….. Charges TETFUND to unite and not polarize Nigerian Universities
The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) has outrightly condemned the decision of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) to suspend further consideration of Non-Teaching Staff for foreign conferences.
The University based Union in reaction to a letter dated July 17, 2023 which emanated from TETFUND stated that the said letter was ill advised, discriminatory and a negation of the principles upon which a government agency such as TETFUND should operate.
“The said notification which pegged exchange rates for the vetting of Foreign Conference Attendance Intervention in line with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) policy of floating the Naira, went further to distastefully and maliciously suspend any further consideration of Non-Teaching Staff for foreign conferences on account of ‘paucity of funds’.
“SSANU notes with dismay, the action of TETFUND, and unequivocally holds that such ill-advised move would negatively affect the corporate governance of Nigerian universities and the job performance of the Non-Teaching staffers who are majorly the ones running the University system”.
SSANU in its letter dated 21st July , 2023 queried and lamented the continuous discrimination of non-teaching staff within the University system and charged TETFUND to abort the decision.
“We find it appalling that TETFUND has decided against the consideration of Non-Teaching Staff for foreign conferences when ab-initio, there is a skewed 70:30 allocation for training which had never favoured the non-teaching staff. It is painful that the non-teaching staff of tertiary institutions have to be the fall victims of further discrimination on account of “paucity of funds.
“SSANU, therefore, considers this notification of TETFUND as discriminatory, misguided, ill-advised, and a negation of the principles upon which a government agency such as TETFUND should operate.
SSANU also holds that this action of TETFUND is capable of retarding staff development and even threaten industrial harmony within the system especially at a time the new administration of President Bola Tinubu is working hard to ensure industrial peace in our tertiary institutions”.
ValidViewNetwork reports that the Nigerian University system cannot afford to witness another industrial strike considering the quality time that have been
While charging TETFUND to immediately withdraw the letter and reverse its decision , the Union encouraged the government agency to evolve mechanisms that will unite every facet of the university system in order to move the Universities forward.
“We therefore urge TETFUND to without any hesitation, retract the said notification, and set machinery in motion, which would see to the fair consideration of the Conference applications of EVERY category of staff in Nigerian tertiary institutions. We also recommend that TETFUND draws up guidelines that would entrench the principles of EQUITY, FAIRNESS, and JUSTICE in the consideration of all staff applications for both local and foreign conferences and training”
The Union in its letter signed by Mohammed Ibrahim and sighted by ValidViewNetwork emphasised the need for the agency to avoid coming up with plans that could threaten the existing industrial harmony within the university.
“Conclusively, SSANU advises that TETFUND as a responsible agency of the Federal Government should be involved in actions that would unite Our Universities, and not engage in pushing poorly thought out plans which would see to the polarization of Nigerian Universities and brewing crisis within our citadel of learning.”
