The declaration of an indefinite strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Abuja chapter has stirred controversy among the union members.
The chairperson of the branch, Sylavnus Ugoh, announced that ASUU members were embarking on a “total, comprehensive and indefinite strike” starting from Thursday.
He said the decision to embark on the strike was decided by the union at a congress held earlier on Thursday.
“Of course, the trustees and the principal officers of our union have to give us permission to embark on strike, and that’s why we declare the strike today,” he told PREMIUM TIMES in a telephone interview.
He noted that the strike was sanctioned by both the UniAbuja congress and the union’s national leadership and board of trustees.
Why strike?
The union leader said ASUU has five contentious issues with the university, which he noted the institution’s management has failed to resolve despite repeated engagement.
Mr Ugoh accused the university management of taking decisions specifically reserved for the governing council even when there is none.
He said the advertisement for the position of vice-chancellor to succeed the incumbent, Abdulrasheed NaAllah, a professor, is illegal, insisting that it negates the Establishment Act of the university.
President Bola Tinubu had dissolved the governing councils of several agencies of the Nigerian government including the universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
ASUU-UniAbuja also accused the university management of recruiting and promoting staff without following due process.
Controversy
Meanwhile, some members of ASUU on the campus have disclaimed the strike, accusing the Mr Ugoh-led union of not acting in good faith.
The faction of the union led by Umar Kari and Mohammed Yisa, said in a statement that all the issues raised by Mr Ugoh had been addressed.
“Obviously, the cabal dictating to Dr Ugoh-led local ASUU desperately wanted a strike to satisfy their personal interest but never the in the interest of larger ASUU members and the university of Abuja,” the statement reads in parts.
The university spokesperson, Habib Yakoob, however, explained that both the advertisement for the role of vice-chancellor and the promotions were approved by the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, a professor.
Issues in contention
Mr Ugoh accused the current management of the university of shortchanging ASUU in the establishment of the UniAbuja Microfinance Bank.
He said ASUU had, since 2017, paid the university management to buy shares in the microfinance bank, stressing that the union is both a stakeholder and a shareholder in the project.
“The University Governing Council as of 2017 gave us a place where we have a chair in the board of directors and to have a shareholder capacity, which we already paid for since 2017,” he told our reporter on Thursday.
But the university recently wrote ASUU to inform it that the union is no longer a shareholder and has no place as a member of the board of directors, he said.
“We have engaged the vice-chancellor on this. We even wrote to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to notify it. But it seems (the university) is still going ahead to continue the process, which is what the governing council had already resolved, and written to us formally years before the current vice-chancellor came on board. And we have had a resolution to that effect, drawing the attention of the university administration to that but the management refused to reason with us.”
The union also accused the university management of embarking on several acts of illegality which, according to it, include kickstarting the process of appointing another VC, recruitment of over 200 staff and the promotion of others.
“There are about five major issues in contention. The first one was the advertorial that was illegally placed for the vacancy of the post of vice-chancellor without following due process. Right now there’s no governing council in place and the Act of the university states clearly that it is only the university governing council that has the responsibility to hire and fire and in this case even to advertise for the post of the vice-chancellor,” he said.
He added that the current management of the institution has failed to adhere to the rules of the university which dictates that the position of deans of faculties should be by election and the winner is expected to be in office for two years.
The union accused the university vice-chancellor of arbitrarily appointing persons into these positions without elections. According to the union, there have been no elections for the dean positions for more than two years.
“We have written several letters. Not one, not two, not three, not four on this issue. But the administration’s team remained adamant and we have to press home because it’s an act of illegality,” Mr Ugoh added.
He added that the university has recruited more than 200 persons and promoted many others without advertisement or approval of the council.
“We drew the attention of the university administration to that anomaly. We expected that they would have made a recourse but they went ahead to promote people and by that, we are not sure of the criteria for the promotion. And because the Council is not in place, it is illegality upon illegality.”
Opposition to strike
Meanwhile, some members of the union led by Umar Kari and Mohammed Yisa have opposed the move to embark on an industrial action.
A statement signed by Messrs Kari and Yisa noted that the declaration of the indefinite strike was “fraught with patterns strange to ASUU’s declaration of strike action.”
They accused the striking faction of the union of misrepresentation and having a sectional interest in declaring the strike.
According to the statement, the vice-chancellor had released the timetable for the election of deans in a manner that will not cripple the university activities, especially the ongoing students’ first-semester examination.
The statement noted that four substantive deans have been elected and the election continues with the faculty of law next Tuesday while others follow.
“If the basis for the strike was genuinely about the election of deans, would an indefinite strike facilitate the process or put it far off?” the statement said.
In an advertorial for the position of vice-chancellor, the duo said the university is not the only Nigerian university that has advertised for the position without governing councils.
“The question begging the mind of everyone, staff and the public is why would ASUU, the University of Abuja alone, proceed on indefinite strike when the university of Maiduguri, Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto, ATBU Bauchi, and others sustain the sanctity of stable academic calendar on their campuses despite advertisement for VC positions,” the statement said.
The statement also stated that ASUU had on 15 April received a letter, re-allocating a member to the union in the proposed UniAbuja Microfinance Bank.
The statement added that the Minister of Education monitors and approves the promotion process as directed by the visitor, President Bola Tinubu.
The statement further said: “This was a process followed by all other federal universities in the promotion process since councils were dissolved. The same process earned the university chapter’s chairman, vice chairman and secretary of ASUU, elevation.
“Describing the recruitment process duly approved by the Federal Government as illegal came as a rude shock to Congress as it is not known at any time that it is the ASUU local executives that approve appointments of deserving new staff into the system. With the increasing demands for more faculty members to fill the obvious shortages, should a genuine academic union that is desirous of unfettered quality education wage war against filling faculty positions?
“We vehemently demand that ASUU must work for ASUU and not a hidden cabal that is out to take the University of Abuja back to the inglorious yesteryears. A decision to go on an indefinite strike without at any point seeking members of ASUU’s vote for, or against, is absolutely not the ASUU procedure for calling a strike. So, the so-called strike remains unrepresentative of the larger members of ASUU and cannot stand.”
University speaks
Meanwhile, the university spokesperson, Mr Habib Yakoub noted that recruitment for the position of the vice-chancellor and promotion of some staff was approved by the education minister.
“The university’s point is clear. The advert was placed in the newspaper on the authority and approval of the Minister of Education who has also approved some promotions,” he said in a telephone conversation on Thursday.
“The university is not going to get grounded because there is no council in the last couple of months.” [Premium Times]
Stay ahead with the latest updates! Join The ConclaveNG on WhatsApp and Telegram for real-time news alerts, breaking stories, and exclusive content delivered straight to your phone. Don’t miss a headline — subscribe now!
, University of Abuja chapter has stirred controversy among the union members.){kind=link}