Kayode Soremekun, a former vice-chancellor of the Federal University Oye Ekiti (FUOYE) has called on the committee of former vice-chancellors of universities to mediate in the face-off between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Soremekun in a discussion with the media on Monday following the announcement that the National Executive Council of the ASUU, has voted to embark on a one-month warning strike to press home its demands from the government, said the committee of former vice-chancellors should intervene to find a solution to the perennial face-off between the union and the federal government.
The warning strike is said to serve as a warning to allow the federal government to fulfill its earlier agreement with the body, failing which members of the union would go on an indefinite strike.
Soremekun said in this particular instance, two issues are germane.
“The first one has to do with IPPIS. The government may mean well on this issue, but IPPIS has done a lot of damage to the autonomous capacity of University managements,” he said. “This is why FG should adopt ASUU’S own version.
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“The equally important issue is the reward system. Ours is a dollarized economy and as such, it is scandalous that a Professor currently earns something in the region of 800 Dollars. In naira terms, this comes to something in the region of N420,000.
“When this figure was released on TV by the ASUU UNILAG chairman, the journalists cum anchormen themselves were visibly scandalized,” Soremekun said.
The former university don, who is presently chairman of the Editorial Board of BusinessDay newspaper, said the real problem however is that since 2009, the salaries of university lecturers have not been revised. And this is contrary to the agreements signed between the union and the federal government.
“Indeed, the stipulation is that the salaries should be reviewed every three years. On this note, ASUU itself appeared to have slept on its rights,” he said. “But this is not the time to blame the victim. Rather, the current impasse should be resolved quickly with a view to ensuring that the academic calendar is not jeopardized,” he said.
The professor of International Relations disclosed that it is instructive to note that other countries such as Ghana, Kenya, and the UK are also battling with their own university teachers on issues that relate to welfare, and the authorities in those countries are trying to address the issues.
“The status quo forces should also rise to the occasion in the larger interests of students, parents, and Nigeria,” he said.
