ASUU strike: Restoring collapse of the public university system

That the Academic Staff Union of Universities’ (ASUU) strike is assuming the projected lingering dimension is no longer a gainsaying. The struggle of the Union has become a common factor, and a point of reference to quickly send a note of reflection of deficiencies in governance. For instance, when the news of the N80billion corruption allegation linked to the suspended Accountant-General of the Federation (AcGF), Ahmed Idris, was noised, and the costly cost of party tickets for key positions, particularly for the Presidency post which several political stakeholders in their numbers threw their weight for, were brought to fore, quick questions were thrown at the demands of ASUU, putting forth comparison of docile response to wasteful and corrupt inclinations in the Country, while critical institutions are neglected for decay.

ASUU strike declared just for an initial four weeks warning in February has now lingered beyond time-limit. The joining of other university-based unions, including the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, (SSANU); Non-Academic Union of Universities and Associated Institutions (NASU); as well as the National Association of Academic Technologists, (NAAT) over alleged government insensitivity to their demands, has further crippled not only academic, but also  administrative activities in  public universities.

The disagreements between the Government and the aggrieved  parties appear to have been clustered with unsettled contentions which are irreconcilable. The Federal Government   on Wednesday, 15th July, 2022, had maintained that the issue concerning the ongoing strike by ASUU and the other university-based unions was not as simple as people think. Minister of information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, while briefing State House correspondents at the end of the virtual Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting presided over by President Muhammadu Buhari, at the Council Chambers, Presidential Villa, Abuja, was quoted, “I wish that the ASUU issue is as simple as many of us think it is. I don’t think it’s that simple. But I want to assure you that a lot is going on behind the scenes. We’re worried, we’re concerned and we’ll continue to work towards finding an early resolution of the problem.”

The lingering state of ASUU’s strike since February 14, 2022, has borne symbiotic factors which in their underlining impacts pose threats to the society. Unsettled demands as was experienced in 2020 with a timeline of nine months strike, March-December, may be attracting close reflections. Recall that the overstretched threats of ASUU to protest breaches by the Federal Government to honour its demands, eventually culminated into an actual industrial action on Monday, 14th, February, 2022, following a resolution of the National Executive Council (NEC) meeting of the Union. The outcome of a marathon meeting by members of the union’s NEC held at the University of Lagos titled, ‘NEC for NEC’ saw the academic professionals  declaring a “comprehensive and total” strike, slated to last for about a month.

Following terms, the President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, at a press conference had said the strike, which takes effect from Monday, February 14th, 2022, would last for an initial period of four weeks, arguing that while the union tried to avoid the strike, the Federal Government’s  unresponsiveness to the union’s demands to implement the Memorandum of Action (MoA) it signed with the ASUU in December 2020, was responsible for the decision. Subjects of concern in the MoA include “Funding for Revitalisation of Public Universities; Payment of Earned Academic Allowances, Withheld Salaries and Promotion Arrears; Renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement; Inconsistencies in IPPIS Payment and University Transparency and Accountability Solution.”

Agitations by academic stakeholders, particularly, ASUU has not been a nascent phenomenon. Over time, the settling of scores between the Union and the Federal Government has largely been coloured with struggles over demands. It is however apparent that employing political approach of deforming strategies has seen the Federal Government, more often, deploying pacifying tools of appeasement through promises and agreements, which over the years it has largely failed, or better still, find difficult to fulfill. The breach of trust, thus, appears to have formed a psyche of approach for the aggrieved stakeholders, who in recent times would have it tough slugging it out with the Federal Government with stern position of not yielding to crash appeasement. The university stakeholders, thus, could be said to have been hardened by the play of game, over time, with appeasing splashes which in the long run would only see promises made to them failing. The disposition in recent times would be said not to be unconnected with the die-hard struggles the University stakeholders are giving, which may appear in somewhat a stalemate.

The place of education as a critical institution of the society remains sacrosanct. It would amount only to  sacrilege where the Government is found prioritising other demands in the society beyond education, which carries the power of enlightenment needed for an informed and intelligent population, essential for growth and development. Where the Government is found giving prime attention to such processes as power transfer and election contest, while paying passive disposition to education in the Country, the limitations and consequences in the long run, would portend threats which may transcend what the Government may be able to comprehend, or apprehend.

It is high time the Government woke up to the reality of the significance of Education in the Country. This is particularly critical to avoid nurturing a youthful population which constitute more of threats rather than opportunities to the society. A situation where the teeming population suffer sound education, the entire fabrics of the Country, would be threatened, as the reflections are gradually taking step.

It behooves the Government to rise to the necessity to restore normalcy to the university education system by responding pragmatically to the pressing demands, while giving concrete commitment to  long term necessities, convincing enough for the aggrieved stakeholders to consider, to end hostilities. Keeping young people who should be productively engaged in studies idle, portend gripping threats to the society. The impacts are such the Government may not directly find edible to point at, but have far-reaching grip disrupting its feasibility to drive peaceful coexistence in the Federation.