BREAKING: NITDA approves UTAS for payment of lecturers as ASUU calls IPPIS evil

The  National  Information  Technology Development  Agency  (NITDA) has approved the  University  Transparency  and Accountability  Solution  (UTAS)  for the payment of lecturers in Nigerian  universities.

TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Emmanuel Osodeke, President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) revealed this on Sunday in a statement, following an emergency meeting of the Union’s National  Executive  Council  (NEC), held on Saturday.

In the statement, Osodeke referred to the Integrated Payroll and Personnel information system (IPPIS), engineered by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank as evil, stressing that the continuous use of the IPPIS had distorted the payment of the salaries of lecturers.

He wondered  why  it  took  more  than  one  year  to get  the  needed  feedback  on  the  home-grown  solution of UTAS  at  a  time  Nigeria  is  yearning for  “local  content”.

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The ASUU President stressed that the Union was  fully  prepared  to  address  all  the technical  observations  made  by  NITDA  in  order  to  make  the immediate deployment of UTAS  happen.

“NEC  is  pleased  that  the  end-user  evaluation  report overwhelmingly  endorses  UTAS  for  immediate  deployment  by  government  for Nigerian  universities.  On  our  part,  ASUU  is  fully  prepared  to  address  all  the technical  observations  made  by  NITDA  in  order  to  make  this  happen.

“Our  hope is  that  the  National  Universities  Commission  (NUC)  and  other  agencies  of government  would  promptly  respond  to  issues  that  concern  them  in  the NITDA’s  report  to  pave  way  for  speedy  migration  to  UTAS  and  spare  Nigerian universities  of  the evil  effects  of  the  IMF/World  Bank-engineered  IPPIS,” Osodeke stated.

Meanwhile, ASUU in the statement indicated that it has placed the decision on when it’s members will embark on the next bout of industrial strike action threatened by the Union on hold, stressing that the  situation would be reviewed at a later date.

Osodeke stated that this was in consideration of ongoing  intervention  and  consultation  efforts by different interest groups  within and outside  Nigeria  to  make government  address  all  outstanding  issues  arising  from the  December  2020  MoA.

The ASUU President, however, expressed worries  by  the  spirited  efforts  of  government  agents  to  reduce  the demands  of  ASUU  to  a  regime  of  intermittent  payment  of  watered-down revitalisation  fund  and  release  of  distorted  and  grossly  devalued  Earned Academic  Allowances  (EAA).

The statement noted NEC’s  regrets  that  the  Federal  Government  has  turned  its  back  on  plan to  set  up  an  inter-ministerial  committee  to  review  the  draft  Renegotiated  2009 FGN-ASUU  Agreement  to  enable  the  parties  conclude  a  negotiation  process which  began  in  March  2017.

The Union in the statement specifically accused the Minister  of  State  for  Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba of failing to follow through with the promise made during a  meeting  with  the Speaker  of  the  House  of Representatives  on  19th  November,  2021.

“The  Minister  assured  us  that  the process  of  reviewing  the document  would  be  set  in  motion within one week  from that  date.  Hon.  Nwajiuba’s  failure  to  fulfil  a  promise  made  in  the  hallowed chambers  of  the  National  Assembly  is  not  only  provocative  but  reminiscent  of trust-deficit  that  has  bedevilled  all  agreements  and  understandings  reached  with this  government  and  those before it  since 2009,” Osodeke stated.

The statement titled: enough of the blackmail reads in full below:

ENOUGH OF THE BLACKMAIL

1. The National  Executive  Council  (NEC)  of  the  Academic  Staff  Union  of Universities  (ASUU)  held  an  emergency  meeting  at  its  Festus  Iyayi  National Secretariat,  University  of  Abuja,  on  Saturday,  18th  December,  2021  to  review  the level  of  government’s  implementation  of  the  FGN-ASUU  Memorandum  of Action  (MoA)  of  23rd  December,  2020  and  other  related  matters.  The  ASUU-NEC meeting  held  against  the  backdrop  of  the  union’s  numerous  consultative meetings,  communications  and  discussions  with  relevant  agents  at  both  the executive  and  legislative  arms  of  government  since  the  suspension  of  the  2020 strike  action.

2. NEC was  worried  by  the  spirited  efforts  of  government  agents  to  reduce  the demands  of  ASUU  to  a  regime  of  intermittent  payment  of  watered-down revitalisation  fund  and  release  of  distorted  and  grossly  devalued  Earned Academic  Allowances  (EAA).  NEC  condemns,  in  strong  terms,  the  surreptitious moves  to  pooh-pooh  our  demands  on  the  review  of  the  NUC’s  Act  to  curb  the proliferation  of  universities  by  State  Governments  who  are  not  funding  the existing  ones;  adoption  of  the  University  Transparency  Accountability  Solutions (UTAS)  with  concurrent  discontinuance  of  the  Integrated  Payroll  and  Personnel Information  System  (IPPIS)  and  distortion  in  salary  payment;  release  of accumulated  promotion  arrears;  and  the  review  and  signing  of  the  draft document  on  the  Renegotiation  of  2009  ASUU-FGN  Agreement.  ASUU  shall  not relent  in  demanding  for  improvement  in  the  welfare  and  conditions  of  service  of our  members.  However,  we  shall  resist  any  attempt  to  blackmail  the  union  and derail  our  patriotic  struggle  for  a  productive  university  system  by  official propaganda founded on  tokenism and crumb-sharing.
3. NEC noted  with  regrets  that  the  Federal  Government  has  turned  its  back  on  plan to  set  up  an  inter-ministerial  committee  to  review  the  draft  Renegotiated  2009 FGN-ASUU  Agreement  to  enable  the  parties  conclude  a  negotiation  process which  began  in  March  2017.  This  is  contrary  to  the  assurance  given  the leadership  of  ASUU  by  the  Minister  of  State  for  Education,  Hon.  Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba,  at  a  meeting  with  the  Honourable  Speaker  of  the  House  of Representatives  on  19th  November,  2021.  The  Minister  assured  us  that  the process  of  reviewing  the document  would  be  set  in  motion within one week  from that  date.  Hon.  Nwajiuba’s  failure  to  fulfil  a  promise  made  in  the  hallowed chambers  of  the  National  Assembly  is  not  only  provocative  but  reminiscent  of trust-deficit  that  has  bedevilled  all  agreements  and  understandings  reached  with this  government  and  those before it  since 2009.
4. NEC reviewed  the  letter  by  the  Minister  of  Labour  and  Employment  conveying the  report  of  the  “integrity  test”  on  the  University  Transparency  and Accountability  Solution  (UTAS)  by  the  National  Information  Technology Development  Agency  (NITDA)  through  the  Minister  of  Communications  and Digital  Economy.  The  union  wonders  why  it  would  take  more  than  one  year  to get  the  needed  feedback  on  a  home-grown  solution  at  a  time  Nigeria  is  yearning for  “local  content”.  NEC  is  pleased  that  the  end-user  evaluation  report overwhelmingly  endorses  UTAS  for  immediate  deployment  by  government  for Nigerian  universities.  On  our  part,  ASUU  is  fully  prepared  to  address  all  the technical  observations  made  by  NITDA  in  order  to  make  this  happen.  Our  hope is  that  the  National  Universities  Commission  (NUC)  and  other  agencies  of government  would  promptly  respond  to  issues  that  concern  them  in  the NITDA’s  report  to  pave  way  for  speedy  migration  to  UTAS  and  spare  Nigerian universities  of  the evil  effects  of  the  IMF/World  Bank-engineered  IPPIS.

5. NEC took  full  account  of  efforts  by  student  union  bodies,  leading  media practitioners  and  organisations,  religious  and  opinion  leaders,  frontline traditional  rulers, civil society  organisations  and  other  interest groups  within and outside  Nigeria  to  make  government  address  all  outstanding  issues  arising  from the  December  2020  MoA.  In  particular,  special  cognisance  was  taken  of  the pledges  made  by  the  Nigeria  Inter-Religious  Council  (NIREC)  to  make  further consultations  on  the  crisis  in  the  coming  days  with  a  view  to  finding  an  amicable resolution

6. NEC concluded  that  government  has  failed  to  satisfactorily  address  all  the  issues raised  in  the  2009  FGN-ASUU  Agreement  and  subsequent  MoUs  and  MoAs. However,  considering  the  ongoing  intervention  and  consultation  efforts,  NEC resolved  to  review  the  situation  at  a  later  date  with  a  view  to  deciding  on  the next  line of action.

7. Finally, NEC  appreciates  the  concerns  expressed  by  patriotic  Nigerians  and friends  of  Nigeria  in  solidarity  with  ASUU’s  mission  to  salvage  public  education in  general  and  the  Nigerian  University  System  in  particular.  We  assure  all  and sundry  that  ASUU  shall  spare  no  efforts  in  its  struggle  for  repositioning  public universities  and  the transformation of Nigeria.

8. The struggle continues!

TheNewsGuru