G BREAKING NEWS: ASSU STRIKE ENDS AS PARTIES COMFORMED

The strike is already having negative effects on students, parents and even the lecturers themselves. And if not addressed soonest, the action is capable of putting the future of undergraduates of public universities in danger and possibly abeyance. In a bid to resolve the issues as soon as possible, the Federal Government yesterday offered N65billion to settle the payment of earned allowances and revitalisation of the federal ivory towers. Though these steps might still not be strong enough to ensure the reopening of the universities, they represent a somewhat way forward, just as the two parties agreed to meet again next Friday to continue the dialogue on the premise that the one week should be used to widen further consultations by both government and ASUU. On the contentious Integrated Personnel Payroll and Information System (IPPIS), ASUU informed the meeting that it had carried out a demonstration of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) to all of stakeholders and end users on Thursday, November 5, at the National Universities Commission (NUC), where some stakeholders raised questions that had been addressed. The meeting agreed that going forward, all stakeholders must be carried along in this process to ensure transparency. The Federal Government also agreed to pay ASUU members’ salary arrears from February to June this year using old salary payment platform, the Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS). On withheld salaries and non-remittance of check off dues, both parties agreed that the Federal Ministry of Education and Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment should reconsider the “No Work, No Pay” policy, with a view to getting approval for the withheld salaries to be paid. “It was also agreed that the mode of payment applied for the payment of those that had not been captured in the IPPIS platform between the months of February and June this year be adopted for the purpose of payment during this transition period. “On the demand by ASUU for the payment of check off dues, the Accountant General of the Federation requested that ASUU and other unions should provide his office with the necessary information and dedicated account details in writing to facilitate the deductions and remittance of the check off dues,” according to a communiqué issued at the end of the meeting. Already, frustration is beginning to set in for most of the students, especially as their counterparts in private universities have since resumed, with some of them ready to protest their continuous stay at home. Parents on their part fear that university education is going the way of primary and secondary education in most states, where private institutions have become the order of the day. Famous Otuonye, President of the Students Union of Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, Abia State, said Nigerian students are unhappy with the situation, adding: “The strike action has altered our academic calendar, thereby taking us back. Ordinarily, the 2019/2020 academic session is supposed to have ended, but the lingering strike has disrupted it. Students have lost a full academic session. x “The final year students are supposed to have graduated, while the previously graduated students are supposed to have gone for youth service, but the future plans of these students have been terminated as a result of this. “The students are extremely worried and so anxious to resume, more so since the private academic institutions have resumed. It is so appalling that our mates in private schools are now ahead of us, in other words, they are progressing. We are not happy about that,” he lamented. While calling on the Federal Government to see to the demands of ASUU, and the lecturers to consider the students, he said: “If the strike continues, the students would demonstrate their anger, no matter whose ox is gored.” To Sunny Nwakasun, whose children are undergraduates, the Federal Government/ASUU problem is not a healthy development for students and their parents/guardians, as their prolonged stay at home affects the psyche of both the students and their sponsors. “The students, after a long time, could stop reading and engage in some untoward acts or endeavours, including cyber crime and overindulgence watching videos, thereby limiting their retention of what they had learnt. “Some of the children, because of the face off, easily got involved in the recent protests that reportedly led to loss of lives, even as some, due to idleness, were raped, kidnapped or involved in robberies, cult activities, etc. “So, both parties should come to a point of agreement for students to return to schools and become busy with academic activities once again.” A frustrated 200-level undergraduate of Lagos State University (LASU), Ojo, Innocent Chukwuebuka, stated: “The government and ASUU have practically wasted a whole year with their endless disagreement. I feel set back; I cannot exactly put it into words, but it’s a terrible feeling to find yourself at home for so long when you should be in school studying towards a bright future.” “I feel idle as though I have exhausted everything possible to keep busy. The EndSARS protest was a good distraction, as my friends and I dressed up every morning to join the eventful, entertaining and fun-filled protest at airport road in Lagos.