UNIVERSITY lecturers in Nigeria,
through the Academic Staff Union of
Universities, ASUU, have created for
themselves an image of group whose
sole interest is strikes. ASUU has
started another strike, which it says
would be “total and comprehensive.”
National President of ASUU
Professor Ukachukwu Awuzie
blames the federal government’s
refusal to implement core
components of the 2009 FGN/ASUU
agreement for the latest strike.
The issues go beyond non-payment
of entitlements of ASUU members.
Last year when state universities
went on series of strikes in the South
East, Awuzie spoke of dismal
staffing, extremely poor teaching
facilities, irregular power supply,
and under-funding of the
universities. These are national
occurrences.
Most universities have their own
strikes that result in regular
disruption of academics. When
students are not protesting over
increases in school fees or poor
facilities in their schools, it would be
the turn of lecturers to commence a
national strike or ones in support of
colleagues in other schools.
Disruption of the academic calendar
has seen students graduating years
after they were due. Constant strikes
also hamper the ability of the
universities to produce graduates of
a reasonable standard. The
thousands of Nigerian students who
study abroad are mostly in search of
the type of education that is
unavailable at home and affordable
to a privileged few.
A major criticism of governments is
that ASUU strikes do not bother
them. An explanation for this is that
children of most top government
officials study either abroad or in
private universities, shielded from
ASUU strikes.
“The federal government neglected,
ignored, failed and refused to
implement the core components of
the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement after
more than two years of its signing,
sacked the Implementation
Monitoring Committee that served
as the forum for dialogue with ASUU
on this dispute,” ASUU said in
justifying the strike. “The
government is terribly insincere and
is manifestly unwilling to genuinely
implement the agreement it freely
entered into with ASUU. Therefore,
ASUU resolved, painfully, to direct
all members of ASUU in all branches
nationwide to proceed on a total,
comprehensive, and indefinite
strike.” With a few changes in words
and dates, this statement could have
announced any of the more than 20
ASUU strikes since 1999.
“For the avoidance of doubt, a total,
comprehensive and indefinite strike
means: no teaching, no examination,
no grading of script, no project
supervisions, no inaugural lectures,
no appointment and promotion
meetings, no statutory meetings
(Council, Senate, Board etc) or other
meetings directed by government or
their agents,” ASUU said.
Why is government reneging on its
agreement? ASUU offers an
explanation. “The ruling class has
failed. It cannot provide jobs,
education, healthcare, affordable
transportation, roads, and so on. It is
incapable of uniting the people; it
uses ethnic origin as a political
weapon. The faction in power, with
President Jonathan as head, is
unable to protect the people from
hunger, robbery, murder of innocent
citizens and generalised insecurity.”
Genuine as its case is, ASUU knows
strikes do not work. We suggest
more strategic engagement of the
authorities and the political class,
some of who have been ASUU
members at some notch in their
ascendancy, as alternatives to strikes
that affect those ASUU is fighting
minimally – and hurts the poor
maximally.
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