The Congress of University Academics, CONUA, has told the federal government not to hand over public universities to private investors, saying it will not be in the interest of the country.
The union also raised concerns that the Tertiary Education Trust Fund, TETFund, is discriminating against its members in the implementation of some of its policies.
The demands of the union were contained in a communique issued on Sunday at the end of its National Executive Committee, NEC, held in Benin, Edo State and endorsed by the National President, Dr Niyi Sunmonu.
"The NEC vehemently condemns this proposal by the Federal Government to hand over public universities to investors and demands that the policy should be stopped forthwith.
"The NEC noted with sadness the continuous discrimination by TETFUND in its activities, particularly its exclusion from the reconstitution of TETFUND National Research Fund Screening and Monitoring Committee (NRFS&MC).
The NEC requests for the Honourable Minister of Education’s urgent intervention in facilitating the inclusion of CONUA in all TETFUND programmes and composition of committees involving representation of academic unions, " the communique read.
Also, CONUA took a swipe at Electricity Distribution Companies, DISCOs, for hiking power bills payable by universities and others, saying it is subtly killing the institutions.
"The NEC frowned at the recent hike in the electricity tariff in the nation’s universities. It therefore proposes two measures: the universities should be granted special status on these electricity tariffs because they are not income-generating institutions, in the short term and on a long term, the federal government should work with the relevant departments in the university to generate electricity."
On the state of the nation, CONUA noted that since the removal of subsidy on fuel, Nigerians have been going through excruciating pains.
"The Union further notes that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has assured the nation that a series of measures are being put in place to alleviate the suffering of the people. CONUA-NEC urges the President to expedite action on those measures, particularly the announcement of a commensurate minimum wage and other measures that will cushion the effects of this untold hardship being currently experienced by the citizens."
It appealed to the government to pay its members their three and a half months withheld salaries, since the union was not part of the strike that led to the seizure of the salaries.
"What the government has done was to lump together those who embarked on strike with those who did not! This is unjust, and is tantamount to punishing the innocent along with the guilty.
Through its unwarranted punishment of CONUA members, the government is inadvertently promoting the use of strikes as means of pursuing workers’ demands. CONUA-NEC therefore notes with apprehension that failure to process and pay these outstanding salaries could throw the universities into serious crises and jeopardize the peace currently being enjoyed."
It also demanded the payment of third party deductions still being withheld by the government, noting that they were not part of the four months withheld salaries paid them few months ago.
The union faulted the manner the government is implementing the 2014 Pension Act, saying the problem the law was meant to address was rather being aggravated.
"The 2014 Pension Act was intended to stop the humiliation and misery of pensioners who characteristically had problems with getting their pension entitlements years after retirement.
Retirees under the 2014 Act therefore looked forward to timeous payment of their entitlements upon the conclusion of necessary documentation. The FG has failed to pay pension entitlements for over one year after retirement. The sad implication of this sad reality, NEC observed, is that some subscribers who retired two and a half years ago have not yet received their pension entitlements and are not covered by the Federal Government’s fund release so far.
"This is especially unacceptable for university academic staff who normally retire at the age of 70. We therefore passionately appeal to the federal government to look into this distressing matter urgently and help to solve the avoidable problem. CONUA-NEC is advocating for the payment of at least 50% of the pension, at least five years before retirement to the beneficiaries."
It called for the clearance of promotion arrears that have spanned over seven years in some instances.
"The delay in promotion, in most cases, is not the fault of these concerned academics and it will amount to double jeopardy if, having delayed their promotion, they are made to suffer untold hardship with the delay in paying the promotion arrears. This dispiriting state of affairs should be addressed expeditiously to enhance the diligence of the many academics affected by the counter-productive delay in the payment of promotion arrears. The NEC implores both the Federal and State Governments owing these arrears to pay the affected academics without further delays."
This is just as the urged the government to clear the backlog of Earned Academic Allowances, EAA, noting that with the shortage in manpower in universities, those made to do extra work should be adequately compensated.
While expressing its belief in negotiation through collective bargaining, CONUA called on the Ministers of Education and Labour to put in motion the negotiation of new salary for university workers, since they have been earning the same salary since 2009.
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