Between IPPIS and ASUU’s fear

The rejected system has produced amazing results since its introduction. It has solved the problem of ghost workers in the Nigerian public service and has also saved the country billions of Naira by getting rid of thousands of living ghosts that go home with salaries every month.

Between 2016 and 2017, the federal government reportedly saved the sum of N208.4 billion in personnel costs. Thanks to IPPIS.

At the moment, the government is planning to enroll its employees in tertiary institutions on this platform in order to ensure that no lecturer cheats the system when it comes to payment of salary.

During his 2020 budget presentation before the National Assembly in October, President Muhammadu Buhari said that any federal employee not captured on the IPPIS should forget receiving monthly salary, beginning from October 2019.

President Muhammadu Buhari presents 2020 Budgets (Punch) Pulse Nigeria

But some ASUU members have vehemently opposed this move on the grounds that the electronic payroll system violates university autonomy and does not capture the peculiarities of their profession.

The body also threatened to embark on an industrial action if the government goes on to enlist its members on the payroll system. This threat has over the years turned out to be the best language Nigeria's academics deploy to address issues, and it has never failed them.

According to Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, the National President of the union, “The system does not, for example, capture the remuneration of staff on sabbatical, external examiners, external assessors, and Earned Academic Allowances. It does not address the movement of staff as in the case of visiting, adjunct, part-time, consultancy service, which academics offer across universities in Nigeria.”

Ogunyemi further argues that “The implementation of IPPlS in Nigerian Universities will further localise their operations and perspectives, thus negatively impacting their ranking in the global academic community.

“The IPPIS does not recognise the 70 years’ retirement age of academics in the professorial cadre, and 65 years for those in the non-professorial cadre, as against the 60 years in the civil service”.

Based on this argument, it is clear that ASUU is just trying to be too clever by half because the system the lecturers are rejecting will not only encourage openness and transparency, it will also expose payroll fraud in the Nigerian university system.

ASUU delegates meet FG representatives on industrial strike. (Premium Times) ece-auto-gen

Could it be that ASUU has not seen payroll fraud in the Nigerian university system as an issue or the union has a better way to tackle the sharp practices of some lecturers without using the IPPIS?

To make ASUU see reason why the IPPIS is here to sanitize wage payment system, the Office of the Accountant-General of the Federation (OAGF) has reportedly held several meetings with vice-chancellors, registrars, bursars of Nigerian universities, National Universities Commission, ASUU and non-academic unions on how the IPPIS works.

In a two-page advertorial in newspapers, the OAGF also tried to allay the fears of the lecturers on the so-called peculiarities the union has been using as a basis for rejecting the IPPIS.

From the advertorial, “Visiting lecturers are entitled to 50 per cent of their salary in the visiting institutions, but only limited to one institution as approved by the NUC, NBTE and NCCE, their regulatory body.”

Despite these explanations, the lecturers, who are expected to know better and be the ones at the fore-front of campaigns on the adoption of technological innovations in the academic environment, are agitating against the use of the IPPIS system.

In the middle: ASUU President, Dr. Biodun Ogunyemi at the Union's meeting on Saturday, August 12, 2017. ece-auto-gen

This was the same way ASUU rejected the implementation of Treasury Single Account in universities in 2015. It is curious that ASUU is taking this stance on an issue that is meant to address a fundamental problem in its community.

Moreover, the claim that universities must be independent and autonomous has become a weapon the union willfully deploys to arm-twist the government to do its bidding.

We really need to ask the question; what exactly is the value of autonomy of a Nigerian university that relies solely on government for funding, research grants, paying salaries, and building physical infrastructure?

If Nigerian universities do not seek to be autonomous with respect to funding, why does it bother ASUU that the one who pays the piper decides to call the tune by using IPPIS?

Federal universities in Nigeria can’t claim to be completely autonomous when their financial strength rests on the shoulders of the federal government. It must be noted that institutions that are truly autonomous do not depend on government to pay salaries and put infrastructure in place.

The claim that the IPPIS will erode the autonomy of the universities is an empty justification for ASUU’s argument. That claim reeks of ASUU’s desperation to kick out the system by all means.

If looking up to the government for salaries, grants and subventions does not erode the university’s right to self-governance, paying salary through IPPIS won’t take away their autonomy.

It must also be noted that not all ASUU members are against the introduction of IPPIS. Some of them, especially junior lecturers, are excited about it because they believe the payroll system will stop some funny deductions by university management from their salaries.

University of Ibadan is the premier university in Nigeria. (Thenews) ece-auto-gen

One of such lecturers, who recently spoke to Pulse, argued that “ASUU is protesting because the association is made up of the big boys who steal from salaries of junior lecturers. We don’t want the federal government to bow to their pressure, please.”

Rather than fight an innovation that will ensure accountability and transparency, ASUU should focus on maintaining standards in Nigerian universities.

We want to see a union that will strongly oppose sex-for-mark menace on our campuses, not one that will argue against introduction of legislation to curb it.

Instead of attacking a system that will not in any way shortchange lecturers, ASUU needs to monitor academics who collect grants from Tertiary Education Trust Fund for higher degrees abroad only to embezzle such funds.

Finally, rather than calling for the suspension of the IPPIS, we expect ASUU to urge government to incorporate the so called peculiarities of academics into the system. That’s if the union has nothing to hide.