In a protest on Thursday, members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) at the Bauchi branch of Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU) called on President Bola Tinubu to expeditiously implement the agreement reached by the Prof. Nimi Briggs Committee on renegotiating salaries for academic staff at federal universities.
To raise awareness of their situation, the ASUU members marched from their secretariat on the Yelwa campus to the main gate while carrying placards with varied messages.
Speaking to reporters, Comrade Ibrahim Inuwa, the ASUU, ATBU branch chairperson, claimed that the agreement’s non-implementation had prevented professors from receiving pay commensurate with the status of the economy and had also resulted in universities’ ongoing inadequate funding.
He bemoaned the fact that ASUU members have been stationary for the past 15 years due to a lack of success in renegotiation attempts.
He went on to say that the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Convention No. 98, which upholds the concept of collective bargaining, serves as the foundation for the demand to renegotiate the compensation package with the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“Following the FGN/ASUU 2009 Agreement, it was stipulated that the agreement would be reviewed every three years. However, the union has been without a renegotiated agreement for the past 15 years.
“Consequently, after much effort and pressure on the government, a renegotiation committee was set up under the chairmanship of Wale Babalakin in 2017. However, this committee failed to conclude its assignment within the agreed time frame.
“Two other committees, headed by Prof. Munzali Jibrin and the late Emeritus Prof. Nimi Briggs, negotiated and produced draft agreements, but the process was halted before finalizing the reviewed agreement. Since 2021, the document has remained in draft form,” he said.
