ASUU Strike: Fg Neglect Education For Paper Money

There is a paradox governments have built around education — they are spending billions of Naira on education, yet the financial issues around education are not being resolved. The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, strike is only one of many matters that are dogging education.

Government’s supposed interests in negotiating with ASUU, the speed being applied, and the uttermost neglect of other aspects of education confirm the diminishing importance that governments attach to education.

ASUU’s case is exceptional, in that governments appeared concerned. When the Academic Staff Union Polytechnics, ASUP, went on strike, it took almost three months before governments started talking to the union. The issue remains partially resolved.

With the ASUU strike, the failure of governments and their programmes are obvious. Governments sign agreements they do not intend to keep. ASUU is on strike over a 2009 agreement. Governments want to re-negotiating implementation of a four-year-old agreement.

They also know that the negotiations for a new agreement are due. We have governments that plan for immediate needs, if they ever do. They are exhausting themselves over ASUU strike as if meeting ASUU’s demands would resolve the challenges that our education faces, among them irrelevant curricula.

How do governments spend billions of Naira they budget annually for education? Bureaucracy consumes the bulk of the money. Duplication of agencies that manage education is the biggest cost centre in our national education management. Governments are running up new costs.

New higher institutions are being built with emphases on physical structures. Laboratories, libraries and research centres that they require to be centres for meaningful academic engagements are available in inadequate numbers.

It is absurd that governments — the owners of the universities — would need an ASUU strike to determine the status of the facilities in universities.

What plans do governments have for education? How would they tackle sustainable funding so that we are not soon back to another wave of strikes in a matter of months? Would governments ever consider education important enough that it should run without disruptions from strike?

There would be no easy solutions. Many of the federal agencies on education just drain resources that should have been invested in improving learning facilities. States imitate the federal waste, making education one of governments’ biggest cost centres, without commensurate value for the expenditures.

Governments can save costs by eliminating duplication in the functions of education agencies. There should be clearer lines about the roles of governments at different levels of education. The Federal Government should not be dabbling into primary school education.

Finally, the future of education is too important to be left to haphazard funding. Governments should provide resources for education beyond ASUU’s demands.

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NANS plans protest to end ASUU strike

LAGOS—National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, plans to hold a nation-wide protest as a last resort to force the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, to end the protracted strike of university lecturers.
NANS’ President, Yinka Gbadebo, responding to allegations that the students’ body was not bothered by the 60-day-old strike, said the union had been employing other matured approaches to appeal to both the government and ASUU.
According to him, “NANS is not relaxed but we have decided to take approaches that don’t require us to make noise. We have been meeting with executive members of ASUU, the Nigerian Universities Commission, Minister of Education and the FG.
“We have also written to meet with the universities NEEDS Implementation Committee chairman and Governor of Benue State, Mr. Gabriel Suswan. If we don’t receive any response by the end of the week, we would issue an ultimatum and take it up from there.
“I have been consulting with all SUG leaders in the affected schools so that we would speak with one voice. Going to the streets would be our last option but we would do so to protest how long this strike has lingered.
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ASUU/ASUP Crisis: Varsities turn ghost towns; poly students fear fresh strike

By September 1, the face-off between the Federal Government and Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, will be exactly in its third month. Unlike previous strikes,  this particular one is still in its infancy. Students have been known to do a four-year course in eight years.

While the warriors continue their fight in air-conditioned rooms with sumptuous meals, some students have gone to learn trades. A final year student of Lagos State University, LASU, seems to be honing her skill in comedy. She said “My friends outside Nigeria are asking me the meaning of ASUU. I tell them it’s a Federal Government-sponsored annual festival in Nigerian universities whereby students are not allowed to go to school!”

Schools have become soulless structures. Not entirely, though. Final year students still drag themselves around campuses with an effort, trying to complete their project works without supervisors. Lecture halls are under lock and key and the banking halls bereft of customers.



Law lecture theater, University of Ibadan

Mr. Jerry Adeyiwa and Mr. Olumide Aderigbigbe, both non-academic staff at the University of Lagos, UNILAG, said since the commencement of the strike, the campus has been boring as students and lecturers come in trickles.

They said “Though work still goes on as usual for non-academic staff, the campus is a shadow of itself, save for some lecturers who just breeze in and some students that come to read or write their projects.”

A visit round campuses revealed empty structures and a sort of emptiness in the students that spoke with Vanguard Learning.

Olaitan Olanrewaju and Jennifer Egwuogu are both final year students of UNILAG and UNN, respectively. They were in school trying to tidy up their projects.

Olanrewaju said “Because of the facilities in school, I can’t afford to go home. I plan to complete my project before the strike is called off. All I have to do is e-mail the project to my supervisor and pray she attends to it.”

Blessing and Priscilla, final year students of English Education, and Majekodunmi Ayo, Seun Lawal and Lanre Hasan, also final year students, all said they were in school because of their projects, which they prefer to work on now that there is some quiet in school.



Recreation centre, UNILAG

Meanwhile, polytechnics are teeming with students who are excited to be back in school after the ASUP strike. Students of Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, had barely resumed from the strike when they were faced with the task of writing their first semester examinations.

The Student Union Government, SUG, President of the Polytechnic, Mr. Oluwasijibomi Owolade, a HND 2 student of Mathematics and Statistics, said; “After the strike, we were given barely two weeks to prepare for the examinations. We are rounding off examinations at the moment, and will begin the second semester by Monday.”

Although Owolade was an active supporter of the last strike, he says that he and many other students are not pleased with hints that ASUP might resume the strike next month. “I am still on the look out for that,” he says. “Although I was fully on board last time, I am not ready to go back to that position again. I was disappointed when ASUP called off the strike without its demands being met.”

Owolade is not the only one with this view. The SUG President, Federal Polytechnic Ede, Bashir Adewale, says he would “be a fool to support another ASUP strike. I have about two to three months until graduation, and I am tired of strike.

“I am a firm believer that we should do the right thing at the right time, and I think that ASUP should have waited till their demands were met before calling off the strike. But since the strike has been called off, I just want to graduate and carry on with my life.”

Moses Okenla, a final year Mechanical Engineering student at Yaba College of Technology, who prayed that ASUP should not resume the strike, said he hopes to graduate unhindered in the next few months.

The situation on campus is the same at the Lagos State Polytechnic as students are busy with their normal academic activities.

One thing is certain, ASUU, ASUP, and many other unions linked with the academia, see strike as a veritable weapon to get their needs met. Only one result is sure: a progressive fall in the value of the certificates students leave Nigerian schools with. The irony is amusing – hope blew through higher institutions when academic degrees-touting politicians took over few years ago.

Related articles

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• ASUU, ASUP, Others Shutdown Lagos (nigeriaschoolsblog.com)

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ASUU stirke: Groups, students protest in Benin

BENIN CITY- ECONOMIC activities were grounded in Benin City Tuesday for over one hour, when coalition of civil society organizations and students, protested against the attitude of the Federal Government in the current strike action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU).

The placard-carrying groups, including Concerned Nigerian Students, Coalition of Edo Youths Organisation, Edo Youth Congress, Edo State Students, Comrade Across the Nation, South-South Youth League and Edo Youth for Good Government, described the Federal Government’s seeming refusal to meet the demands of ASUU as wicked, just as they backed ASUU for sticking to their guns in their demand.

The protesters who brandished placards, some of which read, “We are Nigerian Undergraduates Unemployed,” “Education is a Right,” “Federal Government Answer ASUU,” said the present impasse in FG/ASUU talk breakdown should be blamed on the former.

Former ASUU chairman, University of Benin chapter, Dr Kashetu Ilavbare, who was sighted around the protesters, said the presence of some of the ASUU members was to guide the protesters, so that they do not take the laws into their hands.

- See more at: http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/08/asuu-stirke-civil-society-organizations-students-protest-in-benin/#sthash.RY7DEYbw.dpuf

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There Is No Need For ASUU To Continue Strike – Jonathan

President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday said there was no need for the Academic Staff Union of Universities to continue with their industrial action.

Jonathan said this at the inauguration of the Federal Government sponsored-Transformation Projects at the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO).

Represented by Prof. Ruqayyat Rufai, the Minister of Education, the president said N30 billion had been released for the payment of earned allowances in all public universities.

The president said that the inaugurated projects were in line with the Federal Government’s commitment to providing quality education in the country.

He said the projects were based on the need assessment exercise conducted by the Federal Government in universities.

Jonathan urged the university administration to engage in research for national development, while stressing the need for proper maintenance of completed projects.

The Vice Chancellor, Prof. Chidozie Asiabaka, in his speech, expressed joy at the completion of the structure.

Asiabaka noted that the projects had gone a long way in tackling the dearth of basic infrastructure in the school.

“The dearth of classrooms, lecture theatres, power supply, student hostels, office accommodation, library space and facilities are major challenges my administration faced when I assumed office two years-ago,’’ he said.

The vice chancellor said with the intervention of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, the university got 1000 sitting-capacity lecture theatre, Centre for Entrepreneurial Studies Building.

He said the inaugurated projects are the new Engineering Technology, School of Environmental Technology Building, Centre for Nuclear Energy Studies and Training and the School of Agriculture and Agricultural Technology building complexes.

The others are the School of Environmental Technology building, landscaping of the campus and the provision of solar energy lights on the campus.

He also commended the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) on the completion of the giant student hostel building in the university.

He lauded the Federal Government for the release of N1 billion for the development of capital projects in each public funded university. (NAN)

source: myschool.com.ng

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ASUU Rejects FG Offers; Says Strike Must Continue

Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, yesterday, rejected. the N130 billion the Federal Government disbursed into the university system, as part of efforts to persuade striking lecturers to call off the strike which began on July 2.
In a letter written to Head of National Economic Empowerment Development Strategy, NEEDs Assessment, and Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswan, by President of ASUU, Dr. Nasir Isa Fagge. The union insisted that based on the 2009 ASUU/FGN agreement and the January 2012 Memoranda of Understanding, MoU, signed by both parties, what was due for 2012 and 2013 was N500 billion, not N100 billion.
The letter read: “We observe that the Committee is so far mentioning only N100 billion. If the implementation is to be related to the funding requirements in the 2009 ASUU/FGN agreement and the Jan 2012 MoU, what is due for 2012 and 2013 is N500 billion not N100 billion. Only the provision of this sum will meet the immediate needs of the universities.
“Our Union is very apprehensive of the manner in which the sources of the initial N100 billion to be used for the stimulation of the process are shrouded in secrecy. We believe that monies that already belong to the university system should not be blocked and recycled.
“This will not only be counter productive but will brew even deeper crises in the system. ASUU will not accept this.
“We are also concerned that a clear procedure or process for assessing the funds by the universities is yet to be defined. This concern is even more germane, given the statement of the Chairman of the Committee (during the last meeting on Monday, August 19, 2013) that the committee is taking some documents to the Due Process Office.
“We hasten to add that while due process must be followed, it is the sole responsibility of benefiting universities to respect all the provisions of the Procurement Act. The meaning of your Committee going to the Due Process Office is that it is the one that will be responsible for awarding contracts.
“We want to make it clear that this will never be acceptable to our union. We believe that monies meant to fund projects in universities should be sent to the universities, just as it is the practice with TETFund.”
The union condemned allocation of construction of 2,500 bed space hostel for N1billion, instead of 3,000 bed space for N1.2 billion.
“We are worried that instead of allocating N1.2 billion each to construct 3,000 bed space hostels to the 10 Category 1 universities, N1.0 billion for 2,500 bed space hostel to the 16 Category 2 universities, N500 million to construct 1,250 bed space hostels in the 12 Category 3 universities and N250 million each to construct 625 bed space hostels in the 13 Category 4 universities, the secretariat has changed that to constructing 1,400 bed space hostels in 25 universities at the cost of N2 billion each. We see no rationale in this.
“Expending N50 billion to construct 35,000 bed space hostels across 25 universities will be ridiculously scandalous since the same amount can be used to construct 125,000 bed space hostels across 51 universities. The standard cost of building a bed space ranges from N200,000.00 to a maximum of N400,000.00.
“This is even more worrisome, given the tangential suggestions made by the chairman that only monies for refurbishment will be sent to universities, while the rest will be handled centrally,” the union said.
The union also condemned the exclusion of 22 universities from the allocation for refurbishment of laboratories and libraries and three universities from the allocation for refurbishment of lecture theatres and lecture rooms.
According to ASUU, 24 universities are denied allocation for construction of libraries and laboratories, while two are denied allocation for construction of new lecture theatres and lecture rooms. 26 universities are denied allocation for construction of hostel

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ASUU strike: Jonathan approves N400bn lifeline –SSANU

The end to the present strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may be in sight as President Goodluck Jonathan has approved N400 billion for the infrastructural development of Nigerian universities.
The document to this effect is expected to be made available today at the meeting of the presidential committee on implementation of the NEEDS assessment in the universities with the leaders of the four university-based unions – the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU), the National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The President of SSANU, Samson Ugwoke, made the revelation while addressing his union members at the SSANU National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting held at the weekend at the University of Abuja.
Ugwoke, briefing the SSANU members on the activities of the NEEDS assesment implementation committee, led by Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam. He noted that the fund was different from the N100 billion Governor Suswam had raised from donor agencies and big companies to tackle the problems of Nigerian universities in 2013.
The labour leader said: “Let me give you a tip on what the NEEDS assessment committee is doing. The president has approved that within the next four years; N400 billion would be expended in infrastructural development of Nigerian universities, to transform the universities to international standard.
“N100 billion has already been raised by Suswam committee out of which 61 universities have been pencilled down, as contained in the NEEDS assessement committee. The N100 billion is expected to address needs of the universities in the areas which include re-furbishing and renovation of lecture theatres and lecture halls, re-furbishing and renovation of laboratories/libraries and the renovation of hostels.
“The second category is building of new hostels of international standard, self-contained rooms, the latest model in the world. That is the standard to be built in every university, and also the state-of-the-art laboratories as well as classrooms, lecture theatres and the halls.”
Ugwoke pointed out that the money had been shared and out of the N100 billion, N96 billion had been sent to universities.
He added: “The committee is meeting again on Monday, and by Monday (today 19th August 2013), the document will be out. This time around, it is not only by giving university money, but it will be monitored to ensure that the money is used to transform the universities, to bail universities out of the present situation and developed to an international recognized university standard.
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Youths give FG 7 days to resolve dispute with ASUU

The Federal government has been given a seven-day ultimatum to resolve the impasse with striking universities lecturers or face the wrath of Nigerian youth.
Besides, the failure to honour its agreement with Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is seen as a ploy to completely destroy the nation’s education.
In an open letter to President Goodluck Jonathan titled “The ASUU strike and the need for urgent action to save our educational system”, a youth leader comrade Timi Frank stated that it is ironic that the wealth of the country is being frittered away through frivolous projects and pervasive corruption while education upon which a brighter future is built is being destroyed.
He reminded the President that if N2trillion was expended between 2010 and 2011, to bail out banks to save the nation’s financial sector even when it was obvious that some of the funds were embezzled, it will be worth the while if the government will apply the same emergency arrangements to put an end to the decay in the education system.
He lamented that a government that spent N2.3trillion instead of the budgeted and appropriated N280 billion in 2011 in the name of subsidy and introduced SURE- P as a way of absorbing the negative impact on the economy, should by all ramifications be able to afford the N90 billion for the universities lecturers without much stress.
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David-West blames Jonathan for prolonged ASUU strike

A former Petroleum Minister, Prof Tam David-West, yesterday criticised President Goodluck Jonathan for refusing to accede to the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The former minister also berated the Finance Minister and the Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, senators and government appointees for draining the nation’s purse through what he called reckless spending.
Prof David-West spoke at a Town Hall meeting, organised by University of Ibadan (UI) chapter of the ASUU at the Mapo Hall, Ibadan.
He lashed out at Dr Okonjo-Iweala for her comments on the Federal Government’s 2009 agreement with ASUU.
The academic noted that there are more thieves in government than there are saints in Nigeria.
According to him, a government which said it spent N8 trillion illegally must be made by Nigerians to fund public education.
Prof David-West stressed that any government, which fails to invest in education is a vagabond government.
He said: “Any government that fails to invest in education is a vagabond government. The problem with Nigeria is that we have more thieves than saints in government. We drill over twomillion barrels of crude oil per day. Why should we be poor?
“ASUU is saying that the government should spend the money to improve the quality of education for our children and those yet unborn. The same government that does not have money for education budgeted N1 billion each to feed the President and the Vice President for just a year. Are they eating rock in Aso Rock? If you went to school without shoes, ensure that your children have shoes. Good parents pray that their children must be better than them.”
Other speakers at the event included the National Treasurer of ASUU, Dr Ademola Aremu; Oyo State Chairman of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Dr Olanrewaju Bashir; UI chapter of ASUU Chairman, Dr Segun Ajiboye; Dr Biodun Badmus of the University of Agriculture, Abeokuta (UNAAB); Comrade Mashood Erubami, Comrade Abiodun Aremu, Mr Femi Aborishade, among other activists.
Prof David-West said Dr Okonjo-Iweala lacked the morality to budget N2 billion annually for Jonathan’s and Namadi Sambo’s food and still claim that the same government cannot meet the education needs of the masses.
The former minister said the Finance Minister was being paid $2 million a month under the Olusegun Obasanjo administration, without her rejecting it or insisting that she should be paid in naira to improve the economy.
He wondered what President Jonathan is doing with 10 presidential jets while President of the United States, Barack Obama, has only one.
Prof David-West noted that the possession of a university degree does not make one a good administrator.
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Pay ASUU or resign, Fawehinmi tells Okonjo-Iweala

Wife of Chief Gani Fawehinmi, the late human right activist, Ganiat, has asked the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to resign if she is tired of handling her responsibilities, by being responsive to necessities.





Fawehinmi, who said this during her address at the annual convention of the Coalition Against Corrupt Leaders, in Lagos on Wednesday, berated the minister for saying the Federal Government had no resources to meet the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities.
The government had earliersaid it could not meet the N92bn ASUU had demanded, based on its 2009 agreement with the FG.
Fawehinmi, who said she was fully in support of the ASUU strike, described the reaction of the government, concerning the strike, as selfish and wicked.
She said, “I must send a clear warning to Okonjo-Iweala who had said the FG had no resources to accommodate the demands of ASUU. If she is tired of the job she can as well resign and go to her first country of choice, the United States of America.
“It appears highly despicable that having been a party to the 2009 agreement, the government has reneged on the said agreement. It shows complete wickedness, selfishness and heartlessness.
“The situation shows the incompetence of Minister of Education, Ruqqayat Rufai, Miniter of State for Education, Mr. Nyesom Wike and the Minister for Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, who were the three ministers who should have ensured that the terms of agreements with ASUU were honored.”
Fawehinmi said youth unemployment had led to various vices in the country.
She condemned Minister of Labour, Emeka Wogu, for failing to create jobs for up to a quarter of Nigerian population.
She said, “Wogu should be blamed for unemployment of the youth in the country. In a population where labour force accounts for more than 60 million people, he has not encouraged job creation for for the people, since he was sworn in.
She said the FG was supposed to provide jobs for at least five million persons every year.
Meanwhile, a civil rights organization, Anti-Corruption Network, has asked the government to release the money being demanded by ASUU or face nationwide unrest.
The organization specifically gave the government till Monday next week to settle with ASUU, failing which it said it would mobilize students and youths across the country to protest against the non-insensitivity of the federal and state governments to the striking lecturers.

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We demanded N87bn, not N92bn – ASUU

 

Okonjo-Iweala

THE Academic Staff Union of Universities on Wednesday faulted the statement credited to the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo- Iweala, that the union demanded for N92bn, describing the claim  as false.

ASUU said it never demanded such amount as earned allowances in the 2009 agreement it reached with the Federal Government.

Okonjo-Iweala had on Wednesday in Minna, said  the Federal Government couldn’t meet the N92bn allowances as demanded by ASUU.

The univerisity lecturers, in a statement by the University of Ibadan  branch chairman, Dr. Olusegun Ajiboye, described the amount mentioned by the minister as “a the imagination of the minister.”

Ajiboye explained that the earned allowances, the union and the governemnt calculated in the 2009 agreement, amounted to N87b, which covered allowances for three and half years for the lecturers in the nation’s universities.

He said, the N87bn was a compromise made by ASUU to scale down from N127bn.

He added that the N87bn was computed based on 15 per cent of the yearly recurrent expenditures of some nation’s universities.

The statement stated, “I want Nigerians to ask the minister where she got her figure of N92bn from. There was never a time that ASUU made a demand that is up to N92bn. I think the N92bn is just the imagination of the minister.                         “But that is not to say that this government did not enter into an agreement with us. This is a government that signed an agreement with us on January 24, 2012 to the effect that they would inject N100bn as funding into the universities in the first one  month and that before the end of 2012, they would inject another N300bn.’’

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FG, ASUU meeting deadlocked …To meet again on Monday

THE hope for resolution of the over one month industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), on Tuesday, was dashed as the ongoing negotiation on payment of academic Earned Allowance was deadlocked.
However, Governor of Benue State and leader of the Federal Government’s negotiation team, Gabriel Suswam, told newsmen after a closed-door meeting with ASUU that the deliberation with the leadership of ASUU was fruitful and that the meeting had been shifted to Monday, next week.
He noted that with the progress made so far “it is hoped that conclusions would be reached next week for ASUU to call off the strike.”
The governor had stated earlier before the meeting that government was determined to resolve the problem “if possible today or shortest possible time.”
According to him, two new actors were introduced-the Finance Minister, Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala and Director, Budget Office, adding that the discussion was basically on academic earned allowance which had been more protracted.
Suswam, who is the Chairman of the Presidential Universities Needs Assessment Committee, expressed optimism that the issues would soon be resolved going by the progress made so far.
However, ASUU President, Comrade Nasir Isa Fagge, refused to speak with reporters, saying they should meet Governor Suswam, who is the government’s negotiator, for what agreements were reached in the closed door meeting.
Governor Suswam said: “Well,the meeting continues next week Monday. We made some progress, we had very fruitful discussion with ASUU and we have agreed to meet again on Monday at about three o’clock. When we meet again, we will be able to arrive at some conclusions.”
When he was reminded that he had made same promise last week, Suswam said: “No, I said between one and two weeks. There is nothing wrong; you know we introduced some new faces, the minister of finance; you agree with me she is attending the meeting for the first time and also the Director-General, Budget. Now that finance is coming, we are getting close to resolving it.
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FG, ASUU Agree On N100 Billion Deal for Varsities' Infrastructure

The committee set up by the federal government to implement the needs assessment report in Nigerian universities yesterday reached an agreement with representatives of the striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on the vexed issue of decaying infrastructure in Nigerian universities following the adoption of a report by the committee's technical committee.
The committee, chaired by Benue State Governor, Dr Gabriel Suswam, which rose from a long meeting at the Benue Governor's Lodge Asokoro, Abuja, last night, announced to newsmen that the federal government had reached agreement with ASUU to deploy N100 billion for the provision of infrastructure on the campuses of 61 universities covered in the needs assessment report earlier carried out by a committee of the federal government.
Based on the agreement, therefore, the only matterin contention is the issue of the earned allowances which Suswam gave assurances that the matter, too, would be dealt with on Monday since the federal government had made substantial offers to the striking lecturers.
The technical committee, chaired by Dr Banfa, a nominee of ASUU, had proposed in its report that the N100 billion be shared among all the 61 federal and state universities in the country for intervention in the areas of the rehabilitation and construction of lecture halls, renovation and construction of libraries and laboratories, and rehabilitation and construction of hostels.
Banfa said the 61 universities were categorized into four based on the size of student enrolment, noting that the categories depended on the university with 30,000 students and above, 20,000 students and above, 15,000 students and above, and 10,000 students and above respectively.
Each of the universities would then be given its share of the fund to applyin the projects already identified in the needs assessment report for immediate implementation.
In adopting the report, Suswam said everything would be done to avoid bureaucracy in the award of contracts for the identified projects so that the campuses would immediately witness a new lease of life with the coming on stream of the new projects.
The governor disclosed that President Goodluck Jonathan had agreed to flag off the construction of infrastructural project sunder the N100billion stimulus package in a university to be selected,to symbolize the commencement of construction work in all the universities. He said the new projects to be undertaken would be standardized such that allthe Universities will enjoy similar facilities in terms of the new projects.
"I am confident that, very soon, the students will resume. As a leader in this country, I am worried about the strike. Mr President is absolutely worried and everybody is concerned that the students should not stay at home more than necessary," he stressed.
The implementation committee meeting was attended by the ministers of Education, Labour and Productivity, and other education funding agencies of the federal government, including the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Petroleum Technology Development Fund (PTDF), NITDA, Nigeria Communications Commission (NCC), and Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) among others as well as the president of ASUU.

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ASUU strike: We’ll shut down Nigeria – Activists

• Lagos stands still as students, others protest

 By SEYE OJOLagos, Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre, stood still for many hours yesterday, as over 1,000 university students, lecturers, human rights activists and other stakeholders took to the streets. They staged a peaceful rally to show their displeasure over what they termed ‘poor funding of education in the country.’As early as 6:00a.m, participants began to converge on the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), secretariat annex in Yaba, Lagos, for the protest. The rally eventually took off at 8:00a.m.The nationwide indefinite strike embarked upon by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to protest poor funding of education by the government has been on since July 1.The protest, organised by the Joint Action Front (JAF), a coalition of students and civil right groups, was led by Comrade Abiodun Aremu. Leaders of the group who participated in the rally included Lagos radical lawyer, Mr. Bamidele Aturu and representative of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), Comrade Chibuzor Asomugha.

Also in attendance were the leaders of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Concerned Students Against Education Commercialization, Education Rights Campaign and others.

The organisers said similar rallies would be held at various zones across the country. Protests would also be staged in Kano, Ibadan, Owerri, Calabar, Abuja and other places.

The protesters, carrying scores of placards with various inscriptions, sang numerous abusive songs to press home their agitations. They did not only sing, they danced with a view to sensitising the public about their cause.

The students barricaded Ikorodu Road at Onipanu area as they bemoaned their fate.  The students also played football on the highway.

The protesters assaulted the Federal Government with the inscriptions on their placards. The inscriptions addressed various issues including alleged government’s insensitivity to the plight of teachers at all levels of education,  high school fees and poor infrastructure in public schools.

As this was going on, economic activities on Ikorodu Road were brought to a standstill. The situation led to heavy traffic on the road. Motorists and commuters spent many hours on the road after they were held up in the logjam.

Addressing the protesters at Palmgrove, Comrade Abiodun Aremu described the march as a tip of an iceberg, adding that series of protests have been lined up to force the three tiers of government in the country to jettison their purported negative attitude to the growth and development of education and embrace positive attitude.

His words: “This is just the beginning of a number of protests that we have lined up in the coming days. We are going to be peaceful in all the protests. As you can see today (yesterday), there are no street urchins or ‘area boys.’ The aim is to draw government attention to the numerous problems bedevilling education in the country. We need the support of everybody. If we don’t do this, nobody is going to do it for us.”

Aremu also appealed to necessary stakeholders such as parents, traders, artisans and others to join JAF in the subsequent protests that would be staged in different parts of the country. If this is done, he believed, the government would be compelled to take pragmatic steps to evolve a policy that would transform educational sector in Nigeria.

Representative of ASUP, Comrade Asomugha, in his speech, said: “Education is not only for the rich. Nigerians should wake up and reclaim what belongs to them. We, members of ASUP, have resolved to join the protest to salvage the education sector. We want to identify with the spirit of peaceful protest, which is a veritable tool to fight a just cause.”

He lamented that this feat would remain a mirage if the NLC and other relevant stakeholders would not take the bull by the horn and fight for the rights of the downtrodden.

The aim of the protest, according to JAF, is to draw the attention of government and members of the public to the bleak future awaiting Nigerian children if decisive steps are not taken to redress the problems. JAF further lamented that children of top politicians and government officials are being trained in private schools in Nigeria and abroad with funds allegedly looted from public coffers.

JAF secretary, Comrade Aremu, stated that the protest was organised to force government to pay attention to the universities lecturers’ demands, not to molest anybody. He said the lingering ASUU/FG feud over the non-implementation of the 2009 agreement did not prompt protest but the need to emphasise adequate funding of the educational sector. He added: “We have mobilised students concerning today’s protest; we also plan to make it nationwide.

“Nigerians must know that the politicians (at the presidency, state governments, national and state assemblies), top civil servants, traditional rulers and their cronies of contractors and patrons were beneficiaries of public education. Also, some of them set up private schools and universities in Nigeria and abroad with stolen funds from the public coffers. That is why none of their children are in any public school in Nigeria.

“The case of Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola of Lagos State is the most striking example. He enjoyed free tuition at the University of Benin, without which he wouldn’t have been educated. Yet, the same Governor Fashola turned Lagos State University (LASU) into a high cost fee paying university from N25,000 to N320,000, thereby throwing children of the poor who voted for him and who his government refused to pay the N18,000 minimum wage, out of school.”

The National Association of Nigerian Students, also yesterday appealed to the federal government, university lecturers and polytechnic teachers to resolve their face-off for the sake of students.  President of NANS, Mr Yinka Gbadebo, told students had continued to be victims of conflicts between lecturers and governments.

University teachers, under the umbrella of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, had on July 1 embarked on an indefinite strike to protest the non implementation of a part of an agreement it had with the federal government in 2009.

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Outcome of meeting: ASUU, Govt talks inconclusive!

Union wants clergy, monarchs, others to prevail on FG

THE ongoing industrial action embarked on by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) might not be over anytime soon as the Federal Government’s re-negotiating committee has failed to reach a compromise with the union.
Instead, the meeting adjourned for another one week to enable the sub-committee recently raised to conclude its work on the details of the 2009 ASUU/FGN agreement.
This was made known by ASUU President, Dr. Nasir Isa-Faggae, in an interview with journalists in Abuja after the meeting with the Presidential Implementation Committee on NEEDS Assessment in Nigerian Universities, chaired by Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam.
Meanwhile, apparently foreseeing that the Federal Government was in no hurry to cede ground, ASUU yesterday invited the clergy, traditional rulers and stakeholders to prevail on the Federal Government to respect the 2009 FGN/ASUU agreement and to make integrity its watch word.
Acting Chairman of Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) chapter of ASUU, Uche Omeje, told newsmen in Enugu that is “demeaning, despicable, and an expression of lack of integrity on government’s part to renege on its promise.”
According to Omeje, “ASUU and Nigerians are worried by the institutionalised falsehood and the lack of integrity exhibited by the Federal Government and hence condemns this perfidyin its entirety.”
He expressed the determination of union members to continue with the ongoing strike until government implements the agreement and memorandum of understanding it freely entered with the union in 2012.
However, Suswam was optimistic that the end of the strike was in sight, noting that the issues in contention would be squarely addressed when the committee reassembles nextTuesday.

Yesterday’s meeting, which took place at the Benue Governor’s Lodge at Asokoro, and attended by the two ministers in the Ministry of Education, Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof. Julius Okojie, officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) and the Senate, representatives of other varsity unions suchas NASU, SSANU and NAATS,among others, did not make appreciable progress.
Issa-Fagee told newsmen: “You could see that today’smeeting was very short because the sub-committee has not finished its work. We are going to resume again on Tuesday next week to look at what the committee has as a final report.”
According to him, the committee is supposed to provide the union with a template on how best to lookat what had been presented by government in terms of making provisions for infrastructure rehabilitation in the universities.
Asked how close the union was to calling off the strike, he said: “I keep telling you that I decide how to cross my bridge when I reach (it). There is nothing on the table; when the sub-committee finishes its work and tables it before us, we will look at it.”

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ASUU Urges Stakeholders to Prevail On FG to Fulfill Its Agreement

Dr Adebayo Akinsanya, the Chairman, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED), Ijebu-Ode, Ogun, has urged stakeholders in the education sector to intervene in the current crisis.

Akinsanya appealed to the stakeholders to prevail on the Federal Government to implement the 2009 Agreement it had with the union to save Nigeria's education from imminent collapse.

He told newsmen in Ijebu-Ode yesterday that the Federal Government is not sensitive to the plight of the union.

According to him, government's insensitivity to the all important sector is killing the standard of education in the country.

"Government said it wants the nation's universities to be among the first 500 in the world and yet it refuses to fund the education sector.

"How can Nigeria universities achieve this noble idea without adequate funding and proper repositioning of the citadels of learning in this country?"

He said that the current strike is not about allowances for lecturers, but about government doing what is needful to save the education system from collapse.

Akinsanya said with the way things are, there are no signs that the strike will be called off soon.

"Where has ASUU gone wrong in demanding for funding of the universities, intervention to states universities, and autonomy of our universities system," Akinsanya said.

He said the union should not be blamed for the challenges facing the university system, but on government which failed to abide by the UNESCO budgetary allocation to education sector.

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ASUU, SGF to meet Monday on outstanding issues – Suswan

AYIM PIUS AYIM

The Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, will meet on Monday with the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities to address earned allowance and general university funding for infrastructure development.
Governor Gabriel Suswam of Benue State disclosed this to newsmen on Friday in Abuja after a meeting of ASUU with members of the committee on the implementation of Needs Assessment Report to Nigerian Universities.
Suswan is the chairman of the committee, inaugurated earlierin the day by Anyim.
He said an agreement was reached on many of the issues under negotiation except the two concerning earned allowance and general university funding for infrastructure development.
Suswan explained that after many hours of deliberation, the meeting agreed on major issues except the two.
He said: “These are the outstanding issues.
“Otherwise, other issues have been agreed on and we believe that by next week we should be able to agree on allthe issues and, probably, ASUU will call off the strike.”
He said that the committee would also meet with ASUU on August 1 to address the issue of infrastructure deficit in universities, adding that the meeting would involve all the agencies funding projects in the universities
He added: “If you go into our universities, you will agree with me that there are a lot of infrastructure deficit.
“So, we have agreed that all the funding agencies will meet with ASUU.”
He said the parties are expected to agree on modality for funding of the projects.

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FG Opens Fresh Negotiations With ASUU

The Federal Government said on Tuesday that it was renegotiating the 2009 agreements it signed with the members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, who are currently on strike.





The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu, stated this while answering questions from journalists after briefing members of the National Working Committee of the Peoples Democratic Party onthe activities of his ministry in Abuja.
The reason for the renegotiation, according to him, was to clear some grey areas in the agreements, which he said were put in place before the coming into office of the present government.
The nine-point agreements ASUU signed with the Federal government 2009 included funding requirements for revitalization of the Nigerian universities; Federal government assistance to state universities; establishment of NUPEMCO and progressive increase inannual budgetary allocation to education to 26 per cent between 2009 and 2020; and earned allowances.
The minister, who refused to say whether there was a particular area of the agreements that was not acceptable to the government, however pleaded with the university lecturers to return to the classroom.
Wogu said, “We are renegotiating the 2009 agreement which predate this administration. It therefore has to be renegotiated.
“However, while we are still talking, we are pleading with ASUU to go back to their work.”
Meanwhile, Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu, has said lecturers of states and private universities should not join federal universities staff to embark on strike.
Aliyu said this in Minna on Tuesday when he received in audience members of the Governing board of the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University, Lapai, in Government House.
The governor argued that in a federation, what obtainsat the Federal level should not necessarily affect states, especially if the demands of the aggrieved lecturers were not the same.
He said, “The union at the centre cannot ask people at the state to go on strike. State universities are like private universities; they cannot go on strike just because their colleagues at the federal universities are on strike.”
Aliyu said he discussed the first convocation of the university with the visitors and the ongoing strike by members of ASUU.
Also, ASUU has called on Executive Secretary of the National Universities commission, Prof. Julius Okojie, to publicly declare his assets.
In a joint statement by the chairmen of the University of Calabar branch of the union, Dr. James Okpiliya and his Cross River State University of Technology counterpart, Dr. Nsing Ogar,the ASUU officials accused the NUC boss of fueling the crisis in the university system.
They noted that instead of addressing the issues in dispute, Okojie rather resorted to campaign of calumny against the union

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ASUU STRIKE: No End Soon - Lecturers

The Academic Staff Union Of University (ASUU) Ibadan zone has reitirated that the on going strike embarked upon by its member all over the country will not be called off.

ON ASUU STRIKE

At a news briefing at the University of Lagos on wednesday, DR Adesola Nassir said until the government makes seriouse changes and respects the demands of the union the strike wont be called off.
Dr Adesola Nassir, zonal coordinator of ASUU, Ibadan zone, said re-negotiation of the 2009 agreement with ASUU remains the only way out. "Our members at ASUU Ibadan zone, comprising University of Ibadan, University of Lagos, Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, Lagos State University, University of Agriculture, Abeokuta and Tai Solarin University of Education have resolved to remain on strike along with our colleagues nationwide for as long as it takes government to be faithful to the agreement and commence the process of renegotiating the 2009 agreement," Nassir said.

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What  Position  Is Nigeria On Literacy Rate List?

Below is the ranking of African countries by the literacy rate, according to Indexmundi.

This entry includes a definition of literacy and Census Bureau percentages for the total population, males, and females.

There are no universal definitions and standards of literacy. Unless otherwise specified, all rates are based on the most common definition – the ability to read and write at a specified age (15 and above). Detailing the standards that individual countries use to assess the ability to read and write is beyond the scope of this article.





Information on literacy, while not a perfect measure of educational results, is probably the most easily available and valid for international comparisons. It is impossible to overstate the importance of education especially in Africa. Low levels of literacy, and education in general, can impede the economic development of a country in the current rapidly changing, technology-driven world

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