The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has proclaimed that it will not watch helplessly while the federal and state governments dismantle Nigeria’s university system.
ASUU Professor Ayo Akinwole, the chairman of the union’s University of Ibadan branch, made this statement while organising a protest with other union members against the unstable working circumstances faced by academics.
Speaking at the demonstration on Thursday, Akinwole underlined that the union has a responsibility to protect knowledge production for future generations and university education in Nigeria.
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He denounced the false withholding of funds intended for members’ cooperative societies and unions, which has not been remitted since 2020.
“Members of the Union subscribe to unions, cooperatives, and other societies within their respective universities, where they pay monthly check-off dues, deductions, contributions, etc. In accordance with labor laws and industrial best practices, these third-party deductions are deducted directly from their salaries and should be remitted to the beneficiary unions and societies. Due to the challenges with IPPIS, these dues have been deducted by IPPIS operators since February 2020, yet many of these deductions have not been remitted. This is not only sabotage but also fraudulent.”
“We cannot allow the university system in Nigeria to be destroyed by successive transient governments. It is our historic duty as intellectuals to defend university education in Nigeria and protect knowledge production for future generations.”
Babatunde Lawal, the ASUU Chairman of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomoso, added his voice to the chorus pleading with the federal and state governments to give funding for postsecondary education first priority.
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He emphasised that ASUU’s continuous rejection of IPPIS is justified and that the union’s demands are reasonable.
“IPPIS violates university autonomy and the Acts establishing universities. In addition to this illegality, IPPIS is notorious for its fraudulent practices that impose undue hardship on Nigerian academics and disrupt university operations in payroll management.
“ASUU continues to reject IPPIS. We are concerned that more than four months after the government directed federal universities and other tertiary institutions to exit the discredited payment platform, our members’ salaries are still arbitrarily withheld. Moreover, third-party deductions (cooperative contributions, pension deductions, and union check-off dues) remain unreleased. The platform, under the guise of ‘New IPPIS,’ continues to be used contrary to the Federal Executive Council’s directive.”
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