Well, the impression has been created that Gov Fayemi was behind the proscription.
Clarification much appreciated.
OAA
Sent from my Galaxy
-------- Original message --------
From: DR SIKIRU ENIOLA <drsikirueniola@gmail.com>
Date: 26/04/2021 14:22 (GMT+00:00)
To: USAAfrica Dialogue <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - Ekiti varsity proscribes four staffunions, shuts down institution https://tribuneonlineng.com/ekiti-varsity-proscribes-four-staff-unions-shuts-down-institution/
Sequel to the press release above, it is important to note that
1. EKSU had a vibrant internal economy which placed it ahead of other states' Universities especially in the south west and in fact in Nigeria..We are always able to supplement the state Govt's subventions as required of the concept.
2. This internal economy collapsed between 2014 and 2018 as a result of gross underfunding and non release of regular subventions by the past administration in the State.
3. This was compounded by a large employment scheme carried out by the immediate past VC contrary to all known regulations. Over a thousand staff was recruited outside the parameters of employment.
4. The Gov then initially opposed the employment but was persuaded that the University had an IGR that could sustain the irascible policy.
5. And so, the economy collapsed. Even though the Govt of Dr Fayemi does not owe a single month of subvention, the protracted ASUU strike and the Covid 19 pandemic compounded the situation.
6. Notably, the Univ was fighting for credibility before the present Administration with the College of Medicine, Faculty of Law etc at the verge of being closed down for lack of Accreditation. In fact, former Gov Fayose advised the Medical students who have been on for more than 7 years to opt out for Alternative/Traditional Medicine.
7. Today, the credibility is fully restored with the Accreditation of the high profile courses, the successive induction of Medical Students and a record of high flyers of our Law students at the Law School.
8. Prior to this moment, Gov Fayemi had met with the ASUU at least 3ce, praising their cooperation during the Accreditation and the resilience of the members. He assured the Union repeatedly of his desire to increase the subvention from 260m, which is the highest in the south west and in most state universities.
9. The general collapse of economies affected Ekiti drastically and all MDAs had their budgets abridged. Rather than reducing that of EKSU, the Gov left it untouched since he has not been able to realize his fervent desire to increase the subvention.
10. The reality on ground in EKSU is that we need to regrow the internal economy by leaving our doors open for all academic programmes including consultancy services.
11.The State governor never shut the doors of communication to the University as he monitored events regularly, personally and through the office of the Special Adviser on Tertiary Education, the 1st of its kind in the state.
12. The walk out by the Unions on Council was rash and contemptuous resulting in the Council's reaction. However, the proscription is a matter betwen the Union and the Governing Council and it is a punitive measure for employees who declared their employers as persona non Grata by staging a walk out that was not provoked nor instigated by the Council nor the Management. It can easily be reviewed and must not be allowed to overshadow the great contributions of Gov Fayemi towards the restoration of the University in all aspects. It is now definitely clear that we cant condemn an Administration that restored dignity to a community that was treated as a slave colony by the immediate past Governor.
13. In other words, Gov Fayemi has exhibited a high degree of magnanimity as a scholar himself and as a lover of Education in all the stages of this crisis. It is also interesting to note that he will intervene decisively to restore normalcy to the Institution.
SIKIRU ENIOLA, PhD.
On Mon, Apr 26, 2021, 1:00 PM DR SIKIRU ENIOLA <drsikirueniola@gmail.com wrote:
PRESS RELEASE
A CHRONOLOGY OF EVENTS THAT LED TO THE CLOSURE OF THE UNIVERSITY
1. On November 11th, 2020, a tripartite meeting involving the Ekiti State House of Assembly; Chairman and some external members of Council; the University Management; and the Unions produced a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) aimed at resolving issues related to the outstanding emoluments and payment of gross salary as and when due.2. All the issues raised have been sufficiently addressed by the university Administration with the improvement in the finances of the University except the payment of some outstanding salaries which management pleaded with the Unions to allow the IGR to grow as contained in the MoA.3. The university Administration had been able to achieve the following amidst other welfare issues:* Regular payment of gross salaries as and when due ever since.* Payment of the balance of the salaries of the months of September and October 2020.* Payment of the balance of PAYE deduction for the year 2019 and cooperative deductions for the month of March, 2020. As a matter of fact, between December 2020 and now, the university had paid other deductions apart from PAYE and cooperative to include Contributory Pension and Union dues to the tune of #209,689,480.79.* Proper placement of some non-teaching staff with professional qualifications.* Elevation of some academic staff to the Professorial cadre.Also, non-teaching staff who were stagnated for over five (5) years and above were elevated to the positions of Deputy Director, Deputy Registrar and Assistant Chief Operations Manager.* Promotion and confirmation of appointments of staff for 2019/2020.
4. Wednesday 14th, April, 2021 - ASUU in a letter to the Vice Chancellor titled "Declaration of industrial action" listed four issues as follows:a. 3 months arrears of salaries for the months of July, August and September 2018b. 6 years arrears of Earned Academic Allowances (EAA)c. 24 months of unremitted pension deductionsd. 14 months of arrears of half (net) salaries.
5. Monday 19th April, 2021, there was protest by all the Unions that prevented members of staff from gaining entry into their offices for the better part of the day.The protest continued every day till Friday, 23rd April, 2021 with more aggression including the use of abusive and unprintable words on constituted authorities as well as sharing of "akara" and " eko" on Thursday, April 22nd, 2021 to celebrate the demise of their perceived enemies.
6. Before and during the protest, the Chairman of the Governing Council kept engaging the Chairman of ASUU to seek an amicable way to resolve the crisis.
7. Wednesday, 21st April, 2021, the Management in the heat of the protest by the unions met with State Government functionaries led by the Chief of Staff to the Governor, the Head of Service, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Science and Technology and the SSA to the Governor on Labour Matters. Following the outcome of this meeting, the Chairman of Council instructed that a meeting with the unions should again be urgently arranged. Consequently, a meeting of the Chairman and some external members of Council, Management and the unions was slated for Friday, 23rd April, 2021 at 1pm with the hope of resolving the outstanding issues .8. However, by Thursday 22nd April, 2021 at 9.11pm, the Chairman of ASUU sent a text message to the Council Chairman informing him that all the leadership of the four unions (ASUU, SSANU, NAAT, and NASU) led by him would not be able to attend the meeting slated for 1pm by the Governing Council because the SSANU Chairman would be burying the father of his wife. The ASUU Chairman further stated that the meeting could only hold after they must have finished the burial ceremonies by 6.00 pm.As disrespectful and disdainful of the Management and the Governing Council as this request was, the Council Chairman with the external members already contacted still agreed to the curious request that the meeting should hold.
9. The meeting commenced well after 6.00 pm with the union leaders led by the Chairman of ASUU coming late. The Chairman of Council opened the meeting by welcoming members and appealed to the Unions to show understanding and allow the University to improve on the IGR by not truncating the academic calendar with the hope that all the outstanding issues would be addressed in due course.10. At the meeting, the Unions insisted that the irreducible minimum they could accept is payment of 5 months subventions amounting to N1.3billion Naira which must be paid before midnight of Sunday, 25th April, 2021 failing which they would make the university and the state ungovernable. The ASUU Chairman also insisted that a commitment must be given at the meeting that government would take up the wage bill of the College of Medicine. When the Chairman of Council pleaded that time was needed even to process their requests with the Visitor, the ASUU Chairman suggested that Council should hold a Zoom meeting with the Visitor and Governor of the State and his Exco to intimate them of the deadline as they don't want promises again.11. As deliberations on the above were going on, the Chairman of ASUU and two other members stood up upon checking his phone and immediately after angrily and furiously declared openly that the meeting could no longer hold as they were at that instance in possession of an information citing a rumor of Government's intention to close down the University. All entreaties to the leaders by the Council were rebuffed as they walked out on the Governing Council and Management with a threat that they will make the University and the State ungovernable as from Monday, 26th April,2021.
12. Thereafter, Council, with Management considered the implications of a further disruption of peace on campus and decided to take the painful decision to in the meantime, close the University and suspend Union activities within the Campus and the immediate environment until further notice.
Bode Olofinmuagun,Head, Directorate of Information & Corporate Affairs.
On Sun, Apr 25, 2021, 10:35 PM Ibrahim Abdullah <ibdullah@gmail.com wrote:
Naked power!!!!--
On Sun, 25 Apr 2021 at 2:48 PM, <seguno2013@gmail.com> wrote:
I personally find it repugnant and offensive to hear that any university is owing its Lecturers and Professors. It tantamounts to devaluation of academic currency of values. It is a disgrace to the society where such practice has become a norm.
It is also, in my opinion, morally irresponsible to subject non-academic staff of any university to ridicule by not paying their legitimate salaries, allowances and dues promptly. These are people who have no other means or sources of income apart from where they work.
Both academic and non-academic staff at Ekiti State University are not asking the institution and State Government to pay them the same salary and allowances like the Governor and his deputy respectively, so why should the Government proscribe their unions?
It is their constitutional right to protest without molestation and threat to unionism.
What kind of lesson do they want their students to learn when their teachers are humiliated simply because they protested against unfair treatment by the State Government?
Governor Kayode Fayemi went to school in the UK: did he witness a time when his lecturers protested before their salaries and allowances were paid?
According to WIkIPEDIA, Dr. Kayode Fayemi was a visiting professor at Northwestern Universityy , Evanston in 2004. While there, did he come across any records that the university workers ever went on protest for non-payment of their entitlements? Was he owed any salary and allowances by the university?
Now that he is the Governor of Ekiti State, shouldn't he lead by example using his past experiences as a moral compass? I think he should.
Prof. Segun Ogungbemi.
Texas.
Sent from my iPhone
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