From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The representatives of the Federal Government led by the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, will on Monday, meet with the officials of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other relevant stakeholders to iron out issues of interest to all parties.
ASUU, few days ago, issued a 21-day notice of strike to the federal government over several unresolved issues, notably, emergency revitalisation fund of public universities; payment of outstanding earned academic allowances; and release of withheld salaries, promotion arrears, and third-party deductions of our members.
The other issues include stoppage of illegal recruitments; proliferation of public universities/abuse of universities’ laws, regulations and processes; and removal of universities from the Treasury Single Account (TSA) and new IPPIS vis-a-vis to herald the autonomy of our universities.
Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, told journalists at a press conference to mark one year in Abuja, on Friday, that letters of invitation have been sent to the ASUU officials and several other organisations that would be relevant in the meeting.
He said: “Most of the issues raised by ASUU are being attended to. For instance, the President has since resolved the issue of exit from the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS). Bureaucracy is the reason for delay in the implementation of that directive. But by the time we meet on Monday, some of these issues would be discussed and resolved.”
He insisted that the president, Ahmed Bola Tinubu is committed to academic stability in the schools, and would not hold back any support that would ensure that the era of academic disruption in the tertiary institutions are over.