AN AVOIDABLE ASUU STRIKE
It is in the nation’s interest that the strike is urgently resolved and called off
It is unfortunate that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) last night commenced a two-week warning strike, saying the period was a window for the federal government to conclude negotiations with it. ASUU president, Chris Piwuna, who announced the strike, accused the federal government of insincerity in the negotiations on the union’s demands. We hope that the authorities in the education sector will work to quickly resolve this issue before another needless disruption in the academic calendar of tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
For more than two decades, ASUU has consistently made claims about some hundreds of billions of Naira that lecturers are owed by the federal government. Last month, the Federal University Oye-Ekiti branch of ASUU commenced an indefinite strike over their unpaid salaries, with a warning that it would soon be national. So, this strike is no surprise. But whatever the issues in dispute may be, it is important for the federal government and ASUU to find common grounds before the nation’s tertiary institutions are grounded again in a manner that could further damage whatever remains of their credibility.
Students in our universities have suffered enough in recent years and this administration should work with ASUU so that the campuses can be reopened for classes. The federal government and ASUU had since 2009 been locked in running battles over the implementation of agreements on the funding of the country’s public universities. The consequences have been lengthy industrial strikes, with the attendant debilitating effects on educational development in particular, and academic pursuits in general.
We believe that early intervention is important. Nigeria and Nigerians will be the losers should ASUU continue this strike to force the implementation of whatever agreements are still outstanding between them and the federal government. Strikes have contributed significantly to the decline in the quality of graduates of our public universities. The hurried academic calendars, following the end of industrial actions, allow for very little attention to serious studies or research. That is why our public universities have continued to go down the ladder of academic ranking, even among their peers in Africa.
Beyond resolving the immediate issues, stakeholders in the sector must begin to fashion enduring solutions to what has become a persistent problem. We cannot shy away from the fact that under-funding the education sector has had collateral damaging effects on the country, such that our universities have now become grotesque carcasses of their former glorious selves. But dealing with the challenge requires more than seasonal strikes by ASUU whose members must understand that their fixation with government funding and free tertiary education is unrealistic. The federal government also needs to understand the primacy of constant dialogue, especially given the current realities.
Going forward requires other critical stakeholders in the education sector joining in the efforts to find a lasting solution to what has become a perplexing national challenge. In doing this, the federal government should take the initiative, so that we can collectively come up with ways to reposition tertiary education in the country. It is unfortunate that disputes are always occasioned by the broken promises and unfulfilled agreements. Yet there is no way we can develop the country until efforts are made to revitalise key sectors like education.
What the foregoing therefore means is that the current strike by ASUU is not in the interest of the nation. While we call on the lecturers to temper their expectations with realism, we also hope the Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa and his team will do everything within their powers to end this strike before it cripples tertiary education in our country.
