By Our Correspondent
The Federal Government has initiated plans to bring all unions within the university system under one union.
Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Abubakar Rasheed, made the revelation in Abuja, during the 2nd Quadrennial National Delegates Conference of Senior Staff.
The Federal Government has initiated plans to bring all unions within the university system under one union. Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Abubakar Rasheed, made the revelation in Abuja, during the 2nd Quadrennial National Delegates Conference of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU).
Rasheed said it has been very cumbersome for the government to address the several individual demands of the various unions under University system.
He said that talks were ongoing to convince the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, to invite all the various unions to a round table, to see reasons why they needed to come under one umbrella.
The unions expected to key into the new proposal includes the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Non Academic Staff Union of Universities, NASU, the National Association of Academic Technologists, NAAT and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU.
While appealing to the conscience of the unions, the NUC Scribe said it is regrettable that most times government and individual unions lock horns negotiating for better welfare packages for the staff at the detriment of the students.
“No university in the world can operate effectively in isolation, it is frustrating that the University system in Nigeria has been polarized by various unions, you have NAAT, ASUU, SSANU all negotiating for different things.”
Speaking further, he also disclosed that the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu has secured the approval of President Muhammadu Buhari to dispatch visitation panels to all public universities in Nigeria.
He explained that the need arose following the ugly incidents that trailed the University of Lagos, where the Pro-Chancellor, Wale Babalakin-led Governing Council ordered the sack of the former Vice Chancellor, Oluwatoyin Ogundipe.
Also, following the resignation of Wale Babalakin as Chairman of the Universities Renegotiation Committee, the Federal Government has reconstituted an eight man Committee to harmonise and finalise existing agreements between government and the unions.
Recall that while issues of 2009 Joint renegotiated agreement and NEEDS Assessment programme is yet to be resolved in most of the public universities, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, and the Federal Government have been engaged in a battle of wits over the controversial Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System, IPPIS, even before the lockdown caused by the coronavirus pandemic broke out globally.
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