The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has rejected the Federal Government’s decision to list the union as part of the recently launched Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Fund (TISSF), describing it as a ploy to make it a “guarantor of loans it knows nothing about.”
In a communiqué issued at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) meeting held at Usmanu Danfodio University, Sokoto, and signed by its president, Prof. Christopher Piwuna, on Tuesday, ASUU demanded its immediate delisting from the scheme.
The union maintained that instead of introducing loan initiatives, the Federal Government should pay the “withheld three and a half months’ salaries of its members,” which, it argued, would be more beneficial.
“NEC resolved to reject the ploy to conscript ASUU as ‘Guarantor’ of loans the Union knows nothing about and demands that ASUU be delisted from the process. NEC also resolved to press for the release of the withheld three-and-a-half-month salaries of ASUU members instead of loans that will add little or no value to their lives,” the communiqué stated.
The Federal Government, through the Minister of State for Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, had last week unveiled the TISSF — a zero-interest loan scheme for academic and non-academic staff of tertiary institutions to access up to ₦10 million.
Alausa had explained that eligibility required beneficiaries to have at least five years left before retirement and to be members of recognised unions, including ASUU, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), and the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU).
But ASUU insisted that linking staff unions to loan guarantees was “ill-conceived and exploitative.”
ASUU also announced plans to embark on nationwide protests to compel the Federal Government to address its long-standing demands, accusing authorities of “foot-dragging” on key issues.
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“NEC discussed the state of the struggle and the government’s slow pace in addressing the issues in contention. Consequently, NEC resolved to organise protests across all branches simultaneously on a fixed date. As part of the protest activities, press conferences would be held in all branches. The date for the said protests and press conferences would be communicated in due course,” the communiqué added.
The union listed its unresolved disputes with the government to include: The renegotiation of the 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement; Improved conditions of service and funding of universities; University autonomy and academic freedom; Review of laws governing the National Universities Commission (NUC) and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB).
ASUU further disclosed that it is developing a new payment and accountability platform, the Tertiary Institutions Transparency and Accountability Solution (TITAS), which it said would replace its earlier University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS).
According to the communiqué, products of the TITAS have reached advanced stages, with several universities showing interest in adopting the system to strengthen transparency and operations.
