THE striking Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, in Abuja Thursday said that the controversy surrounding the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, IPPIS, was a creation of the government to divert attention of the union from the actual agitation.

The President of ASUU, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi stated this at the opening session of the reconciliatory meeting organized by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige with the leadership of the union and other relevant stakeholders on the ongoing two weeks warning strike embarked upon by the university teachers.

He said that the system would take Nigeria university system back for many years, adding that it had become a feature of governance in Nigeria to watch situation degenerate before looking for solution.

According to him, “At the earlier meeting in the House of Representatives, it appeared that it is a feature of Nigeria governance style that until there is fire somewhere, nobody will make effort to avert the fire.

“We recall that on February 7, 2019, we were here and we signed a Memorandum of Action, there were items that were outlined, rules were signed and time frame as attacked. We have written three letters in respect of those items while we acknowledged that some of them were activated even before we concluded the discussion then.

“But there were key areas over which we have been raising issues. We were thinking that we were going to trash those items that were outstanding until July 2019, when suddenly IPPIS was thrown at us.

“Let me state clearly that IPPIS for us was a distraction when it came because in 2013, it was first introduced to us and we engaged officers in charge then. By 2014 when we were almost coming to the point of providing an alternative, government side withdrew and for five years, we did not hear anything from IPPIS office until July 2019. Suddenly, it appears IPPIS has been made the major subject of university governance and staff unionism.”

Ogunyemi said ASUU as a union of intellectuals was more interested in what would make university thrive in Nigeria, adding that the IPPIS did not provide for condition of service for visiting lecturers and that it would take university system into the realm of civil service system.

He added, “Everybody talks of low ranking of our universities in global ranking. But nobody wants to acknowledge that some of the policies we impose on our system are taking us many years back and IPPIS happens to be one of them.

“For now, the position of our union is that IPPIS will take university back to the realm of civil service. We support the war against corruption and that is why we are struggling to propose an alternative.

“But rather than government listening to us, even in spite of the understanding we reached at the meeting held at the presidency on January 9, 2020, where the minister suggested that ASUU proposal could be reconciled with IPPIS, we have noted that each time the IPPIS office talks about its goals, it is stated clearly that it is trying to engage the global best practice but somebody should tell us where IPPIS is part of the best practice in any part of the world.

“We have done our research and we found out it is meant for the civil service, not the university which is universal centre of learning and research, and we are bound to attract scholars from any part of the world. IPPIS officers have told us there is no room for contract officers and scholars who come for short appointment because they don’t have pensionable appointment.

“Bringing IPPIS as a subject matter for our disagreement with government agent is like taking us away from our primary focus. We need to revitalise our universities, we need to address outstanding entitlement of our members, we need to stop proliferation of universities and we need to fix the universities.”

In his opening remarks, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Ngige said, “We adjourned in 2019 and in those meetings, the question of some of the issues we have today cropped up. The only issue that is new today is that of Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System which we discussed in 2018 and we thought the matter had been laid to rest until ASUU visited the President and the issue became a burden.

“We felt that we have to apprehend this dispute here today so that we will all come back and fashion solution to the issue on the table for resolution so that the strike will be called off.

“Nobody notified us but that notwithstanding, we are doing our work and we have to put an end to it. When services are withdrawn, everybody suffers. I am told that clinical teachers have also withdrawn their services in conformity with the strike. These are lecturers in teaching hospitals and they also perform other medical functions.”

As at the time of filing this report, the meeting was still going on at the Conference room of the office of the Minister of Labour and Employment.

Source:- Vanguardngr