ASUU STRIKE: THE FIGHT THAT VICTIMISES ONLY ONE PARTY
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IFE ADEWOLE
Strike’ is not just a terminology that every Nigerian undergraduate is ‘over-familiar’ with but it has over the years become ‘a semester’ that has no definite duration and comes anytime within the normal academic session. Whether it is WARNING strike, ASUU strike, INDEFINITE strike, LABOUR strike and the likes, no Nigerian student can escape any of these.
At these moments, some students are smart enough to quickly embark on acquiring a professional or vocational skill. Some would opt for a part time job while others would prefer to go on a long vacation with series of tourism, excitements and enjoy ample time with their lovers which may eventually lead to a change of status for most female students. Hence, some would not be able to resume with their colleagues, while the few ones who would see nothing wrong with the pregnancy may eventually end up with an extra year.
ASUU strike is not the only reason public universities in Nigeria do shutdown academic activities, there are others such as Non-Academic Staff Union, NASU without them all administrative works in the universities would be paralyzed. Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, ASUP is another threat to all polytechnic students in Nigeria. The last but not the least is what is called students unrest which at most times leads to the closure of the school for months, depending on the severity of the damage or demand by the students.
The academic Staff Union of University, ASUU has embarked on another strike since November 5, 2018 over the unfulfilled agreement signed by Late President Umaru Yar’Adua in 2009 and agreed upon by this present administration in 2017. Over a week now, the Federal Government pretends not to be aware or enter into a dialogue with them, as they have little or nothing at stake.
The students who are children of ordinary Nigerians are always at the receiving end of any form of strike, as it results to elongated academic year which in most cases has made some students to be exempted from National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, some not to be able to gain employment since most employers want fresh blood in their early twenties, with three to four years of work experience.
It is almost impossible to find any Senator’s child in our Federal university, or a Governor whose child is in his state university, let alone of mentioning the son of a minister or that of the president in a public university in Nigeria. God forbid, they are in private universities, Cambridge, Oxford. The pain, stress and agony goes down to the poor masses, an average Nigerian who can’t afford the huge school fees of the universities that never go on strike.
The National President of ASUU, Biodun Ogunyemi, in a phone interview on Sunday evening, said the union remains unbending in its demand.
The Union is agitating against, poor funding of Nigerian universities, alleged plan by the federal government to increase student’s fees and introduce an education bank and non-implementation of 2017 agreement. Sure, ASUU has a lot reasons to embark on strike, but what do they stand to lose. Who pays the price for their actions, whose years is being wasted. Let the government utter a statement of no work no pay and observe reactions from them or the Vice Chancellor should make any attempt to sack lecturers then you should be ready to listen to grammars you have never heard before.
The Federal Government tends to be less concern, they are of the opinion that what happens to Nigeria University students is none of their concern, since they have passed that level, their child is and can never be affected since they are at the other side of the coin, hence the levity in which they use to handle the funding of education. What can be said of a government that release N20 billion called revitalization fund to education and used N1.3 trillion to revive and rename a distress bank.
Obviously, lack of commitment on the part of the government is the source of this seemingly unending crisis. If other countries do not fund their education adequately, how will they be delighted to send their child to such schools? Why can’t the federal Government use the same fund used on frivolous and uneconomic matters to fund education Nigeria. Why is funding of education which is the bedrock of development of a country so difficult for our government.
ASUU demands for improved funding is good but paralyzing academic activities in public activities all the time is a dilemma, it destroys the education system. It is high time ASUU thinks out of the box, they should graduate to a more intellectual means of pressing for their demands as strike which has been the only tools they have being using four decades ago seems not to yield the expected result. The federal government should devise all measures to eliminate all barriers to education and see to it that corruptions and mismanagement are wiped out of the system; they should realize that most nations do not depend on mineral or natural resources but majorly on their human capital. The best use of our human resources can best be achieved where quality education is given priority in terms of investment and not just funding.
ASUU should stop making strike as their first and last option instead they should continue to embrace dialogue, engage stakeholders and when that fails they should resort to court and demand responsibility from the government. The government should remember that an uninterrupted academic calendar is a plus to their administration; hence, they should derive pleasure in funding the education system adequately.
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