The Federal Government on Wednesday inaugurated a committee to renegotiate the agreements it entered in 1999 with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, inaugurated the reconstituted Federal Government’s team for the renegotiation, in Abuja following controversies that have trailed the terms of the agreements by both parties.
“The Committee is expected to take another look at the 2009 agreements reached with the university-based unions and work with each union towards making far-reaching recommendations that would reposition the Nigerian university system,” he explained.
The government’s team, which is categorised into substantive members, advisers and observers, is led by Professor Emeritus, Munzali Jibril.
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The Minister said President Muhammadu Buhari “approved the reconstituted Federal Government Team for the renegotiation of the 2009 Agreements.”
He noted that the “Federal Government and relevant stakeholders, in the past months have been neck-deep in several meetings with the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and others, to resolve the outstanding issues that led to the current industrial action in public universities. ”
Adamu reaffirmed “the commitment of the present administration to finding lasting solutions to the challenges confronting the education sector, and most especially, the university sub-sector.
“It is noteworthy that although most of the residual issues were part of the comprehensive agreement reached with the previous administration, I can report that significant progress has, so far, been recorded and there is an opportunity that our public universities, like their private counterparts, will soon reopen for academic activities,” he stated.
When reaffirming “the commitment of the present administration to finding lasting solutions to the challenges confronting the education sector, and most especially, the university sub-sector,” the Minister said: “Government is determined to, within available resources, provide the requisite environment, infrastructure as well as improve the conditions of service for all categories of staff in Nigerian universities.”
He stated further: “Government, like other stakeholders, is also worried about the vicious cycle over the years of the myriad of industrial actions by one staff union or the other.
“The cumulative effect has been the obvious loss of productive and precious man-hours direly needed by the universities to fulfill their tripod mandates of teaching, research, and community action.
“All these have impacted negatively on our learning outcomes and the reputation of the Nigerian brand, which hitherto was the pride of the nation.
“The FGN team is expected to take another look at the 2009 Agreements reached with the university-based Unions and work with each Union towards making far-reaching recommendations that would reposition the Nigerian university system.
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“It has also become necessary and urgent that all hands must now be on deck to restore the confidence reposed in university education by students, parents and the general public.”
The minister explained that the committee members were carefully selected in recognition of their records.
“The team which is also well tested, comprises technocrats and some of the shining lights and Nigeria’s leading figures in higher education. You, therefore, collectively embody the aspirations, dignity, and limitless potentials of our educational system and nation, at large”, he further explained.
He listed the terms of reference of the team to include the following: “Re-negotiate the residual issues in the 2009 Agreements between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the university-based unions, towards a workable and implementable agreement between both parties, such that will facilitate repositioning of Nigerian universities for greater responsibilities in national development.
“Propose and prescribe short, medium and long-term measures for the sustainable funding and management of Federal universities, to restore lasting peace, stability, harmony, and progress in the Nigerian University System; and make any other recommendations, as may be necessary, to ensure the realistic implementation of future agreements, by all stakeholders.”
