Within two weeks of the conditional suspension of the nine-month strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the federal government has stuck to her notoriety of flouting agreements willingly reached with the intellectual Union.

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As intellectuals, the Union was wise when it said the strike would be ‘conditionally suspended’ and would be reactivated should the federal government renege.

As at December 31, 2020, the federal government of Nigeria failed to fulfil three agreements reached with the Union.

One, the federal government promised to release 40billion naira Earned Academic/Earned Allowances to offset part of the outstanding claims of the members of all registered Trade Union in the Universities on or before December 31, 2020, but it did not.

Why ASUU can never trust FG by Oludayo Tade. Credit: @SenChrisNgige

Two, lecturers received only two months salaries out of six months (including December 2020 salaries) owed lecturers.

Not all lecturers were even paid the two months. In the University of Ibadan for example, a list of over 120 lecturers who did not receive payments for the two months is being compiled. In some other universities, some have not received anything since February 2020!

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Three, payment of deducted check-off dues of the Union ought to start on or before December 31, 2020, as promised but FG also failed to deliver! It is because of these early breaches that this piece brings the public into the contents of the agreement Federal Government signed with ASUU before the conditional suspension of the strike on December 24, 2020.

I show how the bulk of FG’s agreement with ASUU was 98% of promise notes with 2% demands met as against the claim by the minister of labour and employment Chris Ngige that 98% of ASUU demands had been met while only 2% were promise notes.

With regards to the funding for the revitalisation of public universities, the government promised to pay public-funded universities (not ASUU) 30 billion Naira on or before 31st January 2021 as part of one tranche of an expected 220 billion naira government supposed to pay as a sign that they are still committed to implementing the Memorandum of Understanding signed with the Union in 2013.

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Recall that FG inaugurated Needs Assessment committee to assess the level of decay in publicly funded varsities in 2012 and come up with what it will take to reposition it to attain global standards.

The assessment was undertaken in 74 (37 federal and 37 states) public-funded universities. FG committee recommended that a total of 1.3 trillion Naira would be needed to make Nigerian universities close to world standards.

They agreed it will be paid between 2014 through 2018. That is, 200billion in 2014 and 220billion in 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018. Former President Goodluck Jonathan was the only government that paid the first tranche of 200billion naira in 2014.

However, since assuming office in 2015, the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari government has been consistent in reducing budgetary allocation to education and did nothing with the agreement until another strike in 2019 when the Muhammadu Buhari paid 20 billion Naira (instead of 220billion naira for 2015) to revitalise public varsities as a show of commitment to the agreement.

Senator Abdullahi Yahaya Abubakar, the leader of the ninth Senate, has attributed the genesis of the series of the strike embarked on by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to the effects of the economic policies put in place by previous administrations.

Abubakar in an interview with Saturday Sun specially attributed the development to two policies put in place during the administrations of former Presidents Olusegun Obasanjo and General Ibrahim Babangida.

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The senator who is a former university lecturer and founding member of ASUU cited abolition of school fees by ex-President Obasanjo and the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) by the military "president", Babangida.

How Obasanjo, Babangida's policies ruined university system, Senator speaks on ASUU strike. Photo credits: Xabiso Mkhabela and Patrick Durand

He explained how the two policies aggravated the problems in the Nigerian University system which led to the series of ASUU strike.

The Kebbi North senator noted that though the policies had good intentions, they nevertheless affected the university system negatively.

Abolition of tuition fees

Senator Abubakar said Obasanjo declared that no students should pay tuition fees, making the universities to fully depend on the government for funds.

He said the former president believed at the time that the federal government had enough money to take care of the universities' needs.

The senator said trouble, however, started when the responsibilities of the government started growing to the level it had no money to fulfil its obligations.