₦airaland Forum

ASUU’s NEC voted to end STRIKE; sets
to meet Jonathan for formality – Insider
SOURCE: NEWS EXPRESS
The majority of member of the National Executive
Council (NEC) of the Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU) who attended the two-day NEC
Meeting of the union that ended yesterday in Kano
voted to end the five-month-old strike.
A report by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)
quoted a source as disclosing that 60 per cent of the
members voted to have the strike called off while
the remaining 40 per cent wanted it to continue.
The report said that ASU, however, resolved to keep
mum until it met with President Goodluck Jonathan,
who is due home this night after attending a
meeting of Nigeria’s Honorary International
Investors’ Council in London.
The report quoted a reliable source as saying:
“ASUU has decided to meet with President Jonathan
before making whatever decision they took during
the meeting public.”
The NEC meeting considered a fresh proposal by
President Jonathan aimed at ending the ASUU strike
which has paralysed activities on Nigeria’s
university campuses since July 1. The meeting was
billed to hold two weeks ago but was postponed
following the death of a former ASUU President,
Professor Festus Iyayi, in a road accident in Lokoja.
ASUU embarked on a national strike that has shut
down all Nigeria’s government owned universities,
since July.
The academics wanted government to implement
an agreement reached in 2009, that would improve
funding for infrastructure in the universities and
welfare of the teachers.

ASUU agrees to suspend
strike, states three
conditions
According to reports from the Nigerian Eye,
Nigerian university lecturers have agreed to
end the five-month old strike, if the federal
government says yes to three of it conditions.
These conditions will be made known to
President Goodluck Jonathan today and if all
parties come to agreement, the strike will be
called off.
ASUU has forbidden its local chapters and
zonal chairman from talking to the media,
until the end of the session. But a source,
who was part of the ASUU session, which was
held at Mambayya House in Kano, revealed
the conditions as:
•Commitment from the President that any
review or reconsideration or renegotiation of
the 2009 Agreement will not substantially
affect the pact which is the cause of the
ongoing strike;
•Immediate payment of all outstanding
salary arrears and allowances of varsity
teachers without victimization; and
•A written commitment
from the President that
the Federal Government will commit
N225billion annually to the funding of
universities for the next four years.
There is a fourth condition, which is said to be
“personal” to ASUU.
The source said: “Our leaders are meeting
with the President on Monday to table these
conditions. Once the President accepts these
three terms, the strike will be called off.
“In principle, members voted about 60-40 per
cent to call off the strike, but they added a
caveat – that ASUU leaders should extract a
commitment (signed and sealed) from the
President.”
It became imperative for ASUU to makes
these demands, as it became obvious that
the FG wanted the 2009 Agreement to be
renegotiated.
“If ASUU had accepted to renegotiate the
entire Agreement , it means there will be no
basis for the ongoing strike. The worst that
can happen is either having the abridged
version of the 2009 Agreement or a phased
implementation of the document,” the source
added.

HOME NEWS Q & A JOBS MORE
Why ASUU should end strike –
UNIJOS VC
on november 24, 2013 at 12:00 pm in news
By Taye Obateru & Marie-Therese Nanlong
Vice-Chancellor of the University of Jos, UNIJOS,
Prof. Hayward Mafuyai, has appealed to striking
lecturers, especially the institution’s local chapter,
to accept the offer made by President Goodluck
Jonathan at a recent meeting with their leadership
and call off their over four-month old strike.
”Continuing the strike will in no way help, but we
should take what government has given and press
forward for the good of all as no one can deny that
this government has done what no government has
done in regards to the welfare of ASUU”, he told
newsmen at the weekend.
”President Jonathan has done well by looking into
the problems of ASUU; my appeal to them is to call
off the strike.”
Mafuyai said UNIJOS has been recording various
achievements in the area of research which has
earned it recognition within and without the country.
He said that the university has been involved in
phytomedicine researches for which it won a grant
of $8,000,000 for the establishment of African
Centre of Excellence sponsored by the World Bank.
”The university has produced anti-diabetic product,
anti-hypertensive product, anti-snake venom
vaccine and contraceptive product which it wants
patented and produced in a commercial quantity “to
force the university research out of the shelf for the
advancement of the country and we are seeking for
industries to partner with us to patent our products
from phytomedicines”, the VC said.

ASUU Strike 2013 Update:
Union to Meet with
President Jonathan, May
Call Off Strike on Monday
The ASUU strike 2013 continues, but the latest
update is that the union may call off the strike on
Monday.
The union held a two-day National Executive
Meeting on Friday and Saturday, and a source says
that the union may call off the strike on Monday,
after meeting with Nigerian President Goodluck
Jonathan.
The main caveat would be a stipulation that the
Central Bank of Nigeria and a fiscal commission
monitor the agreement between the union and the
federal government.
“We may call off the strike on Monday,” the insider
told the Leadership.
“It is one of the decisions we reached at NEC
meeting,” the source added.
The union will meet with the president on Sunday or
Monday, the source said, and issue an
announcement on Monday regarding its decision.
The union leadership unanimously decided to
involve the central bank and the Revenue
Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission in
the agreement, the source said.
Among the other issues discussed at the so-called
“secret meeting” was how to deal with the
universities that have announced that they will re-
open without union consent.
The news comes after a tumultuous last couple
weeks for the union. Besides the break-away
universities, the union has faced increasing
criticism from officials and the public over the
prolonged strike.
The union appeared to be prepared to end the strike
on November 20 and officially announce that it had
done so the next day. But former union president
Festus Iyayi suddenly died from a car accident on
his way to the NEC meeting, so the meeting was
postponed.
People weren’t sure when the meeting would be
rescheduled, and the union has remained secretive
about its actions after the crash. The two-day
meeting just held was referred to as the “secret
meeting” because there was no official
announcement and the only information gathered
about it came from anonymous sources.

Strike: ASUU in secret meeting,
keeps mum
on november 23, 2013 at 5:10 pm in news
By AbdulSalam Muhammad
KANO – The leadership of the Academic Staff Union
of Universities, ASUU, National Executive Council,
weekend, met in Kano. The secret
meeting,Vanguard gathered lasted from Friday night
to Saturday morning.
However, at the end of the meeting, lecturers were
not forthcoming with the outcome, which sources
say was borne out of the promise made to President
Goodluck Jonathan by the union to inform him of its
decision before going public.
It was learnt that the NEC meeting which attracted
‘fair representation’ from over 50 universities was
held at Mambayya House. Vanguard gathered
lecturers were divided on the issue of suspension of
the over 5months strike.
The Universities lecturers were conveyed to the
venue of the secret meeting in two Coaster buses,
secured by the union’s Kano chapter, in order to
avoid the attention of the press and public.
A competent source close to ASUU told Vanguard in
Kano that “we still have 40 – 60 percent situations
here after the meeting; the resolution from the
north favours the call off while their peers from the
South strongly support the continuation of the
strike”.
According to the source, “however , we were able to
take a middle course that would be pleasant to
Nigerians, but that will not be discussed now at the
public domain until we meet Mr. President in line
with our last discussion”.
Effort to reach Dr Nasiru Fagge, the national
President of ASUU was abortive as he failed to
pick up calls.

UNILAG in another STRIKE mess at the
verge of end to ASUU STRIKE
Following two previous warning strikes, the Senior
Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU)
University of Lagos Chapter, has threatened to
embark on an indefinite strike to protest non-
payment of allowances to its members at the verge
of the end to current ASUU strike
Speaking at a press conference held at the
secretariat of the Union on Thursday, SSANU
Chairman, UNILAG chapter, Comrade Adekola
Adetomiwa described the payment of N180, 000 by
the institution’s management against N360, 000
enjoyed by their colleagues in other universities as
unacceptable.
According to him, University of Ibadan (UI), Obafemi
Awolowo University (OAU), Federal University of
Agriculture, Abeokuta (FUNNAB), and University of
Benin (UNIBEN) have been benefiting from the
N360, 000 templates.
Adetomiwa affirmed that leadership of the union
will continue to demand for payment of the agreed
template because it was their right.
“Doctors at the medical centre were omitted by the
UNILAG authority in the template while names of
other members of staff were also missing,” he said.
“The monitoring committee has stated that workers
on levels 1-5 be paid N80, 000 and levels 6- 15 be
paid N360, 000.Management should speak out if the
money released by government is not enough to go
round.”
“UNILAG generates the average of N5b Internally
Generated Revenue (IGR) every year, yet nothing to
show for it on campus.” adding that apart from the
strike action, the union will also consider the option
of legal means to fight its cause.
Recalling its meeting with the Pro-Chancellor of the
institution, Professor Jerry Gana, the union leader
who disclosed it was agreed that everyone would be
paid, dismissed the audit report of over staffing as
untenable.
“We are not begging the university authority to pay
this money, it is our right. It is 360 but 180
template. The allowances that accrued to the tune
of N360, 000 are; responsibility allowance, excess
workload, hazard, laboratory and clinic allowance,”
he stated.
Responding, Deputy Vice Chancellor, Management
Services, Professor Duro Oni dismissed the claims,
explaining that the Federal Government was aware
of how the university disbursed its funds.
He urged the union to remain calm saying any form
of disturbance or threat to peace on the campuses
would not be tolerated.

ASUU strike: Union holds
secret NEC meeting in
Kano, may call off strike
on…
in Main Home Page Slider, News
THERE are indications that
the strike embarked upon by
the Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU) may be
called off anytime from now.
These indications emerged on Friday
following a secret meeting of some branch
chairmen of the union in Kano, which
sources said might not be unconnected
with an attempt at the resolution of the
strike.
According to a source, the ASUU branch
chairmen, who came in their cars, parked
the vehicles at the old campus of the
Bayero University, Kano and then left in a
bus for a secret location for the meeting.
The source said the choice of a secret
location by the chairmen might be for
security reasons.
The branch chairmen at the meeting, it
was gathered, included those from the
North-West, South-South and South-West.

Again, ASUU leaders meet, set to suspend
strike
There is strong indication that academic activities
may resume in the nation’s public universities early
next week, Saturday Punch has gathered.
Our correspondent gathered on Friday that
members of the National Executive Council of the
Academic Staff Union of the Universities again
converged on Kano to deliberate on whether to call
off their over four months old industrial action or
not.
The NEC members, who gathered at the Bayero
University, Kano, penultimate week to review the
reports of the various university congresses over
the strike, suspended the meeting following the
death of Dr. Festus Iyayi. Iyayi, a University of
Benin lecturer and former ASUU president, who died
in an auto accident involving the convoy of the Kogi
State Governor, Idris Wada, on his way to Kano to
attend the NEC meeting.
There has been no date yet for the interment of his
remains.
However, feelers from Kano on Friday indicated
that the ASUU members went into hiding for the
meeting.
One of our correspondents gathered that the NEC
members, who reconvened in BUK, on Thursday,
retired to a secret location for the meeting.
Reporters made frantic efforts to trace the venue of
the meeting without success.
But many vehicles belonging to the members of the
union were seen on campus.
But a member of ASUU NEC, who craved anonymity
because he was not authorised to speak on the
development, confirmed to our correspondent that
the union leaders were converging on Kano for the
meeting.
According to him, though the union has lost a
leading member and an academic, they were
mindful of the feelings of the students and the
public over the protracted industrial action.
He noted that all the union’s national officers as
well as other branch chairmen had arrived at the
ancient city for the assembly.
However, attempts by our correspondent on Friday
evening to reach out to the University of Lagos
chapter ASUU Chairman, Dr. Karo Ogbinaka, to
confirm the meeting failed, as he did not pick his
calls.
He also did not respond to the text message sent to
his telephone.
Ogbinaka had earlier said the academic community
was mourning Iyayi and so was not in a hurry to fix
a new date for the NEC meeting.
The telephone line of the union’s National
President, Dr.Nassir Fagge, also did not go through.
President Goodluck Jonathan had led a Federal
Government team that met with the leadership of
the union penultimate week.
Following the discussion, the FG reportedly
promised to inject N220bn yearly into the public
universities for the next five years. The new offer is
to begin from 2014.
A majority of the chapters of the union had agreed
on the suspension of the strike following the fresh
commitment the leadership of ASUU obtained from
the FG.
Teachers in the nation’s three but 78 public
universities embarked on strike on July 1, 2013 to
protest the failure of the FG to implement the
agreement they signed with the authorities in 2009.
The pact largely centered on greater funding of the
universities, a declaration of a state of emergency
in tertiary education, better wages as well as
payment of earned allowances to lecturers.

ASUU Strike: Adekunle Ajasin University
announces resumption date

Akure — Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-
Akoko chapter in Ondo State have ordered
students to resume their studies on Monday,
despite the continuing lecturers strike.
According to Vanguard, the Registrar of the
university, R. B. Olotu, in a statement gave the
resumption date for students for the second
semester of the 2012/2013 session as 25
November.
Reacting to the resumption date declared by the
university authorities, the Academic Staff
Universities Union (ASUU) Chapter of the
university have told lecturers to ignore the
directive.
The Vice Chancellor of the University, Professor
Femi Mimiko, had earlier warned that he will
recall students if the strike was not suspended.

ASUU STRIKE CALLAPSING: More
varsities pull out •NEC meeting holds
today
REPORT ACCORDING TO NEWS EXPRESS
More schools are set to dump the Academic Staff
Union of Universities, ASUU, in the ongoing strike
action embarked upon by the union for almost five
months now.
This is as the National Executive Council, NEC, of
the union meets today to decide on the sustained
industrial action which many Nigerians have come
to condemn.
The leadership of ASUU had postponed the
scheduled NEC meeting at the Bayero University,
Kano, following the demise of Festus Iyayi, a former
president of the union, who died Tuesday last week
in a motor accident along the Abuja-Lokoja
highway.
The postponement of the NEC meeting to January
15, 2014, had caused widespread outcry as not a
few Nigerians – students, parents and other
stakeholders – condemned the decision of the
union, saying it was evident of insensitivity to the
plight of Nigerian students who are worst hit.
Following the development, several universities
were said to have begun to hold talks on how to
dump the national body and call off the ongoing
strike in their respective institutions.
Regardless of the ongoing strike, some universities
scheduled dates for their post-Universities
Matriculation Examination, UME, exercises.
For instance, Lagos State University, LASU; the
University of Lagos, UNILAG; and the University of
Jos, UNIJOS, all scheduled to conduct the post UME
examinations, although the national body frowned
at their decision and stalled the examinations in
most schools.
The Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba Akoko,
AAUA, in Ondo State has already pulled out of the
strike.
In a statement issued and signed by its registrar,
R.B Olotu, the school had ordered its students to
resume for the second semester on November 25,
thereby boycotting the nationwide strike.
“All students of AAUA are hereby informed that
academic activities of the second semester of
2012/2013 session truncated as a result of the ASUU
national strike are to resume on Monday, November
25, 2013 with the continuation of registration on the
university portal, while lectures are to start on
Monday, December 2, 2013,” the statement read.
At the Niger State-owned Ibrahim Badamasi
Babangida University, Lapai (IBBUL), some
academic staff have already commenced teaching.
This has caused some rancour among ASUU as
some lecturers and students have returned to the
classrooms since Monday following the re-opening
of the institution by the management. But the
branch ASUU Chairman, Dr. Aliyu Badeggi, insisted
that the strike was still in force in the institution.
Investigations by showed that lectures have
resumed only in three departments – English and
Linguistics, Mathematics and Physics, while Mass
Communication, Business Administration and other
Sciences were yet to resume lectures.
The Vice Chancellor, Professor Ibrahim Kolo, had
last Friday directed students to resume lectures on
Monday, after an emergency Senate meeting
approved the re-opening of the institution.
Investigations reveal that several other institutions,
especially those who voted for the suspension of
the strike, are set to dump the union if it decides to
continue with the ongoing strike after today’s
meeting.
It was therefore no surprise when news filtered in
that UNILAG and LASU were set to conduct degree
and matriculation examinations outside their
campuses.
Also, sources say the Enugu State University of
Technology, ESUT, is set to call off the strike if at
the end of today’s meeting ASUU still decides to go
on with the strike.
The Adamawa State University was also reported to
have pulled out of the strike.
Worried by this development, president of ASUU,
Dr. Nasir Fagge has warned vice chancellors to
desist from conducting off-campus examinations or
other academic activities, as such moves could
jeopardise the stand of the union.
“We appeal to our VCs to cease from further eroding
the credibility of the academic profession which the
iconic status of their offices represents. They should
remember that they are destroying themselves and
their professional calling by desecrating the sacred
ethos of university degree and selection
examination,” Fagge said.
It would be recalled that the 61 chapters of the
association met on Monday last week to vote in
their various institutions for or against the
suspension of the strike.
Not a few Nigerians had expected that the personal
intervention of the president would pacify the
striking lecturers and persuade them to suspend the
strike action; but instead, the industrial action had
continued.
ASUU had however directed that all its 61 chapters
hold their congresses on Monday, November 11.
While some chapters were ready to suspend the
strike in the light of the president’s intervention,
others insisted that they would continue the strike
due to what they described as their distrust for the
government.
Whereas the University of Lagos resolved to
suspend the strike, chapters like the University of
Ibadan, UI; University of Benin, UNIBEN; University
of Calabar, UNICAL; University of Jos, UNIJOS, and
the Lagos State University, LASU, vowed to continue
as they insisted that the government cannot be
trusted to fulfil its promise to inject over N1.1
trillion to universities in the next five years.

ASUU queries four professors for sabotaging
strike
The Academic Staff Union of Universities has
queried four professors of Enugu State University of
Science and Technology for sabotaging its ongoing
nationwide strike.
Prof. Agu Gab Agu, Chairman of ESUT-ASUU,
revealed this on Monday, after a congress of the
local union in Enugu.
He said with almost half the population of its
members present, they made it clear that they still
stand on the resolutions of the ASUU National
Executive on the strike.
Prof. Agu said that they abide by whatever decision
of the National Executive Council and await further
directives on the strike.
Answering questions on the purported resumption
of academic activities in ESUT on Monday, the
academic don said they were informed that some
lecturers met with the management and sold the
idea that they were representing ASUU and that the
strike had been called off.
He said, “We are in meeting with the management
and we have refuted that because we do not know
them. We did not give them the mandate and
everybody seems to be concerned about such a
development and we have taken the necessary
steps by issuing them with a query.
“Four professors are involved and we have issued
them with queries and when they reply, we would
know the next action to take.
“We are forwarding the query to ASUU national so
that next time people should not arrogate to
themselves what is not their duty. Nobody sent
them. They don’t have the mandate of ASUU.”
Agu said the action of the professors was even very
painful, knowing the stature of their member who
died and whose death had pained every ASUU
member.
“He (Professor Festus Iyayi) was a very devoted
activist. You need to come close to him to
appreciate him. I was with him when we had
residency at Oxford roundtable last year and he
was somebody that was full of humanity and again
a very devoted family man.
“He came with his wife to Oxford. We were three
Nigerians – Prof. Festus Iyayi, Prof. Akin Oyebade of
the University of Lagos and my humble self and we
were even hosted by the Nigerian community
headed by one Prof. Shoduke of the Leys
Pharmacy,” said Agu.

ASUU strike: Union to take
final decision during
meeting on Friday
The Academic Staff Union of Universities
(ASUU) is likely to hold its postponed
National Executive Council (NEC) meeting on
Friday.
The meeting is expected to decide whether or
not to suspend the indefinite strike it began
four months ago.
It is however unclear if the NEC will still be
held at the Bayero University, Kano where it
was initially proposed to hold.
The leadership of the Union postponed the
scheduled Kano NEC meeting following the
demise of one its key members, Festus Iyayi,
a former President, who died last Tuesday in
a ghastly motor accident on his way to Kano
for the postponed NEC meeting.
He died along the Abuja-Lokoja highway in
an accident caused by the convoy of Kogi
State Governor, Idris Wada.
The Union also urged the
public to ignore
speculations that ASUU has called off its NEC
indefinitely, explaining that the Union only
postponed the NEC meeting as a mark of
honour and respect for the late Iyayi.
An official on condition of anonymity
confirmed that ASUU officials had last week
Wednesday converged at the Bayero
University, Kano, before news of Iyayi’s
death filtered in.
The Union has been on strike since July 1
over the 2009 agreement it reached with the
Federal Government.
All entreaties to call it off was rebuffed until
President Goodluck Jonathan waded in with
an offer of N1.1 trillion to be spread across
the nation’s universities for a period of five
years.
ASUU has said it will deliberate on Federal
government’s offer and take a position after
its forthcoming NEC.

STRIKE LATEST: ASUU NEC meeting
now to hold on Friday – Daily
Independent
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)
may hold its postponed National Executive Council
(NEC) meeting on Friday to decide whether or not to
suspend the indefinite strike it began since July 2.
A top official of ASUU, who preferred anonymity,
disclosed this to Daily Independent in a telephone
interview on Sunday.
He was, however, not certain if the NEC will still be
held at the Bayero University, Kano where it was
initially proposed to hold.
The leadership of the union postponed the
scheduled Kano NEC meeting following the demise
of one its key members, Festus Iyayi, who died last
Tuesday in a ghastly motor accident on his way to
Kano for the postponed NEC meeting.
The source noted that the union members are still
grieved and are pre-occupied with the burial
arrangement of the late Professor of Business
Administration, who died along the Abuja-Lokoja
highway in an accident caused by the convoy of
Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada.
The source debunked speculations in the social
media that ASUU has jettisoned its NEC indefinitely,
saying the union postponed the NEC meeting as a
mark of honour and respect for the late Iyayi.
According to him, all ASUU officials that were
supposed to participate in the NEC meeting last
week Wednesday had actually gathered at the
Bayero University, Kano, but for the unfortunate
accident which claimed the life of Iyayi and
disrupted the agenda already set for the meeting.
Meanwhile, Supervisory Minister of Education,
Nyesom Wike, also at the weekend led a delegation
of government on a condolence visit to the
residence of the late academician in Benin City.
Wike assured that the Federal Government would
diligently implement all the agreements it reached
with ASUU in the course of the negotiations with
President Goodluck Jonathan.
Those in the delegation of the minister include
Executive Secretary of the National Universities
Commission (NUC), Julius Okojie, and some top
officials of Federal Ministry of Education.
They also visited the injured ASUU National Welfare
Officer, Ngozi Iloh, who is said to be responding to
treatment at the University of Benin Teaching
Hospital, Benin.
In a statement in Abuja on Sunday, the Minister’s
Special Assistant (Media), Simeon Nwakaudu, said
Wike solicited the permission of the family to allow
the Federal Government participate in the burial
ceremony of the former ASUU president.
“President Goodluck Jonathan and the entire
administration are deeply pained by the sudden
death of the former ASUU National President who
played a key part in the negotiations between ASUU
and the Federal Government.
“We recall the significant contributions of Professor
Iyayi during the 13-hour negotiations between
President Jonathan and ASUU, which led to a
headway in the discussions.
“I want to assure the family that the ideals that the
late scholar fought and died for will never be
forgotten. The Federal Government will diligently
implement the decisions reached in the course of
negotiations with ASUU.
“The Federal Ministry of Education wishes to be a
part of the burial of this erudite scholar and we seek
the permission of the family to participate in the
burial. I pray God to grant the family the strength to
bear this unfortunate loss,” Wike was quoted to
have said.
Oriabure Iyayi, son of the late ASUU president, was
said to have thanked President Jonathan, the
Minister of Education and all Nigerians for
commiserating with the family at their moment of
grief.
A relative of the deceased, Prof. Robert Ebiwele,
informed the minister that the burial will hold
between December 5 and 9.
He assured that the family would inform the Federal
Ministry of Education on the burial arrangements.

STRIKE LATEST: ASUU NEC meeting
now to hold on Friday – Daily
Independent
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)
may hold its postponed National Executive Council
(NEC) meeting on Friday to decide whether or not to
suspend the indefinite strike it began since July 2.
A top official of ASUU, who preferred anonymity,
disclosed this to Daily Independent in a telephone
interview on Sunday.
He was, however, not certain if the NEC will still be
held at the Bayero University, Kano where it was
initially proposed to hold.
The leadership of the union postponed the
scheduled Kano NEC meeting following the demise
of one its key members, Festus Iyayi, who died last
Tuesday in a ghastly motor accident on his way to
Kano for the postponed NEC meeting.
The source noted that the union members are still
grieved and are pre-occupied with the burial
arrangement of the late Professor of Business
Administration, who died along the Abuja-Lokoja
highway in an accident caused by the convoy of
Kogi State Governor, Idris Wada.
The source debunked speculations in the social
media that ASUU has jettisoned its NEC indefinitely,
saying the union postponed the NEC meeting as a
mark of honour and respect for the late Iyayi.
According to him, all ASUU officials that were
supposed to participate in the NEC meeting last
week Wednesday had actually gathered at the
Bayero University, Kano, but for the unfortunate
accident which claimed the life of Iyayi and
disrupted the agenda already set for the meeting.
Meanwhile, Supervisory Minister of Education,
Nyesom Wike, also at the weekend led a delegation
of government on a condolence visit to the
residence of the late academician in Benin City.
Wike assured that the Federal Government would
diligently implement all the agreements it reached
with ASUU in the course of the negotiations with
President Goodluck Jonathan.
Those in the delegation of the minister include
Executive Secretary of the National Universities
Commission (NUC), Julius Okojie, and some top
officials of Federal Ministry of Education.
They also visited the injured ASUU National Welfare
Officer, Ngozi Iloh, who is said to be responding to
treatment at the University of Benin Teaching
Hospital, Benin.
In a statement in Abuja on Sunday, the Minister’s
Special Assistant (Media), Simeon Nwakaudu, said
Wike solicited the permission of the family to allow
the Federal Government participate in the burial
ceremony of the former ASUU president.
“President Goodluck Jonathan and the entire
administration are deeply pained by the sudden
death of the former ASUU National President who
played a key part in the negotiations between ASUU
and the Federal Government.
“We recall the significant contributions of Professor
Iyayi during the 13-hour negotiations between
President Jonathan and ASUU, which led to a
headway in the discussions.
“I want to assure the family that the ideals that the
late scholar fought and died for will never be
forgotten. The Federal Government will diligently
implement the decisions reached in the course of
negotiations with ASUU.
“The Federal Ministry of Education wishes to be a
part of the burial of this erudite scholar and we seek
the permission of the family to participate in the
burial. I pray God to grant the family the strength to
bear this unfortunate loss,” Wike was quoted to
have said.
Oriabure Iyayi, son of the late ASUU president, was
said to have thanked President Jonathan, the
Minister of Education and all Nigerians for
commiserating with the family at their moment of
grief.
A relative of the deceased, Prof. Robert Ebiwele,
informed the minister that the burial will hold
between December 5 and 9.
He assured that the family would inform the Federal
Ministry of Education on the burial arrangements.

ASUU strike: Union
confirms NEC meeting did
not hold today
Dr. Olusegun Ajiboye, the chairman of the
Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU,
in the University of Ibadan, has confirmed
that stories which made the rounds on
Saturday, that the National Executive Council,
NEC, would hold an emergency meeting in
Kano, were false.
Ajiboye was speaking in
an interview on Diamond
FM, University of Ibadan and stated that no
meeting was scheduled for today, as they
were still in the middle of a seven-day
morning, which was declared in honour of the
late Professor Festus Iyayi, a former national
chairman of the Union.
It would be recalled that Iyayi lost his life in a
fatal crash, on his way to Bayero University,
Kano, where members of ASUU were to meet
and reach a final decision, on whether to
continue with the strike or accept the federal
government’s offer.

STRIKE: ASUU adrift from path of
honour
Yesterday, we reported that Ibrahim Babangida
University, Lappai, Niger State pulled out of the
strike, announcing it academic activities resumption
on Monday November 18th 2013, barely 24 hour
later, another university has also pulled out of the
strike before ASUU national body decides. An online
report available to our reporter has it that the Enugu
State University of Science and Technology, ESUT
has directed all students to resume on Monday 18th
November 2013. An announcement purportedly
made via Coal City FM, Enugu .
These developments are emblems of crack in the
union.
Make hay while sun shines. Undoubtedly, the ‘hay
time’ for Academic Staff Union of Universities,
ASUU to call off the industrial action that has
paralysed academic activities in the public
universities is now. Various groups, individual,
parents, students and part of the union members
have become uncomfortable with the unending
strike, thereby urging the ASUU to suspend the
strike in the wake of the latest efforts by President
Goodluck Jonathan.
If ASUU is adamant, if the union turns deaf ear to
calls to end the strike today. I will not be surprised
if the union’s authority is challenged by lower
affiliates chapters as it’s now in IBBU and ESUT.

#ASUUDecides: ASUU Set To Call Off
STRIKE Today or Sunday
The heading has changed abi? Its no longer
#ASUUStrike Update. Good times they say are
here, we are approaching the end of the long
tunnel.
Despite all the news surrounding the strike
being delayed due to different reasons –
universities not being on the same page and the
death of Professor Iyayi, it seems NEC and
ASUU are going ahead with calling off the strike
which has gone on for over 5months.
ASUU confirmed via their official twitter handle
that they might suspend the strike today
or tomorrow.
We are hoping that nothing disrupts the new
plan, I personally come against every evil that
will dabaru this new plan. AMEN!!!

ASUU Strike May Be Called Off At
Tomorrow’s NEC Meeting
VOICE OF NIGERIA’S TERTIARY INSTITUTIONS
The 4 months old ASUU strike action by the
Academic staff Union of Universities, ASUU may be
suspended tomorrow, after positive negotiations
between leaders of the Union and the President
Jonathan Led Federal Government, Last week
monday.
The suspension became more positive, following
the higher number of Universities who voted in
favour of the suspension of the 2013 ASUU strike, at
monday’s Varsity Chapter meetings, where
Universities like UNILAG, UI, UNIPORT, ABU Zaria
and many others seek the suspension of the 4
months old action, and the resumption of academic
activities across the Nations Universities.
Despite the tragic incident on tuesday morning,
where the Union lost her past leader, VNTI strongly
believe, that the National Executive Council, NEC
meeting of ASUU this Saturday, would be positive,
especially in honour of the Past Leader, Professor
Iyayi, and the Nigerian students, in the nations
Varsities should be prepared to resume activities,
as soon as Monday, 18th November, once a
declaration is made on saturday evening, or sunday

ASUU Strike 2013 Update:
Reports Say it Could End
Saturday
The ASUU strike could be suspended this weekend,
according to some reports on Friday, while officials
have called on the ASUU to end the strike to honor
former head Dr. Festus Iyayi, who died earlier this
week.
The strike could be suspended on Saturday at an
National Executive Council (NEC) meeting amid
negotiations between President Goodluck Jonathan
and the union, , reported the Osun Defender.
Channels TV reported that 120 ASUU chapters have
voted to support ending the four-month-long strike,
but the union’s executive body hasn’t ratified the
decision to end it. The broadcaster also stated
“there are indications” that it might be put to an
end.
On Wednesday, the National Executive Council
(NEC) suspended a meeting that was held at Bayero
University in Kano after Dr. Iyayi died in a road
accident. Iyayi was on his way to the meeting when
he was killed.
But a Pro-Chancellor of the University of Benin,
Senator Effiong Bob, said the strike should be ended
to honor Iyayi’s memory.
“ASUU Should call of the strike so that both the
union members and students can come and give
him the last respect he deserves during his funeral,”
he said, according to Channels TV.
In a meeting, Jonathan agreed to promise 1.1 trillion
Naira ($6.9 billion USD) for the next five years.
Bukola Saraki, the former Kwara state governor,
said the strike needs to end.
“In [Iyayi’s] honor, even if all the terms and
conditions for reopening our ivory towers have not
been met by the government, you should consider
the reopening of the universities,” Saraki said,
reported AllAfrica.com.
He made a statement to the government, saying
“education should not be toyed with by any
government that is intent on developing the
country.”
“This is more so for a government that has
proclaimed its desire to move the country from the
label of a developing one to a developed nation,” he
added.

ASUU Strike: While Parents, Students @
the mercy of ASUU’s NEC meeting
Some Nigerians have
expressed concern over
the decision of Academic
Staff Union of Universities
(ASUU) to suspend its
National Executive Council
(NEC) meeting planned to
hold in Kano on
Wednesday indefinitely.
The union said in Kano on
Wednesday that it took the
decision following the death of its former president,
Prof. Festus Iyayi, in a motor accident in Lokoja on
Tuesday.
Iyayi was going for the NEC meeting at which the
union was expected to decide on its nearly five-
month-old strike.
Some parents and students, who spoke with the
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja, said that
the suspension of the meeting might lead to further
elongation of the strike by university lecturers.
They described the death of Iyayi, who was the
Head of the Department of Business Administration,
University of Benin, as disheartening and
devastating.
Mr Mike Odia, a parent, said that the new
development had dashed the hope of parents,
students and many Nigerians for a resolution of the
action.
”As a parent, I feel very worried about this new
development. Over four months down the line, we
thought we are getting to the end of the strike until
this unfortunate accident that claimed the
professor’s life.
”We were happy when the president waded in and
made a promise to the ASUU national leaders and
they said they were going to study the offer; we
thought this would have brought the strike to an
end.
”But with this development, they have suspended
their NEC meeting and one is not sure if the end is
in sight.
”We only hope and pray that goodwill will prevail on
the ASUU leadership to have a re-think while we
commiserate with the families of the late
professor,” Odia said.
He called on the Federal Government to see the
unfortunate incident as an eye opener to fix the
dilapidated roads across the country.
He added that good governance was all about the
people, saying that there had been too many deaths
on the nation’s roads.
Another parent, Mr IIiya Kodo, told NAN that the loss
of one of the union’s former presidents, Iyayi, was
sad.
He said that it was a good decision by the union to
call off their NEC meeting in order to mourn the
death of their colleague.
Kodo said that Nigerians were on the same page
with the union members on the mourning of the late
unionist.
”We want to call on ASUU to have a change of mind
towards the Federal Government’s new offer to
them.
”Because the strike has lingered for so long and
parents, students are not finding the present
situation funny at all,’ he said.
He urged the union to be considerate in spite of the
fact that it was calling for improvement of facilities
in the nation’s universities.
Mrs Elizabeth Nwankwo, another parent, said that
the suspension of the meeting was expected after
the loss of an important personality in the ASUU
leadership.
”I support that ASUU mourn their colleague,
because ASUU as they say, are united and the death
of one of their members is pain to all of them.
”But I will like to call on them to ensure that they
have their NEC after mourning their colleague and
also for them to immediately call off the strike
because the government has responded.
”We hope that ASUU this time around will consider
the new terms on offer,’’ Nwankwo said
A student, Stella Adeyemi, said that she had
expected that by next week she would be returning
to the campus.
”I am very sad about this happening; I am a final
year student and we do not know what the fate of
those of us that are in public universities are at the
moment.
”We pray that as ASUU members reflect on the loss
of Iyayi, they should also reflect on the over four-
month-old strike.
Another student, Ify Samuel, said that it was sad
that ASUU lost one of its strong members, adding
that the union was right in suspending the meeting.
She, however, called on the union to take
immediate steps to call off the strike after the
mourning period. (NAN)

ASUU May End Strike On
Saturday
Comments
There are indications that the
Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU) in Nigeria
may end its four-month old
strike on Saturday, November
16.
About 120 chapters of the union
have voted in support of the
decision to end the strike at their
various congresses held in their
institutions.
However, the National Executive of
the body has not ratified the
decision to end the strike.
A Pro-Chancellor of the University of
Benin, Senator Effiong Bob, urged
ASUU to end the strike in honour of
Late Fetus Iyayi, a former president
of the union.
Senator Bob, who was at the
residence of the late professor
pointed out that Late Iyayi died
while trying to resolve the issue.
“ASUU Should call of the strike so
that both the union members and
students can come and give him the
last respect he deserves during his
funeral,” he said.
Late Iyayi died on Tuesday,
November 12, in an auto crash on
his way to Kano for a meeting of the
union.
In a meeting with the leadership of
the union, President Goodluck
Jonathan had agreed to provide 1.1
trillion Naira (about 6.9 billion
dollars) in the next five years and
the balance of 62 billion Naira
(about 390 million dollars) and
allowance to each university.
The union had embarked on a
nationwide strike on July 1
suspending all academic activities.

Lagos Assembly Urges ASUU to End Strike in
Honour of Iyayi
Festus Iyayi
The Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday
appealed to public university lecturers to end their
strike in honour of their late colleague, Dr Festus
Iyayi.
The House made the appeal in a statement it
issued in Lagos.
The statement was signed by the Chairman of the
House Committee on Information, Strategy,
Security and Publicity, Mr Segun Olulade.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that
Iyayi, a former President of the Academic Staff
Union of Universities (ASUU), died on Wednesday in
a road accident on the Okene-Lokoja Road.
He was on his way to Kano for a National Executive
Council meeting of ASUU scheduled for Thursday
ASUU has postponed the meeting due to the tragic
event.
“Since Iyayi was on a mission to end the strike, the
union should consider ending the strike in honour of
the late comrade,” the House said.

ASUU STRIKE: 15 things every student
must do before the STRIKE is over
Every Nigerian student who should be in school but
is presently at home because of ASUU strike must
make use of this strike to their advantage. Rather
than allow their destinies to be jeopardized, they
can turn this situation around in their own favor.
These are 15 things every student must do before
the ASUU strike is over.
1. CATCH UP ON LOST ACADEMIC WORK
If there was any academic related work that you
missed while school was still in session, you do not
have to wait until school resumes to catch up on
them. Use this god-given opportunity (or rather
ASUU-FG created opportunity) to your advantage. If
you missed a class note, update your notes. Do all
the omitted assignments. Write your lab reports.
Complete your class projects. Do your team works.
Perfect your field exercise. All of this will make you
readily prepared for resumption once the strike is
called off.
2. DEVELOP A TALENT
If you had ever felt school was boring to you, and
that you would have loved to develop an inborn
talent, but the enormous challenges of academic
work will not allow you devote time to channel your
energy towards a god given dream, then you no
longer have any excuse. Maximize this period to
develop this god given talent and make sure you
achieve a part of, if not all of that dream before
school resumes.
Write that book and publish it.
Go to studio with that song and release at least a
track, if not the complete album.
Produce that video.
Join a football club and make a name.
Whatever your talent is, do something about it
before the strike is over.
3. LEARN A SKILL
If you have never thought about a specific talent in
your life, you likely may say there is none to
develop. That will still not be an excuse for you to
waste these precious moments. Go learn a skill.
Look for something new to add to your life. Learn a
skill that will be relevant to your future.
Learn how to drive.
Learn how to swim.
Learn to make beads.
Learn how to sow dresses.
Learn hair dressing.
Learn event decoration.
Learn photography.
Learn publishing.
If you don’t find something to learn, go learn how to
cook (funny as it sounds). Just make sure you learn
a skill.
4. ORGANISE YOUR SCHOOL MATERIALS
The best time to get yourself organized for
resumption is now that there is still time to play
around. Gather up all your scattered school
materials and arrange them in a safe place. You do
not want to be looking for a textbook or an
important school note when school resumes, only to
find out that it has been carelessly soiled with oil in
the kitchen, or some pages torn away by a sibling.
Keep all of your school material in one place so you
can easily access them whenever the Almighty
ASUU and the Controller Generals of the nation
decides to settle their scores, be it political or
otherwise. It’s time to do some more important
things with your life.
5. ENGAGE IN CONSTANT WEEKLY REVISION
Do not just put your academic life on hold for now
because of the strike. Constantly engage in
revisions. Spread the courses you offer in school
over a period of time. Say, if you have registered for
eight courses this semester, spread them over eight
weeks. This means you will need to study one
course per week. So, dedicate at least one day in
each week for the study of this course. This way,
you likely may be able to cover all your courses
before the strike is called off, and you will be in a
better academic shape once school resumes. Take
advantage of this period to give yourself an
academic lift. If every student will do this, this can
be their best semester so far.
6. DO A PROFESSIONAL COURSE
Life is not just about certificates; some professional
courses carry much more weight than B.Sc, or at
least, add to the weight of your degree.
Intentionally go in search of such courses and
register for them. They do not cost a fortune.
Moreover, it is better than just sleeping and waking
and hoping that Uncle GEJ will change his mind very
soon about his stand on ASUU demands. Invest your
time in a professional course organized by the
professional body of the course you are studying in
school. Even if you do not complete the course
before resumption, their schedule is so flexible that
you can still combine it with your normal academic
schedule.
7. PROJECT INTO THE FUTURE
Most students do not have a well-planned out life.
They just hope that life will be fair on them once
they graduate from the university. If you are also
one of such, this is the best time to spend enough
time to plan your future and rightly channel it the
way you desire it goes. What will you like to do
after graduation? Service year is the ready answer
in your mind! What if Service is delayed by a year,
what will you do with the time? If Service
eventually comes, what will you do during service
year? Will you consider any pet project? What will it
be about? How will you raise fund for it? What
happens after Service year? Which organization will
you like to work with? Do they have a specific
requirement? How do you meet that requirement in
order to make your dream of working with them
possible? There are a million and one questions that
need to be answered before time, and this is the
best time to do that. And do not forget to add this
all important question “at what stage after
graduation do I want to be married?”
8. UPDATE YOUR KNOWLEDGE ABOUT
COMPUTERS
It is sad to note that while kindergartens in the
developed world are already being introduced to
computers, there are still final year students in our
universities who do not know how to use one of the
most common applications on the computer –
Microsoft Word. The closest they have ever gotten
to the IT world is to check their facebook page on
their java phones or reply their emails using the
opera mini on same phone. Please, do not pretend
to know what you do not know; go update your
computer knowledge. If you don’t, you will not know
what you have missed until it is almost over for
you.
9. ATTEND DEVELOPMENTAL SEMINARS
You will also need to attend as many
developmental seminars and conferences as you
can find around you. Some of them will cost some
money. However, you will also find some of them
free of all charge. These seminars will help you to
become a better person and prepare you for the
challenges of the labour market, challenges of
marriage, and every other challenges that may
come your way.
10. GET A PAID EMPLOYMENT
If you feel you will be better off with some extra
fund every month, then you may consider getting a
paid employment. Although, no company will offer
you the mouthwatering offer they give to their new
intakes, no matter what level you are in the
university (do not forget you are just a bloody
undergraduate), but at least, whatever you get at
the end of every month should save you the
embarrassment of having to call all the uncles you
have in the world just to renew your BIS, and you
will still have some change to play around with.
However, whether what they pay you will be worth
your time and your effort is left for you to decide.
11. CATCH SOME FUN
All work and no play, makes Jack a dull boy. Do not
be a Jack; catch some fun. Take a weekend out to
visit an uncle outside your place of residence.
Check on a long-forgotten relative. Attend a family
function, say wedding, house warming etc. Visit the
zoo. Go check out the National museum. Go for a
midweek service in a big church that is far away
from your home church. Give yourself a treat in an
eatery. Go to a recreation center. Visit the beach on
a quiet day. Whatever you can do to catch some
fun, please do. It is good for your health.
12. PRAY
Take time out to pray. There are so many things
you can pray about at your age. Pray for your future.
Pray for your relationships. Pray for your academics.
Pray for your family. More importantly, pray that
God should intervene and bring a solution to the
academic situation of the country so that school can
resume back on time.
13. GET CLOSER TO GOD
There is no better time in your life to start a
relationship with God than now. If you do not have a
relationship with him, you should begin to
reconsider your stand now. Those who do not give
God their audience while on campus do not get his
attention after graduating from campus. If you have
a relationship with Him already, be more committed
to the relationship.
14. READ STUDENTS SELF HELP BOOKS
STUDENTS SELF-HELP BOOKS (SSHB) authored by
Sam O. Salau, (Africa’s leading author on Students’
issues) are collections of carefully selected
materials specifically written to students to help
them become better in their academics and other
areas of their life.These titles are available in both
soft copies and hard copies
1.) Secrets Of Successful Students N500
2.) Academics & Your Spiritual Life N500
3.) Powerful Prayer Points For Students N500
4.) Look Beyond School: You Will Soon Be A
Graduate N250
5.) Jambite! What Every Fresher Needs To
Know N250
6.) A Letter To All Secondary School
Graduates N250
7.) Handling Academic Failure N250
8.) Spread Your Faith on your campus N250
9.) Make Money While In School N750
Total – N3,500
Catch in on this ASUU Strike SSHB Promo and you
can get all of this books for just N2,500 only
(delivery cost anywhere within Lagos state
included).For payment method, call Sola on
08093415875. You can also request for these books
in downloadable formats to any of your android,
iphone, kindle, smartphone devices.
15. SHARE THIS WITH OTHER STUDENTS
If you know other students who are also at home
because of this strike, share this information with
them. Broadcast it on your BB. Retweet on your
twitter. Share on facebook. Just spread it around.
There is someone on your network who needs it
much more than you do. Let them also take
advantage of this strike period to better their lives.

ASUU Strike: NASU Lauds
Jonathan Over Initiative
The general secretary of the Non-Academic
Staff Union of Educational and Associated
Institutions (NASU) Peters Adeyemi has
lauded President Goodluck Jonathan for his
initiative to invite the unionists for dialogue
over the ongoing crisis but said his
intervention should have come before the
situation degenerated.
He said owing to ill advice and laxity
characterizing those in government,
Nigerians and students have been made to
suffer untold hardship.
This, he said contributes to the low rating of
Nigerian universities in the international
community.
Adeyemi stated this in Abuja on Tuesday, at
the inauguration of a network for Non-
Academic, Academic and Research Workers
Unions, covering Nigeria and other African
nations.
He said,” I am happy that the President has
taken up the challenge with ASUU and I think
that the guys in ASUU are also patriotic
people, I am sure this meeting that Mr
President has held with them would yield the
desired result, I also think that the problem
has been mismanaged.
“Mismanaged in the sense that those critical
elements in government have not properly
advised Mr President on this matter, because
you find that if at the end of the day, it is the
personal intervention of the President that
would solve this problem then why did we
wait till we have lost considerable time.
“I think that there is this thing that has
become part of governance, people don’t do
what they are supposed to do in good time.
“They allow for things to happen and allow
us to go through pains, things that ordinarily
would have been done to prevent unions
from going on strike, people treat them with
levity and they go about running helta skater
when this things happen.
“I want to commend Mr President for his
courage to call this meeting”.
He also criticised the privatisation of public
universities and institutions in the country,
saying rather than correct the ills associated
with education such privatisation compounds
the problem.
“You find that most of our institutions now
are becoming private, you cannot regulate
anything there, and you cannot determine
even the salaries and condition of service of
workers in these private institutions.
“When as a government you cannot
determine the pay and the entitlements of
workers in certain establishment you have
no basis of measuring the output of these
workers so you cannot say then that the
standard of the education in our private
tertiary institution is better than the standard
of education in public institutions.

Still On ASUU Strike
Unfortunately, the on-going indefinite ASUU strike
now in its 4th month has claimed the life of one of
ASUU’s former President, Prof. Festus Iyayi. The
erudite scholar died in an auto crash on Tuesday on
Abuja-Lokoja Road in Kogi State, while on his way
to Kano for an ASUU Congress meeting.
CURIOUSLY, penultimate Monday, the nation
ernestly expected the striking Academic Staff Union
of Universities (ASUU) to end its indefinite strike
action following President Goodluck Jonathan’s 13-
hour meeting with its officials. But that was not to
be. However, at the end of the meeting, Nigerians
were offered hope of a possible early call-off by
ASUU officials.
FOR almost four months running, the Academic
Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been
prosecuting an indefinite strike action to press
home their demand for the implementation of a
2009 agreement reached with the Federal
Government and a Memorandum of Understanding
entered into with the same government based on
the 2009 agreement and how best to implement.
FROM our understanding, the crux of the matter is
the Federal Government’s irresponsibility as it
enters into agreement with the striking teachers
only to renege on implementation. We consider the
action of government as irresponsible and we
condemn such official rascality, given the fact that
ASUU in 2011 also dislocated the nation’s public
universities for the same grievances.
WE are deeply concerned with the severe impact of
strike actions on our public Universities across the
country, which has led in the past to even loss of
academic calendar and incalculable losses as it
pertains to dislocation of learning process by
affected university students.
STRIKE actions have also contributed significantly
to the decline in the quality of graduates of our
public universities as students are hurried with
lectures as soon as such strike actions are called
off. Also, as a result of hurried academic calendars,
little attention in most cases is paid to research,
which is an important component of academic
pursuits.
THE on-going ASUU strike undoubtedly has
disrupted examinations in a number of public
universities and paralysed academic activities in
all others. This is unacceptable and we urge both
parties to the dispute to always consider the future
of the students first, above all other considerations.
IN the light of the forgoing, while we believe that
the university lecturers will from time to time have
legitimate grounds to be angry with their
employers, the frequent resort to the strike option is
also unacceptable.
WE are, however, disappointed at the poor handling
of the dispute between it and the University
teachers by the Federal Government as evident in
the empty claims of the Minister of Education, Prof.
Ruqayyatu Rufai who merely tells the teachers to
call of strike action after some poor coordinated
meetings of some officials.
WE urge the Federal Government of Nigeria to be a
responsible corporate citizen who respects
agreements with other parties and institutions.
Government disputes with university teachers lately
have been largely due to broken promises and
unfilled agreements, very often on the part of
government.
WE expect ASUU to equally resort to alternative
dispute resolution mechanisms used by organized
labour in other parts of the world to safeguard our
public University system, which is the only option
available to children of the poor who would not be
able to afford private university education.
ON funding, ASUU must understand that
Government (Federal or State) alone cannot fund
university education in Nigeria. It is important for
ASUU and university authorities to begin to look
inwards for internal revenue generation. Elsewhere,
public Universities’ research and business activities
operated by the universities generate substantial
amount of income for funding teaching and
learning. A situation where public universities
depend almost one hundred percent on government
is deplorable.
IT is on this score we want to call on the federal
government to immediately revisit the issue of
university autonomy with a view to divesting its
grip on the nation’s universities and provide a policy
framework for responsible internal revenue
generation and transparent as well as accountable
and judicious use of such revues for the overall
development of each of the public universities.
ALSO, we call on the Federal Government to take
immediate steps to respect its 2009 agreement with
ASUU and implement all provisions to the letter.
LASTLY, we want the federal government to carry
out a comprehensive review of all conditions of
service of all government workers whether
academic, non-academic, hazardous or non-
hazardous with a view to harmonizing all wages/
salaries, allowances and entitlements across its
workforce and eliminate all disparities that tend to
fuel all kinds of chain agitations from various trade
unions and professional associations with an
ultimate goal of ending the resort to strike actions
once and for all.

ASUU STRIKE: Jonathan’s N1.1tr fund to
end strike tearing varsities apart
DAILY NEWSWATCH NIGERIA
President Goodluck Jonathan’s last intervention
offer of N1.1 trillion to Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU) is already causing another
crisis in the system. This is just as other unions in
the university system apart from ASUU, including
Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities
(SSANU), Non-Academic Staff of Universities
(NASU), National Association of Technicians (NAAT)
are squaring up for another round of action to get
their slice of fresh funding in the university system.
However, Daily Newswatch investigations showed
that only SSANU is alleging being shortchanged in
some universities by about 50 percent of the fresh
funds released by the government, especially the
formula used in sharing the fund.
Indeed, the Federal Government had earlier offered
N100 billion and N30 billion respectively for
infrastructure development in various universities
and payment of verified earned allowances, but that
was not enough for ASUU to call off the strike.
The N1.1trillion offer, to be domiciled in the Central
Bank, was approved by President Jonathan
particularly to ensure that the lecturers finally
buckle and call off the four-month-old ASUU strike,
but it seems it is another source of crisis in the
system.
Only yesterday, the Senior Staff Association of
Nigerian Universities (SSANU), UNILAG chapter,
staged a peaceful protest on campus over the
sharing formula of the N1.6 billion earned
allowances by the Federal Government.
Chairman of SSANU, Adetola Adetomiwa, said the
N1.6 billion, the university’s share in the earned
allowances, was part of the issues contained in an
agreement the association entered into with the
Federal Government in 2009.
He said the earned allowances comprised of
responsibility, excess workload and hazard
allowances.
According to him, a total of N30 billion was
disbursed by the Federal Government to all federal
universities nationwide for earned allowances about
two months ago, even before President Jonathan’s
meeting with the leadership of ASUU.
“Of this amount, a total of N1.6 billion was
accruable to our university to be shared based on
existing formula, which is N15,000 for the junior
staff spread across 18 months arrears and N30,000
for senior staff spread across same period.
“Rather than follow this sharing formula as
stipulated for all labour unions of the institution, the
university authorities decided now to pay each of us
N15,000 across board and this is highly
unacceptable.
“I want you to know that this same earned
allowance has since been paid our colleagues in
other universities the way it is supposed to be. That
is N15,000 for the junior staff and N30,000 for the
senior staff.
“Why then should our own here in the University of
Lagos be different from others or is there something
going on that we do not know about?
“To this effect, we have given the university
management 24 hours to follow the existing
template on the sharing formula of this fund and do
the right thing in order to avoid further problems
with the university,” he said.
The SSANU boss said the association was the
precursor of the demands for the earned
allowances, and therefore, there was no reason for
the management of the institution to do what he
described as “shortchanging members of the
association.”
He said the incident if unresolved might also affect
academic activities in the university whenever
ASUU eventually decided to call off the strike.
Adetomiwa vowed to follow up the issue until
justice was achieved because, according to him,
government had done what was expected and there
was no reason for some individuals to scuttle the
gesture.
“We want to follow this matter up to any level,
because it is high time we instilled discipline and
sanity into our university system, which we all
agree has been suffering from a lot of challenges.
“We must all strive to join hands with government
to ensure that we do the right thing, so that we get
a university of our dream. One, which we shall all
be proud of as a people,” he said.
However, Daily Newswatch investigations showed
that in a few other universities, the formula of
sharing the fresh fund is not only the issue, but
other unions, especially those concerning the
administrative staff and junior workers who felt
neglected and are warming up to start their own
negotiations and, perhaps, strike.
Sources in the universities told Daily Newswatch
that this had been the usually pattern and unless
the government takes the issue as a whole, it may
repeat itself again.

NATIONAL NEWS
ASUU SUSPENDS NEC
MEETING, STRIKE CONTINUES
• Mourns Iyayi, family takes body home
GRIPPED by grief, members of the Academic Staff
Union of Universities (ASUU) Wednesday suspended
its emergency National Executive Council (NEC)
meeting billed to hold at Bayero University, Kano.
The emergency meeting had been scheduled to
decide the final position of ASUU on its four-month-
old strike. The meeting could have determined
whether or not the industrial action would be
suspended.
ASUU President, Dr. Nasir Fagge, told journalists
that the meeting had been suspended due to the
death of Iyayi on his way to the NEC meeting.
“As you can see, everyone here is not in the right
frame of mind. I may not be able to tell you
anything on the next line of action. Whether the
meeting would still hold or not, we have not
decided. It is a great loss to us,” he said.
Some students who were eager to see the end of
the strike were at the venue of the meeting.
While describing the death of the former ASUU
President as a great loss to the academic
community, a student, named Sani Yusuf Daho,
regretted that it happened when the professor was
needed the most in the struggle to salvage
university education from total collapse.
“We are aware of the role he played in this face-
off between ASUU and the Federal Government. He
died when his struggle was about to produce fruits.
As students of higher education in this country, we
will continue to mourn him for what he fought and
stood for,” Daho maintained.
Another student, Musa Aminu, expressed fear over
the suspension of the NEC meeting. “Honestly, I am
sad. The suspension may affect the quick action of
ASUU again. You can imagine we have waited too
long at home,” he said.
But a student, who identified himself as Abubakar
Haruna, said ASUU could have declared days of
mourning instead of suspending the meeting
indefinitely.
It was learnt that a strong delegation was
appointed to go to Benin and condole with the
family and other associates of the late professor.
It was reported that many chapters of ASUU were
in support of calling off the strike.
A close source told journalists that many of the
lecturers that attended the cancelled meeting broke
into tears over the loss of their great colleague and
a pillar in the academic community.
The Chief Medical Director of Kogi State Specialist
Hospital, Dr. Paul Amodu, told journalists in Lokoja
that the body of the late former ASUU president was
released to his immediate younger brother who is
an employee of the Federal University, Lokoja.
He said that from the examination of the body of
Iyayi, it was discovered that a sharp object pierced
through his left side directly to his heart leading to
his instant death.
Amodu equally said that the National Welfare
Officer of ASUU, Dr. Ngozi Ilo, had a minor injury on
her leg and it was treated and placed on POP. He
stressed that the driver of the bus also sustained a
minor injury and was treated and discharged
immediately.
On the alleged speculation that the late ASUU
chieftain and other victims were not treated
immediately the accident occurred, he said that the
medical doctor attached to the governor’s convoy
was at the scene where he provided first aid
treatment.
He added that the Kogi State Government House
ambulance was used to evacuate the victims to the
state specialist hospital.
Meanwhile, the state command of the Federal
Road Safety Commission (FRSC) has commenced an
investigation to unravel the cause of the accident
and how to prevent further crashes on highways.
A commander of the agency, Mr. Olakunle Motajo,
noted yesterday that an investigative team was
now working to unravel what actually caused the
accident, stressing that a report would be ready
before the end of the week.

STRIKE Latest: ASUU NEC meeting now
to hold on Saturday
An impeccable source one of the prominent leaders
of Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, who
pleaded anonymity because he was not authorized
to comment on this yet has disclosed to one of our
correspondents that the suspended ASUU Nation
Executive Committee, NEC meeting earlier
postponed in honour of Late Prof. Festus Iyayi, a
renown novelist, former ASUU president and
prominent leader of ASUU may be reconvened on
Saturday.
He reiterated that the news of of Prof Iyayi’s sudden
death came as a rude shock to the union; most
painfully, Late Iyayi was on ASUU official
assignment when he met his gruesome and
untimely death, so there was nothing the Union
could do to honour the late hero at the point than to
put on hold it NEC meeting scheduled to hold in
Kano. “There is strong indication that the NEC
meeting will be reconvened on Saturday”. He
further stated in strong term that unless ASUU
leaders re-decides, the NEC meeting will hold on
Saturday.
When asked if the strike will actually be suspended,
he said: “I think so, judging by reports from the
Monday congresses we held simultaneously, the
union may suspend the strike on Saturday or
Sunday.”
It will be recalled that ASUU had suspended
indefinitely it NEC meeting where decision to either
end or continue the lingering strike will be taken
due to the death of Late Prof. Festus Iyayi, a former
ASUU president.

ASUU Strike 2013 Update:
Strike Will Not End Soon
as Union Cancels Meeting
After Iyayi’s Death
The ASUU strike 2013 continues because of the
latest update after a stunning turn of events.
The Nation Executive Council meeting on
Wednesday in which the union was expected to call
off the strike was canceled after the suspicious
death of former union president Festus Iyayi.
Iyayi was on his way to the meeting, which was to
be held in Kano, when–allegedly–one of the police
vehicles in a convoy of the Kogi state governor
suddenly swerved into the path of the vehicle Iyayi
was in, and Iyayi or whoever was driving his car
swerved out of the way, somersaulting three times.
Iyayi died in the crash, and the other occupants in
the vehicle–including Dr. Anthony Monye-Emina,
chairman of the University Benin branch of the
ASUU–were taken to a hospital in critical condition.
Following the accident, the union called off the
Wednesday meeting.
‘’You (journalists) have to bear with us because we
are in mourning because we lost one of us, who was
a strong pillar,’’ current ASUU President Dr. Nasir
Fagge said, reported This Day Live.
Now it’s unclear what the next step is in the
prolonged strike, which appeared so close to being
called off.
A human rights lawyer Bamidele Aturu, meanwhile,
said in a statement obtained by PM News Lagos that
Iyayi was murdered.
Iyayi was “gruesomely murdered not killed by a yet
to be identified assassin in the employ of the
Government of Kogi State,” said Aturu.
“This is the only reasonable conclusion to be drawn
from the facts that are now available in the public
domain.”
He added: “The madness of reckless killings on our
roads by those who occupy government houses
must stop. The only way to end it is to insist, as
some of our comrades are suggesting, that the
murderer in Kogi Government House or its boy’s
quarters must be produced and prosecuted for
manslaughter.”

ASUU strike: Everybody loses – VC, NUC
DAILY NEWWATCH
The Vice Chancellor of Federal University of
Technology, Akure (FUTA), Professor Adebiyi
Daramola, and the Secretary of the National
Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Julius
Okogie, have berated the ongoing crisis between
the Federal Government and the Academic Staff
Union of Universities (ASUU), saying “everybody is
a loser in the strike.”
This came as a former national chairman of ASUU,
Professor Festus Iyayi was killed yesterday in an
auto crash on the busy Lokoja-Abuja Express Road.
Professors Daramola and Okogie spoke yesterday
at the opening ceremony of the 28th Annual
Conference of the Association of Vice-Chancellors of
the Nigerian Universities (AVCNU), held at FUTA,
Akure, the Ondo State capital.
Daramola, in his welcome address, stressed the
need for the two ‘warring’ parties to end the rift for
the sake of the progress of the education sector in
the country, noting that the development was
already having negative impact on all the
stakeholders.
He said: “ It is sad to note that a total of four
months have been lost to this ASUU strike by all
public universities in the country. This is already
having a negative toll on the universities.
“No meaningful progress can ever be achieved if we
keep closing academic business for a long time on
our campuses.
“The situation is regrettable and unfortunate and
will no doubt reflect on the image of the university
system in Nigeria and the quality of our outputs. As
a matter of fact, in the ASUU strike, we are all
losers: ASUU, Federal Government, students,
parents and other stakeholders.”
The FUTA VC, however, commended the Federal
Government for releasing a N100 billion
intervention fund for the revamp of the university
system.
Similarly, Prof. Okogie, who was represented at the
ceremony, by the Visiting Professor of NUC,
expressed displeasure over the crisis facing the
education sector, saying there was a need for all
stakeholders to find lasting solution to the crisis.
While commending the VCs in the country on the
various roles they have played in ending the crisis,
Okogie said, “We must begin to look beyond the
end of the current crisis to developing a new
approach to resolving issues that dog relations in
our university system.”
According to him, “I like to use this forum to appeal
to vice chancellors to work towards ensuring that
disagreements are nipped in the bud and, as much
as possible, are resolved at university level in order
to avoid any further total breakdown in the public
university system.
“The impacts of the strike are significant and they
affect not only students who are our primary
products, but staff as well. By working together, we
will be able to make progress in moving the
Nigerian university system forward.”
Declaring the conference open, Governor Olusegun
Mimiko of Ondo State, expressed regrets at the
four-month old strike, lamenting that it has
worsened the university education in the country.
Mimiko called on the university lecturers to end the
strike in the interest of the whole country, lauding
the Federal Government’s moves to resolve the
crisis.
However, Iyayi was killed when the vehicle
conveying members of the University of Benin
(UNIBEN) chapter of ASUU to Kano for a meeting
with the Federal Government was rammed into by a
police escort vehicle attached to the Kogi State
governor.
The versatile writer/social commentator died
instantly the convoy rammed into their bus, while
others, including the Chairman ASUU, UNIBEN
chapter, Prof. Tony Emina-Monye, Dr. (Mrs.) Ngozi
Illoh and two others sustained various degrees of
injuries and were said to be in critical condition.
The University of Benin dons were on a trip for
further negotiation to bring a lasting solution to the
prolonged lecturers’ strike that has entered the
fourth month.
Iyayi, born 1947, in Ugbegun in Ishan, was a writer
known for his radical and sometimes tough stance
on social and political issues.
He employed a realistic style of writing, depicting
the social, political and moral environment and
system in which both the rich and poor live and
work.
Iyayi, also a former president of ASUU, started his
education at Annunciation Catholic College in the
old Bendel State, popularly known as ACC, and
graduated in 1966 and in 1967. He was admitted
into the Government College, Ughelli, graduating in
1968. That same year, he was a zonal winner in a
Kennedy Essay Competition organised by the
United States Embassy in Nigeria.
He left the shores of Nigeria to pursue his higher
education, obtaining a M.Sc. in Industrial Economics
from the Kiev Institute of Economics, in the former
USSR and Ph.D. from the University of Bradford,
England.
In 1980, he became a lecturer in the Department of
Business Administration at the University of Benin.
As a staffer of the university, Iyayi became
interested in radical social issues and a few years
after his employment, he became the local
president of ASUU, a radical union known for its
upfront style on academic and social welfare.
He rose to the position of national president of the
union in 1986, but in 1988, the union was briefly
banned and Iyayi was detained. Same year, he won
the Commonwealth Prize for Literature for his book,
Heroes. He was later removed from his faculty
position.
Better known as a writer, Iyayi wrote the award-
winning novel, Violence, The Contract, Heroes and
Awaiting Court Martial.
Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan, Senate
President, David Mark, his House of Representatives
counterpart, Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, supervising
Minister of Education, Nyeson Wike, have
commiserated with the leadership and members of
the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)
over the death of Iyayi.
Jonathan, in a statement by his Special Adviser on
Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, extended
condolences to Iyayi’s family as well as his
colleagues, friends and associates across the
country and beyond.
He joined them in mourning the renowned
academic and award-winning writer, who rose to
national prominence in the 1980s with his
courageous leadership of ASUU in its struggle for a
better working environment for teachers and
academics in the nation’s university system.
Jonathan was particularly dismayed by the fact that
Iyayi has sadly lost his life while going to contribute
to efforts to finally resolve the current ASUU strike,
which had unfortunately disrupted academics in
most of the nation’s universities for over four
months.
Senator Mark lamented the death of Iyayi, saying
Nigeria has lost an academic giant.
Reacting to the death in a condolence message
signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh
last night, Mark noted the giant strides of the
university scholar, which brought international fame
and value to the nation.
He noted with pain that Iyayi was one of the leaders
of ASUU dialoging with the Federal Government on
how to resolve the lingering strike action by the
university teachers.
According to Mark, “This is one very painful death.
Dr. Iyayi was among the university teachers
meeting with the Federal Government side on how
to end this strike. As usual, his contributions have
been forthright and rewarding.
That he died at this time his contributions were
most needed is a huge set back.
“I remember his frank and honest contributions
towards ending the strike and addressing the ills in
the tertiary education in Nigeria when we met last
week. His death is unfortunate. It is a huge loss to
the nation.”
The Senate President sympathised with the
university community, the immediate family, the
government and people of Edo state and the nation
on the death of Iyayi.
He prayed that God in His infinite mercies grant the
bereaved family the fortitude to bear this sad loss
just as he prayed that the almighty creator grant
the deceased eternal rest.
Speaker Tambuwal, while also extending his
condolence to the Nigerian academic community
and the family of Iyayi, described the deceased as a
respected teacher and unionist, who gave his all for
the progress of the education sector.
In a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and
Public Affairs, Malam Imam Imam, Tambuwal said
the late Iyayi’s life-time of struggles will no doubt
inspire many upcoming lecturers and unionists to
render selfless service to their country.
While urging ASUU and the Federal Ministry of
Education to immortalise the late Professor,
Tambuwal prayed to God to give the bereaved
family the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.
Wike, while in his eulogy, described Iyayi’s death as
unfortunate and shocking, saying it was very
unfortunate, coming at a tim when his services
were still highly needed to resolve some critical
issues and challenges confronting educational
sector at the moment.
Wike, while was addressing the university vice
chancellors and winners of the TETFund Research
fund in Abuja yesterday expressed shock at the
sudden death of the former president of ASUU.
He described his death as a very sad development,
coming when the country is trying to resolve the
lingering strike in universities, which he was
contributing his best towards finding lasting
solutions.
“I heard he died in Lokoja, which is quite
unfortunate, quite sad. On behalf of the Federal
Ministry of Education, we deeply condole and
commiserate with the family and ASUU for this
irreparable loss. It’s quite touching, because while
we were in the meetings, he contributed so much to
the development of Nigerian universities.
“When he was ASUU President, everybody knew
what he stood for. It is quite unfortunate but of
course, nobody can question God. He knows why it
happened the way it happened but we believe that
God will give the family the heart to bear the
irreparable loss, it is quite unfortunate.”
The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the
Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) also described the death
of Iyayi as a tragic loss to the human right
community and the nation at large.
ERA/FoEN Executive Director, Dr. Godwin Uyi Ojo
said: “Professor Iyayi’s death is a big loss not only
to the management and staff of ERA/FoEN and the
human right community but to the Nigerian nation.
We will miss his wealth of experience in engaging
the issues he championed and commiserate with
his family.”
Ojo explained that the professor will be greatly
remembered as a dogged fighter for the cause of
humanity, his love for education, even as he added
that he was one of ERA/FoEN’s most dependable
intellectual bases in the struggle for eco-justice and
protection of local livelihoods.
“As we commiserate with his family, ASUU and the
Nigerian human rights community, we pray his soul
rest in the bosom of the Lord. Festus Iyayi will be
greatly missed,” Ojo added.

Unijos ASUU ready to end strike –
Chairman

Jos – The University of Jos chapter of the Academic
Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), who voted
against ending the four-months-old strike, says it
will resume classes if directed by the national body.
“Yes, the local ASUU chapter voted 159 to 88
against ending the strike at its congress on Monday,
but we shall abide by any decision taken by the
national body on Wednesday,’’ its Chairman, Dr.
David Jangdam, said in Jos on Tuesday.
ASUU’s central body is expected to meet in Kano on
Wednesday to take a final decision on whether or
not to end the strike after collating resolutions from
various local branches who considered the offer by
President Goodluck Jonathan during their
congresses on Monday.
Jonathan had made the offers toward ending the
strike during a meeting with the striking lecturers
who are seeking better funding for the universities
and improved welfare packages for the teaching
staff.
Jangdam said in Jos that the decision of the national
body was final and binding on all local chapters.
“Even the strike was not supported by all the
universities. Many local chapters of ASUU opposed
it, but majority wanted it and we embarked on it,’’
he said.
He explained that ASUU’s decisions were usually
from bottom-to-top with representatives at
meetings having to revert to the local branches
before any decision would be taken.
Jangdam, however, rejected suggestions that the
local branch’s position was influenced by the
internal disagreement with management over the
conduct of the post-UTME examinations during the
strike.
ASUU had condemned that action, and declared that
the examinations were “illegal, wasteful and of no
effect’’.
“At the congress meeting yesterday, we made it
clear that no local issue will be discussed.
“Our focus was solely on the issues related to the
national strike. Other local disagreements shall be
tackled locally and therefore had no effect on our
stance yesterday,’’ he said.
He said that the lecturers voted against ending the
strike because they did not trust the federal
government to fulfill its promises and therefore
wanted something concrete to be seen on ground
before resuming classes.
Jangdam also rejected suggestions that the
lecturers had not been fair to university education in
the country.
“I think the questions should be if the system is fair
to the educational sector; Nigerians should ask the
leaders why the educational sector is usually the
least in their priorities,’’ he said.
He said that it was wrong for Nigerians to blame the
lecturers for the bad situation in the universities,
saying that the search light should rather be on
those in authority that decided what should go to
the ivory towers at budget planning sessions.
“Sometimes, I find the situation a bit perplexing; I
wonder why should Nigerians complain about poor
quality of graduates and heap the blame on the
universities and the lecturers even when they know
that not much attention is paid to the educational
sector?,’’ he asked. (NAN)

Former ASUU president, Festus
Iyayi dies in car crash
on november 12, 2013 at 5:39 pm in news
Former president of the Association of Senior Staff
of Universities, ASUU, Prof. Festus Iyayi is dead. He
died Tuesday morning in a car crash on his way to
Kano to participate in tomorrow’s National
Executive Council Meeting of the Academic Staff
Union of Universities (ASUU) expected to declare an
end to the over 4-month strike.
ASUU President Dr. Nasir Fagge confirmed his death
to our correspondent. He said the sad news was
broken to the union a few hours ago.
Prof. Fetus Iyayi
Prof. Iyayi was president of ASUU from 1986 to
1988.
He was born in 1947, in Ugbegun, Ishan, Edo State.
In 1968, he left the shores of Nigeria to pursue his
higher education, obtaining a M.Sc in Industrial
Economics from the Kiev Institute of Economics, in
the former U.S.S.R., and then his Ph.D from the
University of Bradford, England.
In 1980, he went back to Benin and became a
lecturer in the Department of Business
Administration at the University of Benin.
A well known author, with four books to his credit
(Violence, The Contract, Heroes, and Awaiting Court
Martial), Prof. Iyayi won the Commonwealth Prize
for Literature for his book Heroes in 1988.