The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has expressed optimism that the newly signed agreement with the Federal Government will prevent industrial action in public universities for at least the next three years.
Gatekeepers News reports that ASUU and the Federal Government on Wednesday signed and unveiled a new pact aimed at improving the quality of university education and ensuring stability in the sector.
Over the years, the union has embarked on several strikes to press for increased funding for public universities, improved welfare for lecturers and the full implementation of past agreements.
Speaking on Channels Television’s The Morning Brief on Thursday, ASUU President Prof. Chris Piwuna said the success of the new agreement would depend largely on effective monitoring and implementation.
“There are measurable aspects of the agreement, and we believe we can monitor it that way,” Piwuna said.
“If we monitor it, we can raise concerns before it gets to a head, and we hope that in three years’ time there will be no strike at all until this agreement is reviewed again.”
He explained that the agreement provides for the establishment of an Implementation Monitoring Team, which will be domiciled at the National Universities Commission (NUC) and coordinated by the office of the NUC’s Executive Secretary.
According to him, the team will be responsible for continuously tracking compliance with the agreement to ensure that commitments made by both parties are respected and followed through.
Piwuna also confirmed that the 2009 agreement, which had been at the centre of several unresolved disputes and strike actions, has now been replaced.
He said all future implementation references by the union would be based strictly on the newly unveiled 2025 agreement.
“It is believed that we now have the 2025 agreement; all references will be made to the 2025 agreement. The 2009 agreement is no longer what we will refer to,” he said.
However, the ASUU president noted that aspects of the 1992 agreement, signed during the tenure of former ASUU president Prof. Attahiru Jega, would still serve as a historical guide.
“The 2009 agreement is history, and we will continue to refer to our history so that we are properly guided. But for implementation, there is really nothing in the 2009 agreement that we are going to implement; it will be the 2025 agreement,” he added.
