For five months, the Federal Government permitted what was thought to be a warning strike to degenerate to an indefinite strike and closure of all federal and some state universities in the country. Precisely, on a day people all over the world celebrate the Lovers (Valentines Day), the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), announced a warning strike to press home the implementation of the letters of the agreement it reached with the Federal Government since 2009.
Among other details, the agreement listed issues bothering on improved welfare package for the lecturers; the refurbishment of classrooms and construction of new lecture theatre at the Universities; the rehabilitation of students hostels and construction of new ones to cope with spiralling student population across the universities in the country; procurement of teaching aides like public address systems, projectors and scientific equioments and machinery for teaching and learning, as well as the implementation of a new payment platform for the payment of the university teachers, rather than through the Integrated Payroll Payment Integrated Systems (IPPIS), which both the lecturers and government agreed, have failed to capture the peculiarities of the payment nomenclature of the lecturers.
As at now, students of all the affected universities have spent no less than five whooping months at home, with no end in sight as to when they would go back for studies. With the strike, every student in the nation’s federal University has spent at least three years on their current academic year.
For example, the current first year students appear to be the most unfortunate children ever to be born in this country. Right from their Senior Secondary Class (SSS 3), their travails began. They faced a protrated SSS 3, due to COVID-19, which providentially, suddenly disappeared from the hemisphere. Considering this, they spent approximately two years in the pursuit of one academic session. Even after they finally resumed studies at the various universities, they have spend additional 18 months just to end up with their first semester examination in this same first year in the university. Their colleagues studying in private universities, who in the the first place, did not perform as superlatively well as those of them in the federal universities, are now either rounding off their second year or are already in their third year.
It is true that every student in all the affected federal and state universities have suffered similar set back, but none of them spent three years in one class and unable to get through their first year in the university, except through fault of the student. One can imagine the negative psychological effect of all these interregnum on these young lads already. Does our leaders wish to make patriotic citizens of these lads?
Further discourse shows clearly that it is terribly worrisome that with the way the strike is being managed by both the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu and the Minister of Labour, Dr. Chris Ngige, the Federal Government is completely unperturbed and sees nothing wrong with keeping those army of students at home. Otherwise, why should it take all the time in the world just to keep standing on one spot, without any discernible movement? If it were issues concerning their welfare or their colleagues in the Federal Executive Council, do they apply same snail speed approach in handling them? Let our consciences prick us just for a moment, our dear leaders!
As things stand now, it has become obvious that the future and welfare of the ordinary Nigerian child does not matter to those at the helm of affairs. This is more disturbing because children of affluent and those occupying top leadership positions in all the three arms of government, hardly study in federal University, but rather in private and other universities abroad.
Pedestrian as as some people might say these this arguments are, it has been adulterated here that the level of insensitivity being exhibited by all the people so far enlisted by government as negotiators in resolving the impasse do not suggest that their children are at home with them or that something is currently going on wrong in our society.
Government do not see the continued stay of these young lads at home as portering any danger to the security of lives and property and future well-being of the nation. As far as they are concerned, all is well and good. It is real business and there is nothing to worry about. After all, their sitting allowances are being paid, success or not.
If interrogated further, although Labour unions, by our peculiar circumstances, have the right to embark on industrial action, however, should they go on strike just because their employers were unable to provide basic infrastructure for teaching and learning, same infrastructure if the supervisors of the universities, the National Universities Commission (NUC) fIl to see provided at the private universities, they would deny or cancel their accreditation?
We at The AUTHORITY advise ASUU to “park well” in this regard. It is none of their business to insist that if the owner of a university choses to become shameless and allowed facilities at the federal universities degenerate at the level they have gotten so bad, they must shut the classrooms.
NUC is aware that facilities are terrible at the federal universities. NUC budgets for and disburses money for the running of the federal universities, they set the standards. If therefore, the umpire cum owner of a facility deliberately refuses to lower its own standard, yet at the same time, not denying accreditation to its own universities, but chose to run such on decrepit standard, what is ASUU’s business in that? The much any ASUU member should do is pack his bag and refuse to be part of the rot. ASUU can equally, if they desire, go to court to press for improved conditions for their members. They have no right to deny students the right to learn, but they chose to resign, even en-mass and decide not be part of this existing infamy.
If the NUC decides, as it is doing currently, that students in federal universities should not have good residences, or good learning environment, we think it is for the students to raise their voices against such malaise. But it appears the current leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) have either compromised or are part of the oppressive faculty. In the days of Chris Mamah, Emma Ezeazu and several other vibrant NANS leadership, the federal government dare keep the federal universities in their current sorry state and sleep peaceably? It has become clear that those who pilot the affairs of NANS appear to be among the dregs of the students or they lack the balls to purposefully lead the students body.
They certainly lack ideas, they can’t engage themselves in constructive thinking, they lack vision and they appear to have joined the political class to enjoy “food is ready”, which is why they appear not to be perturbed that they have spent more than five months now at home doing nothing, in their youthful age?
Then, on the issue of deploying only University Transparency and Accountability Solutions, (UTAS) and not IPPIS in packaging their salary, what exactly does ASUU want? It is true that the body of academics gave a hint to the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) that IPPIS is a conduit for fraud, but they must appreciate that the two anti-graft agencies are not necessarily bothered that anyone is providing a lid to assist them perform their statutory duties.
ASUU should have been better informed that there are several whistleblowing tips already made available to both the ICPC and EFCC which they had ignored and so should not expect that their their whistleblowing on IPPIS should attract deserved attention.
Or has ASUU seen any agency of government in Nigeria that act proactively? No. They all chase shadows, adopting the medicine after death approach, otherwise known as fire brigade approach.
And by the way, if one’s employers decides to drop one’s salary even in a pit, or pay in cash, or resort to the pay envelope of yore, or decide to make lodgement into each and every member of ASUU’s bank account, does that make any difference? Therefore, mode of payment shouldn’t be the problem, really. The noise about UTAS or IPPIS shouldn’t exist.
But, it has become obvious that the strike is allowed to fester because several things are being gained somewhere.
After all, were not the best and the brightest in JAMB examination those offered admission at the federal universities? It is logical therefore that since the other chaps who naturally gained admission in the private universities are receiving lectures and making progress in life, the owners of such private universities, who are the mighty and the influential, are smiling to the banks by increased admission requests and the students, who pay heavy amount of money compensated by completing their programme and taking up available job offering. It also lends credence to JAMB’s decision to lower JAMB cut-off marks year-in, year-out. With the curent happening, soon public universities would be avoided like a leach, as is the case with public primary and secondary schools.
Adopting systematic diss-incentive module across the strata of our educational system, can only make the Nigerian educational sector continue to slide. And from every indication, our political leaders appear unperturbed.
They would want education to slide to the nadir just like the political space, so the dregs can be in control as is the case in the public sector. With continued negative indicators on the political front, why should ASUU expect any magic in the education sector?
After all, one of our analysts have stated: who are those who ask for light, ruler, extra light, etc during the collation of election results and end up rigging elections? Are they ASUU members or not? Why then are they sad that agreements reached with them are renaged on?
And why should an employer of labour allow his employee dictate the rhythm, while the innocent bear the brunt? Does this not show clearly that there is wickedness somewhere and that the Nigerian students are just being punished for what they know nothing about?
But since, as they would say, the future belongs to the youths, can the Nigerian leaders say in all honesty that they have provided the basic parameters for the youths to exercise leadership in the tomorrow of our time? Let us all remember that in all we do, there is time to account: if not before men, then certainly before God Almighty.
