The staff of tertiary institutions are in fear rather than being happy after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) exempted the staff from the Integrated Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

The staff of tertiary institutions had long struggled to be exempted from the IPPIS since the former President Muhammadu Buhari introduced the salary payment system.
The government of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu came with many promises to make education better for staff and students of tertiary education.
At first, President Tinubu initiated student loan scheme, promised to pay university staff their eight-month withheld salary by the previous government and to remove the tertiary staff from the IPPIS as the unions demanded.
As Tinubu’s government removed the tertiary institutions from the IPPIS, there is fear in the minds of parents and staff of tertiary institutions for Tinubu government not to make education a source of revenue.
It could be recalled that the Minister of Education, Tahir Mamman said that “President Tinubu will grant tertiary institutions full autonomy during the 2023 Nigeria Annual Education Conference which had in attendance commissioners of education from states and other stakeholders in the education sector.”
The Minister noted that “the autonomy would allow universities to source funding through various means to enable them meet their financial obligations.”
Also, recently, President Tinubu demanded tertiary institutions in Nigeria to remit 40% to government account, a request that later the president stopped because it was rejected by the schools unions.
However, since the introduction of the student loan scheme by the Tinubu government Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) said the scheme is meant for a different purpose not for the poor students.
ASUU kicked the student loan scheme stating that the scheme will only create more problems than solve them.
The removal of tertiary institution from the IPPIS is an indication of preparation for autonomy to tertiary institutions not the speculation that government is spending much money in operating IPPIS.