The issue between ASUU and Federal government seems to expanding at a much faster pace than the Nigerian economy has ever been.
Latest on ASUU strike 2020 update is that the Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr. Chris Ngige, on Tuesday, disclosed to the State House correspondents that the integrity test being conducted on the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) software proposed by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) would take between six and eight months before it will be completed.
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The 2020 ASUU strike forefront issue is the Federal Government’s Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) which is rejected by ASUU, and in its stead, the union proposed UTAS as a better alternative.
Speaking with State House correspondents after a meeting he had with the President of the federal republic of Nigeria, Muhammadu Buhari, at the Presidential Villa, FCT Abuja, Dr. Chris Ngige said the Nigeria Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) is currently conducting the integrity test on the software.
The minister who confirmed that the software was available, stated that there was no hardware to back it up. He further claimed that if the software passed the integrity test being conducted by Nigeria Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), the university teachers do not have the needed fund to procure the necessary hardware for implementation.
The minister disclosed that if the software is approved, another major issue is the fund needed to implement it. He explained that the Federal Government did not make any provision for the procurement of the UTAS hardware in the 2020 budget.
The minister of Labour said that the reason why the UTAS software was sent to NITDA for integrity test was based on the fact that the Federal Government will not want to discourage anybody or a group from providing homegrown solutions to resolving issues.
He explained further, “The UTAS, that is the University Transparent System which they brought, is not yet ready to be used or implemented. UTAS is not fully ready yet, as the software is undergoing an integrity test. I am not a computer scientist, but you must also know that you must test the hardware and the integrity test for the software.
“As we speak, ASUU has no hardware and UTAS does not have hardware backup. However, the federal government is still waiting for the NITDA’s full report on the integrity of the UTAS software, but the preliminary report they gave me is that the software integrity test will take them at least, about six to eight weeks, and thereafter, we go to the hardware.
“However, one question ASUU is yet to answer is this, who will provide the hardware?”
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