Daily Independent (Lagos)
Sylvester Enoghase and Seyi Taiwo-Oguntuase
13 July 2009
Take it or leave it, the government has conceded enough, argues Education Minister, Sam Egwu, who has shut down further demands by university lecturers now on strike for three weeks running.
He explained at the weekend in Lagos that the government yielded to three of the four major demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), and last week approved 40 per cent increase in salary for its members.
He said they should consider the plight of students and go back to the classroom, because only students and their parents are being punished, not the government.
Egwu bared his mind when he monitored the Monotechnics, Polytechnics and Colleges of Education Matriculation Examination (MPCE) conducted by the Joint Admission Matriculation Board (JAMB).
"This is a situation where in other sectors people are asking, 'Please can I retain my job because of the economic meltdown?'" he noted, whereas university lecturers are not being sacked and their salary is being paid, even with an increment.
"If they are saying it's not enough it will be unfortunate because they are not the only people the government caters for. We have other sectors, but because of the importance of education the government has given them this 40 per cent.
"If they are interested in the welfare of the students, if they know they are patriotic, they should go back to class and start teaching.
"If they are saying the 40 per cent is not okay the normal thing is for them to say, 'Let us go back to the class and then continue the agitation.'"
Egwu urged the lecturers to realise that they are punishing students who have suffered a lot, as some spend seven or eight years in school for courses that normally last four years.
"The argument was that it is not personal, and it is not salary they are talking about, it is general welfare. Now why are they refusing 40 per cent paid from this month. If they refuse the rule of no work, no pay will be applied."
Both Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC) President, Peter Esele, and General Secretary, John Kolawole, reacted on Sunday by saying that "the latest utterances from Egwu are a pointer that he is not capable to lead the education sector.
"We therefore call on the government for his immediate removal or face the wrath of Labour."
A statement they issued demanded better funding for education, adequate remuneration of staff, genuine autonomy and democratisation of the decision making organs in universities, and the recall of the remaining sacked 44 lecturers of the University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), all of which they said are part of the agreement with the government.
Read comments. Write your own.
Copyright © 2009 Daily Independent. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
I think despite the claims of the FG to increase lecturers salary by 40%, that does not mean that they've agreed to meet with the demands of ASUU. I would strongly suggest that other unions like the TUC,NLC, etc should back ASUU up to see that this fight is won especially when considering the statement made by Mr G. Onosode over the weekend.
I think despite the claims of the FG to increase lecturers salary by 40%, that does not mean that they've agreed to meet with the demands of ASUU. I would strongly suggest that other unionstlyk the TUC,NLC, etc should back ASUU up to see that this fight is won especially when considering the statement made by Mr G. Onosode over the weekend.