The Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU) has explained how the Federal Government can avoid future industrial disputes in the university system.
It advised the government to address the fundamental trust issues between it and all unions operating in universities.
Secretary-General, CVCNU, Prof Yakubu Ochefu stated this during a briefing in Abuja to mark the celebration of 60 years of leadership in universities.
Ochefu said the desire of the CVCNU is to see a situation where never again Nigeria will have disengagement of academic activities and see all issues that drove the process of 2022 strike in Nigerian universities resolved.
According to him: “We stated right from day one that there is a fundamental trust issue between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities, the unions operating in the universities. That trust issue arises from the fact that federal government will agree on issues that have caused the strike and make commitment to pay or deliver certain reports, they commit themselves to resolving issues that has caused the strike, and then they implement that position onto a point and they go to sleep.
“But we are happy that finally ASUU and the FG have been able to reach some agreement and what we desire is a situation whereby never again Nigeria will have disengagement of Academic Activities and fundamental issues that drive the whole process of strike should be sort out.”
Speaking on the conditional suspension of the strike, he confirmed that the government and the members of the Academic Staff Union must have reached a certain compromise which possibly included clearing of backlog of salaries and payment of stabilisation funds which has been included in the 2023 appropriation bill.
“That is why ASUU must be saying let us be sure it is conditional, you have said you will clear backlog of salaries in two installments and you commit yourself to a timeline, you commit yourself to address stabilisation fund and it has been included in the project and we have seen it but what then happens in that 2023 is that by 2023 when budget is been implemented that aspect of the budget will now take secondary position and ASUU will begin to write letters again and again, that is a situation the CVCNU hopes to never see again.”
According to him, from 1948 till October 2022, the number of Nigerian Universities had grown to 219.
The Nation
