will give more attention to improving personnel and infrastructure of
universities to produce quality graduates, assuring that education will,
henceforth, be a top priority in development goals of the country.
President Buhari, who received the leadership of Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU) led by Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi at the State House,
said effective and efficient operations of universities will go a long
way in improving the economy, especially with a focus on science and
technology.
The President urged members of ASUU to assist the Federal Government in
realizing the target of improved education and credible certificates by
complying with ongoing verification and validation of human resources in
the universities, which will guarantee optimum output.
“The future of the country depends on quality education and our
certificates must be credible to inspire confidence,” he said.
President Buhari said constitutional provisions should be carefully
studied and adhered to for more harmonious relationships, and standards
that will promote efficiency.
The President directed the Ministry of Education to put in more effort
in ensuring that Nigerian universities are properly funded, with
adequate infrastructure and staffing.
In her remarks at the meeting, the Minister of Finance, Budget and
National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said out of the 137,016 academic and
non-academic staff members of the universities, 96,090 have been
enrolled in the Integrated Payment and Personnel Information System
(IPPIS), urging ASUU to encourage the remaining 40,926 members to comply
with the process.
She said a desk has been opened in the Office of the Accountant General
of the Federation for registration of university staff, assuring that
those peculiarities of the tertiary institutions will be accommodated.
The Minister pointed out that many anomalies were discovered in the
university structures that have contributed to the increased cost
burden, which include staff working and earning pay in more than one
university, contract staff on the payroll of the government, tax
reductions on PAYEE and multiple employments.
Ahmed said some universities had rushed to recruit more staff before the
IPPIS registration commenced, which was then detected.
“While it is clear that ASUU has peculiarities, it should be recognized
and rightly accommodated, and the allowances will be made, and not
leaving the university out of IPPIS because of the peculiarities,” she
added.
Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, urged ASUU
to comply with IPPIS in the national interest as his office was already
in the process of streamlining all issues of human resources in
government.
In his remarks, the President of ASUU, Prof. Ogunyemi said the
educational sector needed more Federal Government attention, noting that
implementation of agreements over the years will go a long way in
improving the quality of education in the universities.
Prof. Ogunyemi said: “Nigerian universities can make meaningful
contributions to addressing the challenges of the country (economy,
security, and corruption) if given the opportunities. Appropriate
funding level, competitive conditions of service, university autonomy
and academic freedom are critical to creating such an atmosphere.
“With adequate and effective education, particularly university
education, Nigerians will be less susceptible to manipulation, our
economy will grow and problems of insecurity and corruption will be
drastically reduced,” he said.
The ASUU President said Nigeria could learn from countries like China,
Malaysia, and Singapore that have encouraged universities to drive their
educational development through tripartite linkages of government,
industries, and universities called Triple Helix Principle.
On IPPIS and university operations, Prof. Ogunyemi said the Federal
Government’s Visitor initiative to the universities, at least once in
five years, was the best guarantee for monitoring accountability
processes that include internal and external audit processes.
The ASUU President said the IPPIS will be a “disruptive intrusion”,
adding: “IPPIS violates the laws of the federation, violates university
statutes, and violates agreements between the Federal Government and
ASUU.”
“The Government should welcome ASUU’s ongoing innovation of a robust
system of human resource management and compensation, called the
University Transparency and Accountability Solution, which will address
peculiarities of universities and end inappropriate recruitments.”
The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu and Labour and Employment, Dr.
Chris Ngige, assured that the Federal Government was committed to
improving the educational sector, promising to work closely with ASUU.