By Dayo Adesulu
The Chairman, ASUU-LASU, Dr Akinyemi Olusegun Kabiru has said that the ongoing ASUU-LASU industral action which has paralysed academic activities on all campuses of the institution will be total until the Lagos State government acceded to the ASUU-FG agreement of 2009 which set the benchmark for the operation of universities in Nigeria

Speaking recently at a congress held in Lagos State University which brought together stakeholders of the union across the country, reiterated that the core of the on-going strike is the refusal of the Lagos State Government, owner of Lagos State University to honour the compromise reached by ASUU and the Federal Government in 2009.

Akinyemi pointed out that the agreement which essentially addressed the issues of condition of service, funding, university autonomy and academic freedom in university are neglected by Lagos State government. He noted that the arguement of Gov Babatunde Fashola is baseless for not immplementing the agreement as he continually insists that the state does not have enough fund for such project.

Dr. Kabiru Akinyemi, ASUU-LASU Chairman

The Chairman however maintained that there is no reason why Lagos State that is ranked third in Federal Government monthly allocation could not pay, whereas smaller states which collect lesser allocation have started paying months back.

According to Akinyemi, June allocation received by Lagos state in July from Federal Account was 7.358 billion yet could not pay adding that Ekiti state that collected 2.438b,  Ondo State 4.450b, Oshun 2.675b, and Edo 2.464b have since implemented the agreement.

The agreement he asserted is binding on all operators of universities in Nigeria and representatives of Pro-Chancellors of state universities and the Council of States of which all state governors are members gave their consent to the content of the agreement before it was finally signed in October 2009 saying that they did this not under duress but rather with the realization that the agreement is a key to achieving a viable university system with one set of academic standard.

For ASUU-LASU, Akinyemi said that the Agreement was forwarded to the Governing Council of Lagos State University for implementation in December 2009 after which the Council set up an ad-hoc committee to work out the modalities for implementation, thereafter the ad-hoc committee recommended the implementation of the ASUU-FG agreement plus Lagos factor

Explaining further, he said that by April 2010 the Council approved and sent the agreement plus Lagos Factor to the Lagos State Government for implementation. Lagos State he said, invited the Union alongside other Unions on 16th July, 2010 to a meeting with Chairman Governing Council in attendance.

At the meeting the Unions were assured that the government had studied all requisite documents and that the implementation of ASUU-FGN Agreement with Lagos Factor would soon be implemented.

Continuing he said: “On Monday, 16th August, 2010, the HOS invited the Unions through the Registrar to attend an “important meeting” with His Excellency, the Governor, on the implementation of the Agreement. Alas, the Unions were shocked to discover that it was an about-face on all the assurances of the past.

The Governor said that the Federal Government could not dictate to the state and that states have their own priorities. He therefore inaugurated a 22-man adhoc committee on “Development of Pay Policy Review and Salary Determination System in Lagos State Public Service”.

It became glaring that the Lagos State Government never intended to honour the ASUU-FG agreement but rather has been paying lip services to improving tertiary education in Lagos State.

ASUU-LASU nevertheless still made overtures to the Government to make them see reasons for the implementation of the ASUU-FGN Agreement for the sake of our students, and to uphold the ideals of the founding fathers of the University.

Eventually, the Union had to give a 21-day ultimatum, perchance the Government would see reason and do what is honourable; that is, implement the ASUU-FG agreement, which all Federal Universities and even seventy per cent of state universities in Nigeria have implemented.

The Government still did not make any commitment when at the expiration of the first ultimatum; ASUU-LASU gave another 7-day ultimatum to that effect.

On the expiration of the 7 -day ultimatum on 22nd September, 2010, the Union embarked on a total, comprehensive and indefinite strike, which commenced on Thursday, 23rd September, 2010.”