Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, The National President of (ASUU) The Academic Staff Union of Universities, boldly stated at the symposium that there is no going back on the union’s rejection of (IPPIS) The Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System.
According Prof Ogunyemi, the union is working on alternative platforms to the IPPIS and described the government platform as the brain child of the World Bank, IMF and Western countries who are opposed to government funding of public universities.
According to him, these platform would not be driven by the university based on their peculiar pay roll system.
Prof Ogunyemi, gave reasons why (ASUU) The Academic Staff Union of Universities is opposed to (IPPIS) The Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, he said the platform negates the principle of university autonomy, lecturers will be made to operate like core civil service, institutions will require approved of the Accountant General to employ new staff, councils will be castrated with the government platform and VCs will be taking directive from Junior workers in the AG office.
He debunked the insinuations that the Academic Staff Union of Universities was supporting corruption in the university system by rejecting the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System, adding that the union has been at the forefront of demanding visitation panels to universities and that members wrote petitions against VCs.
He stated that, “If we succumb to this pressure and blackmail, we will lose the gains of university autonomy. the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System is retrogressive, unacceptable and we will continue to reject it”.
Mr. Femi Falana who was a Guest speaker at the symposium, urged the Federal Government to stop licensing new universities for the next ten years while the existing ones should be properly funded and equip with modern teaching facilities.
In his lecturer, Mr. Femi Falana, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, said with the establishment of more universities, TETfund will not have enough funds to carry out the intervention in tertiary institutions and urged the federal and state governments to halt the establishment of new universities.
That if not for the struggle by ASUU, there will be no university education in the country and described many of the private universities as glorified secondary schools.
Dr. Dele Ashiru, UNILAG branch chairman ASUU, said over the years, many members served the union and retired without recognition, thus the need to celebrate those living and even death.
The union decided to honour 11 members, including the immediate past VC, Prof Rahman Bello, pioneer VC of the University of Ado-Ekiti, Prof. Akin Oyebode and former chairmen of the union for their contributions. He said.
The chairman also disclosed that the union awarded scholarship to seven UNILAG undergraduates’ students in various departments.