The National Assembly has moved to forestall the industrial action planned by academic and non-academic staff of tertiary institutions in the country.
Already, a bill seeking to amend the provisions of the Universities (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1993 has been presented for consideration.
Furthermore, a fresh bill seeking to harmonize the retirement age of staff of federal polytechnics and colleges of education has been listed for consideration during the week.
It is known as the Harmonized Retirement Age of Staff of Polytechnics and Colleges of Education Bill, 2011.
The version of the proposed law submitted to the House of Representatives is jointly sponsored by Rt. Hon. Farouk Lawan, a member from Kano State, and 29 other members.
Lawan, who is also the chairman of the House Committee on Education, has been mediating in the lingering crisis between the nation’s lecturers and the federal government.
The amendment to the Universities Act, 1993, seeks to increase the retirement age for academic staff in the professorial cadre to 70 years and non-academic staff to 65 years.
The bill also prescribes a single term of five years for registrars of universities with a proviso of one-year extension on satisfactory performance.
Part of the bill states, “As from the commencement of this Act, the compulsory retiring age for academic staff in the Professorial cadre is 70 years; and non-Academic staff is 65 years.
On the other hand, the Harmonised Retirement Age of Staff of Polytechnics and Colleges of Education Bill, 2011, sets aside the law requiring a person to retire after working in the public service for 35 years.?
But the national president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie, said the move alone would not assuage the union.
The ASUU boss said it was shameful that an agreement entered between the federal government and ASUU was sent to the National Assembly as a private member bill.
He, however, noted that while retirement age was part of the agreement made with the government, the major issue in contention is the funding of the education sector.
He said: “Our problem is not the issue of 70 years. Our problem is implementing an agreement. The agreement highlights funding of the universities and not creating more universities without proper funding.
“We agreed that we shall progressively increase the funding of the universities from where we were in 2009 to 26 per cent by 2020. Instead of that, by 2009, the federal government budget for education was 8.53 per cent.
“In 2010, it reduced to 5.34 per cent. Instead of increasing progressively to 26 per cent by 2020, what we have had is progressive retrogression. We are going down and, if we don’t talk, we will go down to only 2 per cent.
This is especially now that the IMF and the World Bank is now controlling the budgetary processes of Nigeria.”
The ASUU boss argued that if government progressively increased funding for education, the union would shelve any action that could destabilise the country’s education sector.
He, however, said the union awaited the November 22 deadline for the government promised to show evidence of implementing agreements made with it.
Part of the agreement, according to Awuzie, was that there would be an increased allocation for the education sector in the 2012 budget.?
“If they prove that they have done all the things we agreed upon by November 22, then, we will be well disposed to taking some decisions that may allow the system to continue to work.
But if they fail to do that, NEC may take a decision that may jolt the system.
We are not praying for that. We are expecting that government will do the right thing and show evidence that they are serious with the agreement they made with us,” Awuzie said.