On Monday, the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union praised President Bola Tinubu for heeding the “voice of reasoning” and suspending the deduction of 40% from the internally generated revenues of Federal Government-owned tertiary institutions in the country. In a statement provided to our correspondent in Abuja, the union characterized the policy as backward and stated its commitment to resisting any government attempt to reintroduce it.
Last Friday, Tinubu, through the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman, announced the suspension of the policy at the University of Ibadan. This decision faced considerable criticism from academic unions, including COEAU, the Academic Staff Union of Universities, and the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics.
In their statement, COEASU expressed immense satisfaction with the decision of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to suspend the regressive policy instructing tertiary institutions, including colleges of education, to remit 40% of a non-existent Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to the federal treasury.
“While we knew absolutely that the policy would not stand as we were poised to resist it with all legitimate powers we possess as a trade union in the sector, we must acknowledge the sense of good reason, listening disposition, democratic ethos, and responsible leadership shown by Mr President in suspending the policy without allowing the situation to degenerate into an unnecessary faceoff between labour and government. We therefore commend Mr President for his sensitivity and amiability on the matter.
“With this gesture of Mr President, it seems to us that our union has eventually found a government that is compatible in disposition with our union towards an alternative dispute resolution approach through constructive engagement, social dialogue, and proactive bargaining characterised by mutual respect and pliability to superior logic.
“Nonetheless, we urge President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to go a step further by deploying this promising disposition to urgently address funding challenges in the College of Education system and other tiers of the tertiary education sector altogether.
“We call on Mr President to always ensure that issues raised by labour are proactively dealt with through social dialogue and collective bargaining. By so doing, we can together ensure industrial tranquilly and an uninterrupted academic calendar in our institutions.
“We anticipate that Mr President will apply these laudable virtues towards addressing other festering issues plaguing the College of Education system and prone to industrial crises.
“For example, the centralisation of payroll administration through the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System undermines the statutory functions of the governing councils and breaches the establishment integrity of the tertiary education sector in general and the College of Education system in particular.
“It opens the payroll up to unilateral manipulations and all manners of fraud beyond the control of the management of our institutions.
“It has eroded the power and authority of provosts and governing councils to employ, as the office of the Head of Service determines who and when to employ. IPPIS contravenes global best practices in the management of tertiary institutions and disrespects the peculiarities of the COE system.”
