The Ondo State Government and unions in the state-owned universities have resolved the lingering dispute over the implementation of the new Federal Government and university unions’ wage structure and allowances.
The agreement followed a series of meetings between officials of the state government, led by Governor Lucky Orimisan Aiyedatiwa, and the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) and Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU).
Under the agreement, the state government approved the full domestication of the Federal Government-ASUU agreement on the Consolidated University Academic Salary Structure (CONUASS) for academic staff of the state-owned universities.
The implementation, according to the government, will take into account the peculiarities of the state, while outstanding issues relating to salary adjustments, allowances and other welfare matters will also be addressed.
Aiyedatiwa, who described education as a cardinal priority of his administration, said the approval was aimed at improving workers’ welfare and ensuring that the state’s universities remained competitive.
He said, ‘Our administration will continue to prioritise the welfare of workers, especially in the education sector, because we understand that a motivated workforce is key to academic excellence.
‘We have approved the FGN-ASUU pact for our universities because we want our institutions to compete favourably and our staff to be at par with their counterparts elsewhere.’
The governor also assured the unions that his administration would continue to engage stakeholders to sustain industrial harmony and prevent incessant strikes in the state’s tertiary institutions.
Reacting to the development, the ASUU chapter of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko, commended the governor for what it described as his ‘listening disposition’ and approval of the agreement.
In a letter to the governor signed by its Secretary, Dr Y.K. Kazeem, the union said the intervention demonstrated Aiyedatiwa’s commitment to workers’ welfare and showed that his administration was ‘worker-friendly’.
The unions pledged to reciprocate the gesture by ensuring academic stability and improved productivity in the state-owned universities.