Pic 24. Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen Chris Ngige briefing State House Correspondents after a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on the renewed NLC Strike at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday (26/10/2018)
053011/26/10/2018/Callistus Ewelike/NAN
Chris Ngige, minister of labour and employment, says the federal government did not promise to pay members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) before they go back to work.
Ngige was reacting to a statement by Biodun Ogunyemi, ASUU president, that the federal government failed to deliver on the timelines on offers made to the union and that lecturers would not resume work until their salary arrears are paid.
In a statement on Tuesday, Ngige said “it is false and discomfiting” for ASUU to wrongly inform the public that the government agreed to pay all withheld salaries before they would resume work.
He said on the part of the government, all timelines have been complied with and “faithfully implemented”, noting that ASUU had agreed at the last meeting with the government team on November 27 to call off their nine-month-old strike before December 9.
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“The truth of the matter is that a ‘gentleman agreement’ was reached at the last meeting in which ASUU agreed to call off the strike before December 9, 2020, and the minister, in turn, agreed that once the strike is called off, he would get a presidential waiver for ASUU to be paid the remainder of their salaries on or before December 9,” the statement said.
“The Minister of Labour and Employment informed that he had consulted with the Minister of Education on getting a waiver on the issue of ‘No Work, No Pay’ as stipulated in Section 43 of the Trade Dispute Act, Cap. T8, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria (LFN) 2004, but a reservation has been made concerning this request because of the ongoing strike by ASUU. The minister, therefore, agreed to work on this to be actualised before Wednesday, December 9, 2020.”
The minister said during the lockdown he got a special presidential approval to demonstrate good faith to ASUU members and they were paid.
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“They were subsequently paid for two months of February and March after which it was extended to April, May and June, the months they were on strike, on compassionate ground, bringing it to five months, ” he said.
“Asking the government to pay these four months before it goes back to work means ASUU is placing itself above the law of the land and no government will encourage it as it is a recipe for chaos in the labour milieu.
“The minister later invited ASUU to a virtual conciliatory meeting, which they turned down. He further requested them to show good faith over the five months’ salaries government made to them by returning to classroom and start virtual and online teaching, as being done by private universities, while government sorts out the rest of their requests; they also refused.”
Ngige said the N40 billion earned academic allowances have also been processed as well as the N30 billion revitalisation fund — bringing the total sum to N70bn.
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“Likewise, the visitation panels for the universities have been approved by the President but the panel cannot perform its responsibilities until the shut universities are re-opened,” he added.
“The gazetting is also being rounded off at the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation while the Ministry of Education is ready to inaugurate the various visitation panels.”
6 comments
No one requires this long explanation from a labour minister. Just pay the withheld salaries and later credit the EAA after ASUU must have suspended the strike. Your deception over agreement signed in the past is responsible for this mistrust. No one works with an empty stomachs
I just cannot understand Ngige and his pay i masters ; do they really want Asuu strike to end or are they toying with the future of the so called ‘Lazy Youths’, what is so difficult in paying off the withheld salaries and end all this back and forth. I really don’t think PMB would have sanctioned all this. Again Ngige is so full of himself and thinks he is a maverick at negotiations when he has shown how unintelligent and immature he is during meetings with Asuu. God help this country with these crop of leaders
Ngige has demonstrated that he is not a man to be trusted. He has deceived nigerians enough. It is high time Ngige resigns. It quite unfortunate that Ngige is back and forth is his foolishness. Taking us back when negotiation has almost concluded. Compassionate ground, good faith and bla, bla, bla. Who cares. ASUU strike must continue.
We would be missing the point if ASUU is not told the truth. ASUU reason for its refusal to let strike end and then the remaining of them get paid is an affront. They are getting on the nerves of the nation and particularly the students and our teaming youth population. Afterall he who pays the pipers dictates the tune
How and why do we forget serious issues so fast in Nigeria? We are aware that our government is no longer trustworthy with past experiences.
After all, what’s the main cause of recurring ASUU industrial actions?
Why couldn’t the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement stop the subsequent ASUU strikes?
What happened to the recent MOA with FGN?
What happened to the constitutional autonomy of the Universities which is a global practice and the distractive IPPIS introduced recently by FGN?
How many times would you be deceived before you take precautions?
If ASUU, made up of teachers of all teachers, allows itself to be deceived continuously, what is the fate of other Nigerians?
How many times shall ASUU, students and parents be bitten before we learn?
Are ASUU members not part of the same great Nigerian students and parents suffering the insincerity of government?
Are the demands of ASUU only for ASUU welfare?
What are the impacts of past ASUU struggles on the Nigerian university growth and development?
Could there be TETFund, administrative orderliness, etc in the universities without past ASUU strikes?
Can’t government also borrow for better education of Nigerians in Nigeria?
These and more justify the continued ASUU strike, otherwise, there will be another ASUU strike if this current one is suspended unsatisfactorily.
This is just part of the tactics of govt to create fear in ASUU but this union is so strong that all these noise by Ngige cannot hold water. It is wickedness not to pass people their wages. There is a labour law, that there will be no victimization to anyone or union while on industrial action especially if it has been has a result of mistrust of the other party. PMB, should answer these lecturers and let our children go back to school.