Strike: We’ve Spent More Than ASUU’s Demands — Federal Govt

The Federal Government said it has invested over N2.5 trillion in tertiary education in the last 10 years, exceeding the sum of N1.2 trillion being demanded by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, stated this on Thursday while speaking at the State House briefing on the reforms being made in the education sector in Nigeria.

Adamu, who urged Nigerians to apply common sense and know the huge amount the government was spending in the development of education sector, said the N2.5trillion was spent through Tertiary Education Trust Fund (Fund) interventions in higher education.

Recall that President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and leaders of ASUU had in 2013 reached an agreement to give the Union over N1.1 trillion for public universities within the period of five years, releasing over N200 billion yearly into the sector beginning from 2014.

But Adamu lamented that Unions in Tertiary Institutions in the country, especially ASUU have been engaged in recurring and avoidable strikes that have crippled the university system in spite of the huge investments of over N2.5 trillion in tertiary institutions in the last 10 years from TETFund alone.

ASUU had on February 14, 2022 embarked on a four-week total and comprehensive strike to press home their unresolved demands from the federal government.

This was further extended by another 12 weeks on May 9 to give the government enough time to satisfactorily resolve all the outstanding issues after an extension on March 14 due to an alleged lack of seriousness on the part of the federal government.

President Muhammadu Buhari had on July 19 directed the Minister of Education to proffer a solution to the challenge and report back to him within two weeks.

However, ASUU remained adamant in its resolve to press on with its demand as it once again on August 1 extended its ongoing strike by another four weeks to give the Federal Government more time to resolve outstanding issues of contention.

Other ASUU demands include signing of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement, deployment of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) payment platform, payment of outstanding arrears of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA), release of agreed sum of money for the revitalization of public universities (Federal and States), among others.

The minister, however, said strikes are a huge distraction, doing no one any good, saying the thinking that only strikes can achieve results is a wrong perception.

“The Buhari Administration has invested in infrastructural development of the Education Sector more than any other administration in the history of this Nation. It is on record that the Tertiary Education Trust Fund has invested an estimated N2.5 Trillion in Tertiary education in the last ten years, thereby, exceeding the sum total of N1.2 Trillion contained in the 2009 agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities and we are still counting.

“On the contrary, Unions in Tertiary Institutions in the country especially the Academic Staff union of Universities (ASUU) have been engaged in recurring and avoidable strikes that have crippled the university system.

“This is in spite of the huge investments of over N2.5 trillion in tertiary institutions in the last ten years from TETFUND alone. Common knowledge as it were, many Nigerians may not know that the Federal Government is paying the salaries of every staff in its tertiary institutions, academic and non-academic staff, while these institutions are also in full control of their Internally Generated Revenues (IGR).

“Just recently, we inaugurated a committee to renegotiate the 2009 agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities and related unions in tertiary institutions.

“We are doing everything humanly possible to conclude on the negotiations. It is our hope that the outcome of the renegotiations will bring lasting industrial peace to our campuses. In the main time, I am sure that the current efforts would yield the desired results and return our children back to school,” he said.

Adamu added that the government of President Buhari has expended over N6.3 trilllion in capital and recurrent expenditures in the education sector in the last seven years.

“This is in addition to interventions from TETFund and UBEC amounting to (N2.5Trillion) and (N553,134,967,498) respectively in capital investment. We must also note and appreciate the huge investments from States and the private sector at all levels of our educational system.

“We will continue to improve on the implementation of the Ministerial Strategic Plan, (MSP) all through to 2023 for the overall development of the education sector and the Nigerian Nation. We will continue to create the necessary enabling environment to attract more and more private sector investment. We shall hand over a better education sector than we met it,” he added.

He said one of the greatest achievements it recorded in the education sector during the period under review, was the development and launching of the e-learning website for all levels of our educational system, while directing all regulatory agencies in the sector to ensure that all educational Institutions under their supervision interface with the ICT Department of the Ministry develop and deploy relevant content on the website.

He further said the Ministry has invested heavily in the construction, renovation and rehabilitation of classrooms, hostels, laboratories, security and other infrastructural facilities at the Basic and Secondary levels.

“In the last seven years, a total of Five Hundred and Fifty-Three Billion, One Hundred and Thirty-Four Million, Nine Hundred and Sixty-Seven Thousand, Four Hundred and Ninety Eight Naira, Fifty Kobo (N553,134,967.498.50) has gone into infrastructural development at the Basic and Secondary levels,” he stated.