Date Published: 10/22/09

ASUU, FG's accord: HURIWA seeks compensation for students

“The Federal government of Nigeria has a constitutional obligation to pursue the rapid and comprehensive development of physical infrastructures in the public educational sector for stability and economic advancement of Nigerians and to forestall future industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other strategic non-academic workers in the nation’s university community”.

“Since the federal government for three months willfully denied millions of students of public universities of their fundamental right to education, then it must immediately put modalities in place to pay each student of the universities N30, 000, translating to N10, 000 monthly as inconveniency allowance for the entire period of the strike”.

With the above view, a development focused and democracy inclined non-governmental organization – Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) yesterday tasked the federal government to enforce all aspects of the recently endorsed agreement between the Federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and to also work out acceptable agreement with all the strategic stakeholders in the University community including the non-academic staff union of Nigerian Universities.

Specifically, Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on October 21 st 2009 signed an agreement, bringing to an end the industrial dispute that has paralyzed academic activities for three months. Aspects of the agreements includes increased funding for public Universities to meet United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization’s [UNESCO]standard and about 52% of salary increase for the university teachers.

The Rights group which reviewed the development in the public university system with the suspension of the three months old industrial dispute, called on the president Umaru Musa Yar’adua to tender public apology to millions of Nigerian students who were unjustly victimized and denied of their educational rights in the last three months occasioned by the incompetence of the Federal ministers of education to negotiate with the hierarchy of the university workers and government’s inability to prevent the prolonged industrial action.

HURIWA asserted that it will amount to the institutionalization of impunity if the president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria either fails to make public apology to Nigerian students or relieve the two education ministers Dr. Sam Egwu and Hajia Aishatu Dukku of their jobs for their spectacular failure to prevent the teachers strike.

The group stated that the failure of the ministers of education to competently negotiate collectively with all the university workers on their demands which necessitated the prolonged strike was a violation of section 18(1) of the 1999 constitution which provides that Government shall direct its policy towards ensuring that there are equal and adequate educational opportunities at all levels for citizens.

Human Rights Writers’ Association of Nigeria in a statement endorsed by its National Coordinator Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko charged the Federal government to begin without let or hindrance, the comprehensive rebuilding of the physical infrastructures and facilities in all public university system because the dearth of operational infrastructures in the public universities across the country has led to the progressive decline in the standard and quality of training and academic activities in these institutions which invariably manifests in the complete inability of products and graduates of these public school system to meet up with the demands of the technologically driven labour market in our contemporary times in Nigeria and globally.

HURIWA stated thus; “we are shocked to find out in our most recent research from public university institutions across the geopolitical zones that virtually all strategic infrastructures that ought to facilitate learning for our students have collapsed. Most federal government run universities cannot boast of functional and internationally standardized science laboratories, computer facilities, recreational and sports facilities.”

The Rights group further stated that both the Federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the non-academic staff of the nation’s universities must develop sustainable labour relationship with a view to redressing all the thorny issues that could trigger unrest and union disputes in the universities in future because of the adverse consequences on the students and the status of Nigeria’s public educational sector in eyes of the members of the civilized global community.