Some academic and non-academic staff in universities in the country have called on the Federal Government not to bow to the threat of industrial action by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, over the enrolment of federal workers into the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System, IPPIS.
The unions, including the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, and the Congress of University Academics, CONUA, also said even if ASUU goes on strike, the action would not be able to shut down the university system or cripple anything therein, including academic activities.
Both unions made their positions known in chats with Vanguard yesterday.
The National Secretary of CONUA, a breakaway group from ASUU, Dr. Henry Oripeloye, said members of his union and other academics in the university system would ensure that academic activities were not grounded if ASUU should embark on strike.
“As you already heard that over 8,000 lecturers had enrolled on the IPPIS, if eventually there is the course for ASUU to embark on strike, the system would not suffer.
“CONUA members, as well as other academics who are tired of a strike as a means of resolving disputes would not allow the system to be grounded. I want you to know that even in some universities, where we do not have members yet, some academics still enrolled in the scheme.
“It would surprise you to know that some ASUU members also registered during the exercise, so it showed that a new paradigm has been opened in the community of academics on ways to resolve disputes,” he added.
According to him, about 8,000 academics had enrolled on the scheme, saying if ASUU in its wisdom believed the strike was the way to go, then the system would be functional without them.
Also, Mr. Olusola Sowunmi, the Chairman of SSANU, University of Lagos, UNILAG chapter, said his members across the country would never waiver in their support for the government on the IPPIS matter.
“ASUU members cannot come and lock up the gates of the university. They cannot stop other workers in the system from performing their duties. There is a limit to how an employee can dictate to the employer.
”Your employer says he wants this from you and as an employee, you are saying you cannot do it. The best thing for such an employee is to bow out. We don’t see anyway ASUU can cripple the system.
”Those not ready to work can only refuse to lecture the students and those who are ready to work among them will teach,” he said.
Reacting to the claim by CONUA, SSANU, and others to fill any vacuum ASUU’s strike could create, Dr. Dele Ashiru, the chairman of the UNILAG chapter of ASUU, said the unions should go ahead and do so when the time comes.
“We won’t go back on our resolve to make use of the no pay, no work policy if our salaries are not paid. If the government allows itself to be blinded to reality by some groups, then when the matter gets to the boiling point, we will know who is in control of academic activities on campuses,” he said.
Ashiru also reiterated that no member of ASUU would go to Abuja to enroll in IPPIS.
Recall that last week, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, the ASUU National President, warned that the union would not shift its ground on the IPPIS matter and threatened that his members would cripple the university system if their salaries were not paid this December for refusing to be enrolled on the IPPIS.
The FG has said any federal worker not enrolled on the IPPIS would not be paid a salary from December 2019.
It was gathered that the December salary of university workers will be paid this week.
In place of IPPIS, ASUU proposed the Nigerian University Accountability and Transparency System, NUATS, which is to be domiciled in each university, unlike IPPIS that is centralised in the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation in Abuja.
