The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is back to the barricades. This is in view of the new-old threat of an impending industrial action.N
It is instructive to appreciate here that ASUU in a statement explained that after the union’s lecture-free day observed on Monday, February 7, 2022 and a consultative meeting with its leaders, chances are that the body would go on an indefinite strike in view of the federal government’s failure to honour the agreement reached in December 2020 by both parties.
Indeed it was this agreement which led to the suspension of the then 9-month prolonged strike.
If the Government really wants a vibrant and competitive University system, something drastic and positive must be done about this dismal situation
This untoward development is coming on the heels of ASUU’s huge timeline of strikes for more than two decades. It is relevant to recall here that in 1999, ASUU was on strike for 150 days, and 2001 for 90 days, 2002 for 14 days. In 2003 the union went again on strike for 180 days that ended in 2004.Meanwhile, 2005 witnessed just a 3-daystrike, and 2006 was 7days. However, in 2007, ASUU had 90 days strikes, 2008-7days and 2009 was 120days. 2010 had 157 days of the academic session wasted on strike, while in 2011 ASUU had 90 days strike that started in December and ended in 2012. 2013 had 150 days spent on strike, 2014 and 2015 witnessed zero strike actions; only for this ugly monster to resurface in 2016 with 7days of strike, and 2017 had 35days of ASUU strike. In 2018, ASUU downed tools for 19 days and this continued till February 8, 2019. 2020 witnessed a whopping 9 months of ASUU strike following its disagreement with the federal government over the funding of the universities and implementation of the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS), which according to the union, negates the autonomy policy of the universities, among other issues.
ASUU called off its 9-month old strike in December 2020 after the federal government agreed to some of its conditions which include the deployment of University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) software for payment of its salaries and allowances. Other demands of ASUU include: the sustainability of the university autonomy, the abrogation of IPPIS which violates the essence of a University, immediate deployment of UTAS to replace IPPIS; renegotiation of the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement; release of the reports of visitation panels to federal universities and distortions in salary payment challenges, among others. It is without argument that the union is making worthy demands which if implemented would go a long way to revamp the tertiary education system in Nigeria.
The Union’s case has been made more unassailable by the fact that Nigeria is virtually absent on the recently released list of the top ten Universities in Africa. However, some will contend that ASUU’s methods should be condemned. The counter to this is that in reality, ASUU is having to contend with an adversary who can be very mullish to the point of deafness. Indeed, our only reservation about ASUU’S style is that it has not been sufficiently forthcoming and upfront on the welfare of its members. It is important to stress here that University Lecturers are being paid starvation wages.
If the Government really wants a vibrant and competitive University system, something drastic and positive must be done about this dismal situation. It is surprising that the university dons have not always prioritized their own welfare. Rather there is this omnibus flavour to their demands. The average salary for an American lecturer in 2017-2018 according to the American Association of University Professors was $56,712 that is about N28,356,000. While the Nigerian counterpart earns in the average of N416,000, about $832. The difference is obviously clear, and we believe this should be the main worry of ASUU, rather than making its requests look like a massive drum of many faces, which at the end never gets the desired results as far the welfare of its members is concerned.
ASUU may want to borrow a leaf from the Nigeria Medical Association’s (NMA) approach to its demands. NMA hardly goes on strike simply because the government did not equip the hospitals, though the association would always make cases for such. The doctors would most times down tools on the grounds that their rewards system should be revamped. This helps to drive home their points, because no sane person would join force with a government that takes pleasure in owing or underpaying its staff, especially the medical workers. It has been argued rather facetiously that at every slightest provocation ASUU would threaten to go on strike. This is unfortunate. But it must be stressed here that government has in reality given ASUU no other option.
On this note we would want the government to imbibe the true spirit of negotiation and dialogue rather than backing out of pacts reached with the Union. Under this kind of situation ASUU has always been left with no other option than to head for the barricades This is unacceptable. We therefore urge the government to hold up its own end of the stick. The government must change its game and negotiate with ASUU seriously with a view to ensuring concrete and positive results.
Come to think of it, Nigeria has hardly recovered from the negative impacts of the previous nine-month prolonged strike which was suspended by the union in December, 2020. Many of our universities are still struggling to come to terms with the ugly situation of distorted academic calendar caused by the previous ASUU strikes and COVID-19 pandemic. Yet the government largely through its indifference is ensuring a situation in which ASUU is on song again as regards another strike action. It is important to state here that the funding of education in Nigeria is abysmally low and unacceptable. No country the world over develops without education. Every country that recognises the value of human capital development invests appropriately in this vital sector.
Read also: ASUU and our jaded knowledge system
The surprising thing is that this prescription has even been affirmed by no less an individual than President Buhari himself. In his opening remarks at a presidential summit on education in November 2017, the President noted that it is those who acquire the most qualitative education, equipped with requisite skills and training and empowered with practical know-how that are leading others. Against this background of the President’s own confession, it will amount to futility in the area of Education, if minimal attention is paid to the welfare of University Lecturers who are the custodians of the system. Therefore, lecturers’ welfare should ordinarily be paramount in the federal government’s agenda. Our government should be proactive in dealing with ASUU.
When an agreement is signed and federal government is unable to implement same, it should be proactive by calling ASUU to a meeting and explain reasons for the failure to meet up with the agreement. This will ensure the government’s own credibility and at the same time assuage the Union that the government is not indifferent after all. We wish to reiterate here however that the ASUU leadership should be more forthcoming on the welfare of its members. A situation in which a professor earns less than 800 Dollars can never make for a vibrant University system.
