Zainab Ahmed, minister of finance, budget and national
planning, says out of the 137,016 academic and non-academic staff members of
the universities, 96,090 have enrolled in the Integrated Payment and Personnel
Information System (IPPIS).
Buhari said this when President Muhammadu Buhari hosted the
leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) at the
presidential villa in Abuja on Thursday.
She said a desk had been opened in the office of the
accountant general of the federation for registration of university staff,
assuring them that peculiarities of the tertiary institutions will be
accommodated.
The minister pointed out that many anomalies were discovered
in the university structures that had contributed to the increased cost burden
in the universities.
These, she said, include staff working and earning pay in
more than one university, contract staff on payroll of the government, tax reductions
on PAYEE and multiple employments.
Ahmed said some universities had rushed to recruit more
staff before the IPPIS registration commenced, which was then detected.
“While it is clear that ASUU has peculiarities, it should be
recognised and rightly accommodated, and allowances will be made, and not
leaving the university out of IPPIS because of the peculiarities,’’ she said.
Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the
federation,urged ASUU to comply with IPPIS in national interest as his office
was already in the process of streamlining all issues of human resources in
government.
Biodun Ogunyemi, president of ASUU, said the education
sector needed more federal government attention, noting that implementation of
agreements over the years would go a long way in improving the quality of
education in the universities.
He said: “Nigerian universities can make meaningful
contributions to addressing the challenges of the country (economy, security
and corruption) if given the opportunity.
“Appropriate funding level, competitive conditions of
service, university autonomy and academic freedom are critical to creating such
an atmosphere.
“With adequate and effective education, particularly
university education, Nigerians will be less susceptible to manipulation, our
economy will grow and problems of insecurity and corruption will be drastically
reduced,’’ he said.
The ASUU president said Nigeria could learn from countries
like China, Malaysia and Singapore that had encouraged universities to drive
their educational development through tripartite linkages of government,
industries and universities called Triple Helix Principle.
On IPPIS and university operations, Ogunyemi said the
federal government’s visitor initiative to the universities, at least once in
five years, was the best guarantee for monitoring accountability processes that
include internal and external audit processes.
The ASUU president said the IPPIS would be a “disruptive
intrusion’’, adding: “IPPIS violates the laws of the federation, violates
university statutes, and violates agreements between the federal government and
ASUU.
“The government should welcome ASUU’s ongoing innovation of
a robust system of human resource management and compensation, called the
University Transparency and Accountability Solution, which will address
peculiarities of universities and end inappropriate recruitments.’’
In his remarks, President Muhammadu Buhari said his
administration will give more attention to improving personnel and
infrastructure of universities to produce quality graduates.
He expressed hope that effective and efficient operations of
universities would go a long way in improving the economy, especially with a
focus on science and technology.
The president also urged members of ASUU to assist the
federal government in realising the target of improved education and credible
certificates by complying with ongoing verification and validation of human
resources in the universities, which will guarantee optimum output.
“The future of the country depends on quality education and
our certificates must be credible to inspire confidence,’’ he said.
Buhari said the constitution should be carefully studied and
adhered to for more harmonious relationships, and standards that would promote
efficiency.
He directed the ministry of education to put in more effort
in ensuring that Nigerian universities are properly funded, with adequate
infrastructure and staffing.
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