By Muyideen Aliyu, Ilorin
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) members, Kwara State University, Malete (KWASU) branch, have joined other branches of the union nationwide in demanding the implementation of the 2009 agreement reached with ASUU by the Federal Government.
The Chairman of KWASU ASUU, Prof. Shehu Abdulganiyu Salau, while addressing newsmen after a peaceful demonstration at Sango Centre of KWASU in Ilorin, said that the union had previously met with the governor and received his assurance of payment as soon as the state economy improved. He urged the State Governor to pay their nine years of Earned Academic Allowance (EAA).
“We have written several letters to the governor reminding him of the promise. We plead with him to pay us. We expect him to pay us the allowances as the allocations from Abuja to states have improved tremendously,” he said, adding that, “Despite our efforts, we are yet to receive a positive response from the government.”
He added that, “Third-party deductions have not been paid in most Nigerian universities. Ibadan zone of ASUU, for example, in Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, a larger percentage of EAA since 2013 is still outstanding. In KWASU, on the other hand, EAA has not been paid since 2016. The EAA of UNIOSUN members was arbitrarily amputated by 50 percent between 2015 and 2019.”
“To save the universities from pending avoidable crises, our union is calling on well-meaning Nigerians, opinion leaders, traditional and religious leaders, media, labour movements, students’ groups, and civil society organisations to prevail on federal and state governments to immediately set in motion the process of signing and implementing the Yayale Ahmed-led renegotiated agreement, among other demands,” he said.
On the non-payment and mainstreaming of Earned Academic Allowance in public universities, Salau said that the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement stipulated that the federal government would fund the EAA.
“This commitment was reaffirmed in the December 2020 Memorandum of Action (MoA), which emphasized the integration of EAA into the monthly salaries of academic staff, with the next tranche scheduled for disbursement in 2021.
“Subsequently, ASUU and the Federal Government agreed on N50 billion to offset outstanding EAA obligations. Earlier this year, the federal government released the N50 billion. Contrary to the agreement that the funds were exclusively for academic staff, the amount was distributed among all university staff. This resulted in a shortfall, with N10 billion still owed to academic staff.
“Furthermore, the mainstreaming of EAA—originally slated to commence in 2022—has yet to be implemented in federal and most state universities, rendering the commitment unfulfilled,” Salau stated.
