THERE appears to be disagreement between the presidency and the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, over the outcome of the meeting President Muhammadu Buhari held with the presidential team involved in the resolution of the lingering strike embarked upon by the four university based unions.
The four university unions that have been on strike are the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, the Non-Academic Staff Union of Allied and Educational Institutions, NASU and the National Association of Academic Technologists, NAAT.
This is as the presidency has said that there is the possibility that the strike could be called off if the parties involved are sincere and approach issues more flexibly.
Sources at the meeting with the President on Tuesday had told journalists that the Buhari had given the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, two weeks to resolve the impasse and report back to him.
But another report had it that President Buhari had told the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige to hands-off from the renegotiation exercise.
While Ngige on Wednesday insisted that there was no such order from the President that he should hands-off the renegotiation, the Presidency said that the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, who is the direct employer of the striking university unions had requested that Senator Ngige should hands-off the renegotiation for him (Adamu) to take full charge of it.
While denying the report that President Buhari on Tuesday issued an ultimatum to the Minister of Education to end the agitations by the university unions, the Presidency in a statement by the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Mallam Garba Shehu said the reports were mere conjectures by spin-doctors.
The presidency also disputed the Minister of Labour and Employment denial that he was ordered to hands off renegotiation with the striking ASUU.
The statement read: “The outcome of the meeting held by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday with relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to end the agitations by university unions ought to be beyond spin-doctoring and conjectures.
“It is a pity that almost all media houses allowed themselves to be deceived by interested sources that are not the authorized spokesmen of government.
“Neither during nor after the meeting was any ultimatum given to the Minister of Education. During the meeting, the Minister of Education requested that the Minister of Labour hands off the negotiation to allow him lead and conclude what he had earlier on started with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
“And he promised that he could get an agreement within the shortest possible time, possibly two to three weeks.
“In carrying out this assignment, the Minister will carry along all relevant ministries and agencies with statutory functions and duties relating to the issues involved.
“The Presidency is optimistic that agreements can be reached in an even shorter period if all parties/stakeholders are not unrealistically obstinate. We appeal to the parties to work together to end the strikes.
“On the part of the administration, all doors remain open for dialogue and the resolution of the issues.
“We appeal to the media not try to spread misinformation. The orchestrated media narratives seeking to present an entirely different picture, attributed to sources, in the last 24 hours are not helpful at all.”
But fielding questions from State House correspondents, the Minister of Labour and Employment said there was no truth in the report that he was told by the President to step aside.
Ngige, who is the Conciliator-In-Chief of the government said, “Anyway, I saw one of the dailies writing something like that today, but the truth of the matter is that there is no such thing, that’s a categorical untruth.
“We held a meeting with the President yesterday (Tuesday) to brief him and the meeting was at my instance, as the Labour Minister, I requested for that audience, so that all of us handling the disputes in the university system, of the unions, there are four units in the university system; ASUU, SSANU, NASU and NAAT, they are all on strike.
“ASUU commenced 14th February, before every other person. The other three joined after about one month because the issues are all the same, cross cutting; Earned Allowances; revitalization fund arising from 2009 promise or agreement, renegotiated in 2013 with (former President Goodluck) Jonathan, and being renegotiated with us since 2015. So that is the issue.
“Then their condition of service, which is again, applicable to all of them. And in the condition of service the main issue is wage fixing, salaries and it’s a Labour issue and there had been a breakdown with their direct employers, breakdown in negotiation with their direct employer,which is the Ministry of Education.
“The Ministry of Labor and Employment were not their employers, we only come in when an employee-employer relationship, in a negotiation, breaks down and when I mean breakdown, I mean breakdown irretrievably, to the extent that there’s a strike.
“Once a strike action occurs, it triggers in Section 8 of the Labour Trade Disputes Act and that is, you do an apprehension and as Minister, I do the apprehension, I can appoint a Tribunal, I can point an external conciliator, I can do the conciliation in my place.
“But because they are government agencies and they are workers, we normally do it in my place. But if it fails, the Labour Trade Disputes says I can transmit to the Industrial Arbitration Panel. Section 17 says I can transmit direct to the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) and rarely do I want to do that because when I send cases to NICN, the first thing they will do is to do an Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) and ADR means inviting the employers again and the employee to do a kind of arbitration in there, a kind of negotiation, a kind of conciliation at that court.
“So, the court doesn’t even start awarding things immediately. That is why since apprehending this one, I have remitted it back to Ministry of Education since middle of March, and that is why the minister had to constitute the Nimi Briggs Committee to do a kind of renegotiation, alternative dispute resolution, inside there because they are workers.
“So, to that extent, since March that you saw the Briggs Committee working that matter had been remitted back to Ministry of Education. So, as per the meeting yesterday, there’s no question of anybody asking Minister of Labour and Employment to hands off, no. There is nothing like hands off.
“It’s within my mandate and the issue now there is because it’s gone back to Education since, the Minister of Education is now doing the needful.
“He will now liaise with the members of Presidential Committee on Salaries, who are the technical advisers in such wage fixing arrangement.
” In any government agency. Who are these technical advisers, Ministry of Finance, who knows the revenue base of the country and revenue generation on a monthly basis. Budget Office of the Federation that will capture whatever it is into the budget of the Federation. National Salaries, Incomes and Wages Commission, set up by Acts of Parliament, to fix wages and salaries, regulate them and even do productivity measurement in fixing new wages.
“So, this thing falls under their ambit. Then Office of Head of Service of the Federation, in case they have public service administrative engagements that need to be done in the condition of service, for example, procedures for going on sabbatical, going on the terminal leave, and other
issues that have to do with…
“Then, my ministry will oversee all those people during that negotiation to be sure that their negotiation conforms to convention 26 and 95 of the ILO Convention on wage fixing mechanism.
“If it doesn’t conform, and we get a report, we write them and tell them do it a little bit to conform to international standard. So, this is it.
“So, the Minister of Education is now back with his committee. They will now get the federal government counter offer, which they will look at with the unions, not only ASUU. We have four unions like I told you. We can’t do A and leave B, or leave C or D.
“We’ll do all of them holistically at once at the same time so that we can have peace. So, that is the correct situation.”
Asked iif two weeks are enough to resolve the issues, he said, “Well, the Minister of Education volunteer to do it in two weeks. I proposed one week to the meeting. He needed an extra time, he said within two weeks, we will come back to the meeting with good results. So, it is within his ambit. And that’s why we’re on two weeks.”
Also reminded that he has been accused of taking side with the government, even when he is supposed to be a conciliatory, he said:
“How can I take side with government? In negotiation, even on government side, you are an enemy to the government, especially those who hold money of government. They don’t like me. But I don’t care. The Minister of Finance and her people. But I don’t care.
“When we started the negotiation, we know the quantum of money they said has been made available for that upward review. I have made it clear that as we speak today, wages of people in the university, especially their lecturers are not fine. Wages of public servants in the public service are not fine except for some people who are in NNPC and the CBN which we cannot even call hard core public service or civil service.
“They are very clear. So, they are now upgraded. They have earnings that are very low, no funds are coming in from NNPC as such anymore. Taxation is what they are looking at, taxation and customs duties. So, at the government side meeting, they have at least brought up something that is reasonable.
“But if you behave like ASUU and say I have taken side, and the other group of ministers on the government financial side in particular are also saying I support the unions, I support NMA, ASUU, SSANU, whenever they cry, I’m the one that comes to defend them. If the two sides say I’m partial, that is good. It means I’m neutral.”
Asked if he was concerned about NLC and other unions planning to protest into solidarity with ASUU, he said, “It is a very incongruous situation
“I must tell you why. NLC is on the table of the discussion. They are there. I invited them as the head of the congress to which ASUU belongs, to which SSANU belongs, to which NAAT belongs. I invited them. And so, they are on the table as their senior partner. That’s one.
“Two, we have a National Labour Advisory Council inaugurated in January 2021. It is an ILO instrument, an ILO architecture for labour unions, governments, and private sector to come together at any given time. So, we’ve just finished our meeting in March, and this issue was tabled before them. And the NLC is in NLAC, the National Labour Advisory Council, and much more importantly, the head of NLC, Nigeria, is the President of an affiliate of workers Federation, worldover called International Trade Union Congress.
“So, I will be surprised if he’s going ahead, which his NEC to do a demonstration, knowing fully well that that is not permissible in international labour parlance.”
On where the disconnect comes from if everybody is understanding the issues inside, he said, “It’s all about interest. And so, when interest supercedes the correct reasoning, you get this kind of situation. However, I’ve called the attention of the NLC to that. And I hope that good sense will prevail.
He maintained that the two weeks to the Education Minister was not an autimatum per day, “It is a volunteerism situation. The Minister of Education volunteered and said give me two weeks. My proposal to the meeting was one week for him to handle. And he said I needed more than one week. In two weeks’ time, everything I hope will be resolved. So, that’s where we are.
“So, all the unions should get back to the education ministry. I have remitted these cases back. I said so . I’ve transmitted it back. They’re no longer on my table. It is when they fail again that they come up to my ministry. So, it should be clear, I’m a conciliator.
“But they have painted a picture that I’m not conciliating well and I say no problem. Till I give you 100% of what you need, or government gives it, then I’m consulting well.
“Until I came to the national television and abused Mr. President for not giving them, then I’m a good man. So, that is the situation.” Continue Reading
