By Cross Udo, Abuja
The Federal Government recently commenced payment of the approved 40 per cent increase for civil servants in the federal ministries, agencies, and departments under the Consolidated Public Salary Structure.
But workers in the university sector have kicked against their exclusion, describing the action of the government as a recipe for crisis.
The Federal Government had said that there was no cause for alarm as the university workers were captured in the pay rise.
The government also said that it was waiting for the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU to conclude its negotiation on Collective Bargaining Agreement (CBA) on the condition of service with its employer, the Ministry of Education so that it would be transmitted to the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission.
*FG’s action, recipe for disaster—SSANU
Speaking to journalists yesterday, the President of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), Comrade Mohammed Ibrahim, said that the idea of denying university workers the salary increment is an invitation to the crisis in the university sector.
Ibrahim accused the government of abandoning the agreement it entered into with the university unions, alleging that the N50bn Earned Allowances the government promised to include in the 2023 budget have not seen the light of the day as workers were yet to receive any payment on that.
According to him, “This idea of denying university workers the salary increment is only a recipe for crisis in the education sector. Because the government had promised two years ago that they were going to review the salaries putting in the re-negotiation committee and re-negotiations never got concluded.
“We have even lost the chairman of the re-negotiation committee. In the last year, we have not heard anything from the government and it is like everything has been halted.
“So if they were people who know what they want and I truly they were interested in developing the manpower of this country and having an interest in the education sector, they should have considered making reality those promises they have made.
“There is this N50bn Earned Allowances which they said that have put in the 2023 budget, it has not seen the light of the day. There is a proposal for a salary increment which they made and which has not also seen the light of the day.
“And now from nowhere, we just heard that 40 per cent peculiar allowance has been given to the core civil servants, we are not averse to making lives of civil servants better by giving them any allowance but that the services being offered by the university workers.
“There won’t be any good civil servant, there won’t be any productive civil servants if the universities are not productive if the university staff are not properly remunerated because you will be churning out half-baked graduates and nobody will have any interest in employing any Nigerian graduate again.
“So the idea of excluding university workers from this salary enhancement is a recipe for disaster in the education sector. This is my position as SSANU President.
“And I want to call on the government to immediately without much delay release the N50bn Earned Allowances and also implement the salary increment which we have been talking about with them in the last two years.
“Meanwhile our organs will meet and take the necessary actions. I mean we will take the decisions that will be communicated to the public. But we are not happy with the government, we are not happy at all with the way they are handling the affairs of the university workers.”
*We’re waiting for ASUU to conclude negotiation on the condition of service, says govt
However, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige said that the university workers were not excluded from the pay rise, explaining that the delay in paying them was due to the inability of ASUU to conclude negotiations with its employer.
He said, “Because they (ASUU) have not concluded their Collective Bargaining with their employers, the Ministry of Education. If you remember there was the Prof (Nimi) Briggs Committee and that Briggs Committee concluded with NAAT, SSANU, and NASU.
“But there were certain observations made on the conclusion they reached because ASUU never came for them to reach any conclusion with them. So, certain observations were pointed out to education.
“So, they will now go back to education and revalidate a new CBA and transmit immediately to salaries, income, and wages. And salaries, income, and wages will work on it urgently as a new CBA for the condition of service and transmit to the presidential committee on salaries. We expect all this will be done within the next fortnight.”
Asked whether the commencement date to pay the 40 per cent pay rise for University workers will also be January, he responded in the affirmative.
He said, “It will commence from January because it has been captured in the 2023 budget with the present national assembly. The same will go with ASUU whenever they come back to education and accept whatever education has offered them, it will also go to salaries, income, and wages commission for transmission to the presidential committee on salaries, that’s the route.
“So these other people that got their 40 per cent have been negotiating for two years or more. The Association of Senior Civil Servants, the National Civil Service Union, and other related joint negotiating councils of those people have been negotiating.
“So, the 40 per cent they got took into account that they have not been having any increases with allowances before. So, it was all that the national salaries, income, and wages calculated and aggregated to 40 per cent as a peculiar allowance.
“Mark you, it is not only on salaries, but it also includes their allowances. It is the entire wage structure, a component of their wage, a monthly wage, and an annual wage that have been computed into that. Same is being done for NASU, SSANU, and others.
“This time around us except CONUA and NAMDA to go into CBA for their members”
On the complaint by SSANU that the N50bn Earned Allowances, captured in the 2023 budget has not been released to them, he said, “This is what I am telling you. Even their condition of service review and everything has been captured in the 2023 budget. Not only them, the educational sector including ASUU and their allowances. These allowances are even being doubled
“There is no promise to SSANU separately, we are dealing with University unions comprehensively. It is combined. The money is more than N50bn dedicated to the education sector. Everything has its components, it’s more than N50bn. For the educational sector including the Polytechnics and everybody, I think it is up to N350bn captured in the 2023 budget.”
Asked why the money has not been released yet, Ngige said, “You do one line one step. This is a fall-out of industrial action, so we are tidying it up now starting with their condition of service of which their wage is first thing first. So it is when you do your wages that you now do extra allowances.”
