By Abdulkarim Ibrahim
Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, has pledged to end frequent strikes by university lecturers and other education sector unions. Alausa stated that President Tinubu has directed his cabinet to take measures to prevent future industrial actions, Intel Region reports.
According to Alausa, the President’s directive aims to address the recurring strikes that have disrupted academic activities in Nigerian universities. The Minister emphasized the government’s commitment to ensuring stability in the education sector.
The Minister’s assurance suggests a renewed effort to find lasting solutions to the longstanding disputes between the government and education sector unions, particularly the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
“The President has directed that not again in this country will ASUU, or tertiary institution trade unions, go on strike,” the minister declared.
Nigeria’s Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, emphasizes regular engagement and trust-building as key to the government’s approach with education sector unions. This approach differs from previous governments, focusing on relationship-building and fulfilling obligations.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has frequently gone on strike, demanding better welfare, funding, and autonomy for universities. These strikes have disrupted academic calendars, causing delayed graduations and student frustration.
The prolonged strikes have negatively impacted education quality, human capital development, and Nigeria’s future. A notable example is the 2022 strike, which lasted eight months and highlighted deep-seated issues in Nigeria’s public university system.
ASUU’s concerns include the government’s failure to implement agreements, such as university revitalization funds and earned academic allowances. They also rejected certain payment systems, advocating for their preferred solution.
Minister Alausa apologized for delayed “I will use this medium to apologize to them and plead with them to be patient with us. As a government, we are working to ensure that you get paid much earlier in the month, or probably before the last day of the previous month.
“I have met with the Minister for Finance, and he’s given me assurance that that will be taken care of.”
Earlier in July, the ASUU directed its members to stay away from work in branches where June salaries remained unpaid.
The ASUU president, Chris Piwuna, said the union was ready to escalate the situation if July salaries were delayed.
The delay in the payment of salaries of staff of tertiary institutions has been attributed to the removal of academic institutions from the federal government’s Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).
Academic unions, particularly ASUU, kicked against IPPIS, arguing that the centralized payment system violates university autonomy and fails to accommodate the peculiarities of academic work.
After a prolonged battle between ASUU and the government, the Federal Executive Council approved the union’s request to use the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), a payment platform the union argues provides greater flexibility.