TUC charges FG to dialogue with varsity, poly teachers

The Trade Union Congress has said it is disturbed by the ongoing industrial action embarked upon by lecturers of the country’s universities and polytechnics.
In a statement on Tuesday, the TUC urged the government to dialogue with the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics.
The union said the strike was necessitated by the failure of government to honour the agreements it reached with both ASUU and ASUP over the years.
The statement urged President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan to move quickly to resolve the face-off for the sake of the country’s education.
The statement reads: “The Trade Union Congress of Nigeria is highly disturbed by the various strikes embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities and their counterpart in the polytechnics.
“As concerned stakeholders with interest in the development of the country, it would be a disservice to posterity if we fold our arms and watch haplessly while strikes cripple the education sector.
“It is instructive that this strike has been brewing for four years, being a fall-out of the Federal Government’s non-implementation of some key clauses in its memorandum of understanding that it entered into with the lecturers in 2009. Notable amongst the said clauses is that dealing with the “Academic Earned Allowance (AEA)” which the Federal Government agreed to be paying the lecturers. The allowances are for excess work load, high carriage of student per lecturer, responsibility allowance ranging from administrative responsibility borne by lecturers, etc. Having tried severally and unsuccessfully to get the Government to fulfill its promises under the agreement, the lecturers have now resorted to the strike action, an ill wind which itself does the country no good, and the entire country can only hope and pray that the parties resolve their differences soonest and positively.
“We urge President Goodluck Jonathan not to rely solely on reports from people in his cabinet who might never tell him the truth about the situation at hand. From one side of their lips they tell us that Nigeria has a robust and strong economy and from the other side they tell us that from October, 2013 the government may have problems paying workers’ salaries/allowances. Something is definitely wrong somewhere. If nothing is wrong there is no reason why an agreement that was signed in 2009 with stakeholders in the tertiary institutions is yet to be honoured four years later is not only preposterous but also has a devastating and fatal consequence on sanctity of contract. The Congress is particularly troubled taking into cognizance the abysmal performance of students in their exams and other academic endeavours. If the nation must enter the club of 20 leading countries in the world we must begin to address these issues holistically.
“Only recently, oil and gas workers went on a warning strike due to failed promises by government and employers in the sector. Now teachers in the universities and polytechnics are embarking on theirs. We appeal to government to dialogue with them. At the same time we also urge the concerned parties to consider the adverse effects that the strike has on parents/guardians of the students as well as the students themselves who might be forced to spend extra years in school.
“It is no secret that the disruption of the academic calendar has the potential of causing very unwholesome impact on the nation. While the strike lasts, some idle students turn to robbery, prostitution and other forms of criminality. The forced break also causes a lull in their intellectual alertness which may take a while to rekindle fully. Even some of the lecturers might migrate to other professions/lands, thus broadening the already wide vacuum occasioned by the brain-drain syndrome. The cumulative result of all these is that the standard of education slumps further, greater percentage of graduates are half-baked and unemployable, and the socio-economic prospects of the country become dimmer than ever before. Indeed the country simply suffers on all platforms because no nation does better than the level of education of its people would permit. Yet these students are the leaders of tomorrow! What kind of society are we bequeathing to them?
“The TUC wishes to appeal to government to engage all the striking workers in a dialogue to resolve the issues at stake and give room for more conducive and optimally productive working environment. The educational down-slide and attendant problems must be stopped lest we find ourselves in an abyss. The government should take decisive action that will meet the legitimate needs and expectations of ASUU and ASUP. The time to do that is NOW!”
The statement by the TUC was signed by its President, Comrade Bobboi Bala Kaigama, and Secretary General, Comrade Musa Lawal.