Since the Federal Government issued the directive last June, its universities have known no peace. It asked the universities to sack workers of their staff primary and secondary schools, because it could no longer pay their salaries.
The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU); Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities and Allied Institutions (NASU) and Federal Universities Staff Schools Association of Nigeria (FUSSAN) kicked against the directive.
The associations argued that the schools, which charge minimal fees, are for the workers’ benefit, noting that the teachers were employed by the universities, not by the schools.
The workers had hoped that the matter would be resolved before the December 2015 deadline given to the vice chancellors (VCs) of the 30 federal universities to implement the directive. But, with some universities, such as, Federal University of Technology Akure (FUTA), University of Ilorin (UNILORIN), and Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), issuing staff schools’ workers letters, the fear of sack has gripped their counterparts in other institutions.
There has been disquiet in FUTA, since its staff schools were shut. The institution’s SSANU and NASU chapters and teachers have protested on three occasions since December 18 when the sack letters were issued to 45 workers of the staff school. The SSANU leadership participated in one of the protests held last January 15. The union has taken up the fight of the staff school workers and has been on an indefinite strike since December 24 that its President, Samson Ngwoke, said would not be called off until the government rescinds its decision.
Since schools resumed for the second term of the 2015/2016 academic session on January I1, the FUTA Staff School has not run smoothly.
One of the sacked workers, Mr. Olabisi Olurotimi said following the protests, the university has shut the school.
He also said though the sacked workers resume daily, they are not allowed into the premises.
“We have been resuming to our work by staying around the school gate as early as 7.30 a.m and also leave the place by 1.30pm.
“The management has denied us entrance into the school. We are in pain and we are praying that God listens to us,” he said.
On why he did not re-apply for the job, Olurotimi said the workers were directed by their lawyers not to do so since the matter is still pending in court.
“Our lawyers said we should not re-apply for the job; that doing that will make us to lose the case in the court because we are under government not a private sector,” he said.
The FUTA Public Relations Officer, Mr. Sulaiman Adegbenro however confirmed that the Head Teacher and Deputy Head
Teacher of the Staff School re-applied for their posts immediately the management published a vacancy advert in the dailies.
Prof Daramola
The Vice Chancellor (VC), Prof Adebiyi Daramola’s explanation about the university establishing a board to run the school and the directive to the sacked workers to re-apply have been described as excuses to run the school to serve his own purpose.
Ugwoke accused Daramola of being overzealous. He also called for the immediate sack of the Executive Chairman of National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission (CNSIWC), Chief Richard Egbule, and the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission (NUC), Prof Julius Okojie.
He said the sack was contrary to the agreement the union had with the government in 2009 and faulted Okojie for directing VCs to stop the salaries of Staff School teachers despite the provision for a re-negotiation of the said agreement.
He said: “The directive negates the spirit and conditions of the SSANU/Federal Government agreement of 2009, where it was agreed that the full capital and recurrent costs of University Staff Primary Schools would be funded by the Federal Government through the universities Councils.
“It appears FUTA has taken the lead in implanting this evil project conceptualised by the National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission because of the morbid and sadistic disposition of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Daramola.
“The Vice-Chancellor of FUTA may talk away his misguided action by saying he is only implementing government directive. Is he the only Vice-Chancellor in Nigeria? Why haven’t other universities gone the way of FUTA? Why is FUTA in the forefront of this evil?”
SSANU President, Ngwoke
The FUTA SSANU Chairman, Mr Benedict Chukwudi, questioned why the Federal Government wants to sack 2,000 staff school workers nationwide when it is still funding schools run by security agencies.
“I don’t know why the government has decided to pounce on the University Staff School workers because the Navy, Police and other staff schools are still being paid by the government,” he said.
On his part, NASU Chairman, FUTA Chapter, Mr Adebayo Aladerotohun, claimed that the FUTA VC had ulterior motive.
He said: “It appears that Prof. Daramola has ulterior motive in this matter beyond what the Federal Government asked him to do because it is only FUTA that has taken this matter to the extreme.
“He has advertised to Nigerians that he wants to recruit another set of teachers there but we learnt that he has employed his relatives to take up the jobs. We asked him to let the union dialogue with the government but he refused and went ahead to sack the teachers so as to employ inexperienced ones.”
However, the Vice Chancellor refuted the claim. He insisted the university followed due process.
Daramola said: “The issue is not a matter peculiar to FUTA. It is a national matter and in handling it the Management of FUTA has followed due process in the implementation of a directive from the Federal Government relating to the discontinuance of funding of primary schools being run by Federal universities and allied Institutions.
“A circular from the Federal Government to this effect was conveyed to the management of FUTA. After a thorough appraisal of the Federal Government Circular which precluded personnel/teachers of primary school affiliated to institutions/agencies from being included in the nominal roll as from January 2016, FUTA management sought the approval of the Governing Council to make the primary school independent of government funding in order to ensure that it is in a position to pay the salaries of teachers and personnel in its employ.”
While saying that the university management provided a soft landing for the affected teachers as they were allowed to re-apply for their jobs, the VC lamented that the union ordered them not to re-apply.
Daramola also said that the union rejected the Governing Council’s approval that the university pays the salaries of the workers while they continue their work.
He warned the disengaged teachers not to cause unnecessary crisis in the university.
At the UNILORIN Staff School, The Nation gathered that the pupils were being taught by students of the university’s education faculty.
One of the affected teachers (names withheld) said about 86 of them were served sack letters December 1, 2015.
He was, however, hopeful that SSANU would intervene
“With the intervention of Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), we are hopeful that the federal government will reverse its directive on that issue.
“I am aware that Federal Government may have a rethink on the matter. What is curious is that management of the University of Ilorin said we should reapply for our posts. The retrenchment has affected my financial situation,” he said.
The Nation also learnt that university has advertised for new teachers replace those sacked.
But the university authorities dismissed the allegation, arguing that the sacked teachers agreed to work in the school in the next one month hoping that the Federal Government would rescind its decision.
At the UDUS, The Nation learnt that the university management sacked workers of its primary and secondary schools about seven months ago and recruited fresh hands to be paid with its internally generated revenue.
“The workers had been sacked since seven months ago but they decided to take the matter to court through SSANU. As I am talking to you now, the matter is in court”, a source said.
Workers at the University of Calabar Staff School have not received sack letters, but the Deputy Head Master (Administration), Deacon Mbu Moses Mbu says they are worried.
“I know that some teachers have been sacked in some schools, but it has not affected us here in Calabar. The situation is a bad one. We are very uncomfortable. Our morale is down because we know there is nothing the politicians cannot do, even when they do not have the right.
“We always say that we were employed like any other staff in the university, but the jungle justice these days is that if they push you out, you will not have enough strength to fight them. The ones sent are struggling and I don’t see them overcoming, because it may sum up to spending a lot of money hiring lawyers they cannot pay. We hope it does not degenerate to a point where we would be thrown out.” he said.
On his part, the President, Federal Universities Staff Schools Association of Nigeria, Rev Chidi Nwakpa, urged the government to reverse the decision as he said the workers involved are not many.
“I believe it is not a proper thing. It is not good because if the Federal Government is talking about recruiting 500, 000 teachers, promoting primary education and encouraging education at the primary school level, I don’t think it is right for anyone to issue any sack letters.
“I would want to plead with the Federal Government to look at this at once. We are not so many. But when you talk about the level of corruption in the system, the money being paid to these teachers is not up to what one person has taken. We did not commit any crime to be employed in the staff schools. The Federal Government should withdraw that letter, recall all the teachers they sacked and let us have some peace in our schools and university system, because the current strike action is not helping anybody and not helping matters,” he said.
SSANU Chairman, University of Lagos chapter, Mr Adekola Adetomiwa, said with the Treasury Single Account (TSA), the staff schools would lose more if disarticulated because he said the Federal Government would collect the revenue generated from the schools, which, at UNILAG, runs into millions yet refuse to pay salaries.
He said: “All the money has been taken by government in the TSA. It was a directive of the Jonathan administration, but Buhari is implementing it. So Buhari now has access to N1.4 trillion. How will you now take the money of staff schools, which is about N400 million and put it in Federal Government’s account; take N650 million from International School, put it in Federal Government’s account? This is money paid by parents. You would now say the Federal Government would not pay their salary! That is a poor tradition.
“Before, the government did not have access to the Ministry Departments and Agencies (MDA) fund and they were paying salaries of these people. Universities are under agencies. Now that you now have N1.4 trillion, you don’t want to pay the salaries. The question is how much do you pay these people within a year? It is about N3 billion – compared to the entire N1.4 trillion; compared to the budget of the National Assembly which is about N175 billion; compared to the nation’s budget which is N6.01 trillion.
“So, you see the government is about to make a very serious mistake. That is why we are calling on the president and the minister for education, Adamu Adamu to make sure that staff are not removed from the payroll.”
The SSANU leadership is expected to meet with the Minister on the matter this week. Only time will tell how the issue will be resolved.