Government owns the school, not us, so, we have to work with the decision of government. The decision of the owner (the Federal Government) supersedes that of any pressure groups in the school. By now, schools are working their calendars and adjusting them in preparation for resumption, so, one cannot just jump into the class and begin to teach,” the source said.
However, Daily News watch investigations showed that in schools where management had forced resumption, only partial academic activities were going. For instance, at Ebonyi State University (EBSU), Abakaliki, which management had pulled out of the nationwide strike since November 23, with an order that all academic activities on all the campuses of the university should resume on November 26, full academic work was yet to kick off.
The EBSU ASUU Chairman, Prof. Ndubuisi Idenyi, had promised a showdown with the management, should they try to force the lecturers to resume, reiterating that they were waiting for ASUU national body to call of the strike before they could comply.
The statement signed by the Registrar, Sam N. Egwu, Idenyi calling of the strike, stated that following the inability of Federal Government and ASUU to reach an agreement over the lingering strike, the university management had resolved to commence its academic activities.
But when contacted, Idenyi stated the ASUU chapter of EBSU dissociated itself from the purported reopening by the management and maintained that the strike was still in progress until they got directive from the national leadership.
Asked what would be their reaction if the school management decided to punish their members for refusing to resume work, Idenyi said they were ready for showdown with the school management if they dared them.
A similar scenario was the case at the Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), with some lecturers of the institution complying with the directive by the management of the school to commence lectures.
Although lectures have not started fully in all the departments, a visit to the school campus showed that lectures had started in some of the faculties/departments, including Faculties of Arts and Education.
It was also gathered that timetables for lectures for the second semester of the 2012/2013 academic session had been released by each of the departments, to signal the commencement of academic exercise. Also, meetings of the heads of departments in each of the faculties were held to ensure proper course allocation among the lecturers.
The Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Femi Mimiko, and principal officers of the institution went round the campus to monitor the level of compliance with the directive.
Speaking after the monitoring exercise, Professor Mimiko expressed satisfaction, saying the development showed that about 60 per cent of the academic staff were back on campus.
“I am satisfied with the level of response that we have received so far viz-a-viz the directive that management gave that lectures should resume today. I have personally gone round and I also sent my principal officers to go round the classrooms and it was discovered that quite a number of classes held.
“As we speak, lecturers are in the classrooms teaching; yes, the students are just coming back to campus, that is not unexpected, but the good thing there is, more than half of the total number of lecturers have indicated their desire to teach and they are all over the place teaching. I hope and believe that from tomorrow, the situation will improve,” he said.
Professor Mimiko said it was a matter of individual choice if a parent chose to listen to ASUU and kept his child at home, adding that there was little or nothing that could be done to that.
Also, students and lecturers of the Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT), last week Monday, returned to school, following a directive by the school authorities.
Authorities of the university had directed the lecturers to resume classes on December 2 and commence preparations for the 2012/2013 second semester examination.
It was reported that at the Enugu and Agbani campuses of ESUT, students were in their various departments exchanging pleasantries and checking the notice boards.
At the faculties of engineering and management sciences on the Enugu campus, students in their numbers were copying the second semester examination timetables pasted on the notice boards.
The lecturers, on the other hand, held a meeting with the governing council of the university at the Agbani campus on the resumption of work.
Addressing the lecturers, Chairman of the council, Chief Chilo Offiah, appealed to them to sheathe their sword and return to classes in the interest of the students.
Offiah thanked the lecturers for attending the meeting and assured them that the council would do all it could to ensure the improvement of their welfare.
The executive members of the ESUT branch of the ASUU did not, however, attend the meeting.
It was, however, a different situation at the Enugu campus of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), as only a few students and lecturers were on campus. Few lecturers were also found in their various offices, while the non-academic staff members were busy working.
Some of the lecturers said they were waiting for directives from both the school authorities and the ASUU branch.
A drama took place at the Federal University of Technology Owerri (FUTO) as the university’s senate announced the sack of all academic staff on its payroll with immediate effect for failure to return to classroom.
The sack order was made known by the Public Relations Officers (PRO) of the institution, Mr. Chike Ezenwa, while speaking in Owerri, through the telephone.
According to him, the senate of the university had declared all the positions of academic staff in the institution vacant, adding that they would be advertised soon.
The senate council, he explained, had already compiled the list of vacant positions in the school, adding that whoever was willing to resume would be adequately protected.
But the FUTO branch of ASUU has said any attempt to break their ranks would be strongly resisted. This was contained in a communiqué issued at the end o their meeting held last week and signed by both the Chairman and Secretary, Dr.Ikenna Nwachukwu and Dr F.M. Eke, respectively.
The communiqué urged members to ignore the resumption notice by FUTO management, adding that the branch would not engage in any academic activities until the Federal Government committed itself to implementing the ASUU-FGN agreement.
In another development, the authorities of the University of Jos (UNIJOS) have directed all academic staff to commence work with immediate effect, while the branch chairman of ASUU said the union would not succumb to threat and intimidation.
The authorities of the university, in a circular signed by the registrar/secretary to the council, Mr. JilliDandam, stated that all academic staff of the university shall return to their various departments, units and directorates and commence work immediately.
It added that daily compliance register would be kept by all heads of department for all academic staff, while it further directed every head of department to publish lecture time-table for all academic programmes by today.
However, the branch chairman of ASUU, Dr. Jangkam Wannang, said the union would not succumb to threat to call off its strike, adding that conditions to call off the strike were well spelt out. He said intimidation and harassment of any form would not force the union to call off the strike.
“We will not succumb to threat; the strike is for the improvement of the system. The threat and intimidation by both the government and governing council of a university will rather complicate the problem than addressing it,” he said.
Also lecturers at the Gombe State University are yet to resume classes, despite the directive to do so by the government. Branch Chairman of ASUU, Mallam Umar Adamu, confirmed that none of the lecturers of the university had resumed work. Adamu said the union would meet today to decide on the strike.
The premises of the university was, however, calm as security operatives were seen keeping vigilance at the main gate.
But the academic staff of Federal University in Kashere, also in Gombe State, did not join the strike.
But appeals to ASUU to end thje strike continue to mount as the National Parent-Teacher-Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN) has asked the striking teachers to see the extension of the resumption deadline as a sign of goodwill from the Federal Government.
The NAPTAN North Central Coordinator, Alhaji Danladi Aliyu, said the extension showed that the government was committed to ending the strike. Aliyu said, “I am pleading with both parties not to see this issue as a war that must be won or lost as both are working in the interest of moving the nation forward.
“ASUU should use this deadline extension to resume duties, while we also urge the Federal Government not to come down hard on them,” he said.
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