Lecturers have continued strike action in protest against the alleged breach of the 2020 Memorandum of Action (MOA) signed between the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Nigerian government.
What is contained in this agreement and how has it been breached?
In 2020, the lecturers and the Nigerian government agreed that the government will recommence commitment to the 2013 promise of a N1.3 trillion funding for universities in the country. In the original agreement, the government was meant to divide the fund into tranches of N200 billion in 2013, and N220 billion each year between 2014 and 2018. However, it was noted that aside from the N200 billion that was released in 2014 and an additional N20 billion in 2019, the government has not released any other funds.
In the 2020 MOA, the government offered to pay N30 billion as part of one tranche of N220 billion Naira on or before 3rd January 2021, the funds were also to be domiciled in the Central Bank of Nigeria and paid into the Needs Assessment account as University Revitalization Fund to be disbursed by the Implementation Monitoring Committee. The government also proposed a special meeting with asuu, and the ministry of education and finance during which an implementable schedule can be agreed upon for payment of the balance of N170 billion of the N220 billion tranche.
A visitation panel was agreed upon, with the details of the panel including the terms of reference meant to be published by 31st December, 2020 and the panels will be inaugurated upon opening of Universities in 2020.
It was also agreed that a sum of N40 billion will be released by the office of the Accountant General of the Federation before 31st December 2020, to offset part of the outstanding claims of members of all Trade Unions in the Universities after each staff has presented evidence of having earned the allowances.
Earned Academic Allowance was also meant to be mainstreamed into the national budget and the agreement contains details of the extent of the process of that mainstreaming including that the National Assembly had agreed to implement the process of mainstreaming.
The 2020 MOA also stated that the act establishing the National Universities Commission will be amended.
ASUU and the Nigerian government agreed that the 2009 agreement reached between both parties will be renegotiated. An inauguration committee was set up on December 2nd, 2020, with the committee having an eight weeks mandate.
The agreement also contained details of the deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) platform. The document noted that “the timeline of deployment of UTAS was going to be decided at the end of February, 2021, after a rigorous test process.
It was agreed salaries of ASUU members not on IPPIS, which was withheld, will also be paid.
The latest strike is because, according to ASUU, the federal government has failed to live up to its part in the agreement reached and noted that until its demands are met, they will not return to classes. The strike action, now extended by 12 weeks, might see the strike action last up to five months.
Students across the country have started protesting the closure of their schools as a result of the impasse between the government and ASUU.
The Nigerian government on its part has continued to urge the lecturers to return to the classroom, stating that it is committed to honoring the agreements, a comment the lecturers have said is false and unreliable.