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The Federal Government on Tuesday announced the reconstitution of a committee to renegotiate the 2009 agreements between the government and various university-based unions.
The committee received a time frame of three months.
The PUNCH reports that this is the fourth renegotiation committee set up by the government since 2017, with previous committees led by Wale Babalakin in 2017, Munzali Jubril in 2020, and Nimi Briggs in 2022.
The PUNCH reports that in 2020, ASUU embarked on a nine-month strike.
The strike, which was called off in December 2020, led to the inauguration of a Federal Government committee led by Prof Munzali Jubril.
In 2021, the Munzali committee working with ASUU came up with recommendations in a draft agreement.
On June 16, 2022, the Nimi Briggs Committee submitted a draft agreement to the government, which it said was a product of collective bargaining.
Following the recent ultimatum by ASUU, the Ministry of Education led by Minister Tahir Mamman unveiled another committee.
Speaking during the inauguration, Mamman said, “ In the composition of this important Committee we have the Chairman and members of this Committee, who are exceptionally experienced in both University and other matters. There are officials appointed from other relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies to serve as Advisers or Observers on the Committee will bring in peculiar information and make the work transparent.
“Therefore, I wish to especially appeal to this reconstituted Committee to double its effort towards concluding the assignment and producing a realistic and workable Agreement that would holistically tackle the challenges confronting the NUS and reposition it to effectively play its very important role in national development. The Committee, which is expected to review the draft proposed Agreements with the various University Unions, has the following Terms of Reference, thus:
“Liaise and consult with relevant stakeholders to guide the position of the Federal Government on the issues in the draft proposed FGN/University-based Unions Renegotiated Agreements; Renegotiate in realistic and workable terms the 2009 Agreement with other University-based Unions;
“Negotiate and recommend any other issue the Committee deems relevant to reposition the NUS for global competitiveness; and Submit proposed draft agreements within three (3) months from the date of inauguration.”
