There are strong indications that the university academic calendar may be disrupted following the alleged plan by the Federal Government to renegotiate with the Academic staff Union of Universities, ASUU, without carrying along the other three university based unions.

The three unions are the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions, NASU and the National Association of Academic Technologists, NAAT.

It was reliably gathered that the Federal Government has scheduled to meet with ASUU on August 28, to unveil a renegotiated agreement with the Union and to meet up with the Union?s deadline.

The last negotiation between the Federal Government and the university based unions where agreements were reached on the welfare of workers was in 2009 and has been long overdue for a review.

The four unions in different occasions had called on the government to complete the Yahaya Ahmed-led renegotiation team and even separately threatened to go on strike if government refused to do the needful in that regard.

Besides, ASUU had on August 21, warned the government on the serious consequences of not attending to their demands, and threatened to embark on strike if the government did not take positive actions on them.

After series of appeal but to no avail, in a statement signed by its President, Christopher Piwuna, the Union issued a threat to the government with August 28 as the deadline.

The statement partly read: ?ASUU-NEC appreciates the patience and forbearance of our membership since the last referendum. But the government cannot keep the Union talking forever. The general public is invited to note that ASUU has tried several ways and strategies of resolving the conflict in the education sector.

?The general public should also note that ASUU has written several letters to the FGM drawing its attention to the need to resolve the crisis amicably. Lamentably, the FGM has always turned a deaf ear to all our pleas.

?As always, it is the FGN that has consistently pushed our Union to embark on a strike action and it is clear that ASUU may have no other option than to embark on an action to press the FGN to listen to our demands and do the needful.

?For the benefit of the doubt, these issues include; Re-negotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN Agreement, Sustainable funding of our universities, Revitalization of universities, Victimization of our colleagues in LASU, KSU(now Prince Abubakar Audu university) and FUTON, Outstanding 25-35% salary arrears, Promo arrears for over 4 years.?

It was gathered that the treat has made the government to schedule a meeting with the university teaching staff on Thursday, 28th August to beat the deadline issued by ASUU.

It was further gathered that the government has not said anything to the non-teaching staff, a development that has created animosity, anger and tension in the university.

Recall that the bad blood generated by the sharing formula of the ?50 billion Earned Allowances, released to the four university based unions where the teaching staff were given 80 percent of the money and the three non-teaching unions were given 20 percent, is yet to settle.

Infuriated by the development, the President of SSANU and Chairman of Joint Action Committee, JAC (comprising SSANU and NASU), Comrade Mohammed Haruna Ibrahim, has warned the government not to try any form of disparity in the salary template that could jeopardize the relative peace within the academic environment.

Comrade Ibrahim said while there is a uniform salary template for university workers, there are allowances that differentiate the teaching and non-teaching staff.

Speaking on the alleged plan by the Federal Government to unveil a renegotiated agreement with ASUU excluding the other unions, Ibrahim said such action will not augur well with the sector.

He said: ?If it is true, it is like the other case of 80/20 (Sharing formula of the ?50 billion Earned Allowances released to University based unions where the Federal Government gave ASUU 80 percent of the money and the other three unions 20 percent). The government has not met with us and even the Yayale-Ahmed team, the Minister just took over their job and allocated something just to appease them, he has been bragging that ASUU cannot go on strike again.

?We have always fought against disparity, the university system has always been the same, we have the same salary table for a Professor and somebody who is a director. What a Professor earns is the same with a Level 16 in the university because they are at par.

?A graduate assistant earns the same with an admin assistant. So, what they are trying to do now is to separate the table and make a quantum increment for the teaching staff and then give out a paltry sum of maybe about 10 percent increment, while ASUU own will be about 100 percent.

?The people around the minister have told him that it?s not a good thing to contemplate but he is not afraid of us again because his own issue is that of the ASUU.

?SSANU warns government on any attempt to do a disparity. Any attempt to do disparity on our salaries is not going to spell peace to our system. Let there be the same salary as it has been always but allowances differentiate us. There is teaching allowance for the teaching staff and also allowance for the non-teaching staff. No non-teaching staff can go and claim any allowance from the teaching staff.? (Vanguard)

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