Lingering ASUU strike: Leaving circumstantial argument to address issues of concern
ASUU strike is once again taking a toll with lingering dynamics. Recall that the overstretched threats of ASUU to protest breaches by the Federal Government to honour its long 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 initially for about a month.
Following terms, the President of ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, at a press conference had said the strike, which took 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. In its grievances, the Union had described as unsatisfactory the claim of the Federal Government’s on the payment of N30billion Revitalisation Fund and N22.5billion Earned Academic Allowance as a significant progress in implementing the MoA the government reached with the Union. According to ASUU, the subjects that formed the MoA is largely pronounced than the said sum. 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.”
NewsDirect had in March 8th, 2022, editorial projected the initial warning strike relapsing into a lingering shutdown of the Universities. “The fear that the subjects of contest informing the strike may clog-up to record a similar experience in 2020, which saw an industrial action lasting for nine months, March – December, is a possibility brewing trouble in the academic climate,” the editorial had read partly.
February 23rd, 2022, the Federal Government had boasted that the ongoing strike by ASUU would be called off soon, claiming it was taken aback by the renewed action which the university lecturers embarked on. Against the Federal Government’s flaunting posture, ASUU has a number of times, insisted that the suspension of the strike would depend on the government’s readiness to meet its demands, particularly as it concerns the adoption of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution, (UTAS), which has remained a top subject of contest between the contending parties, as of the system of payment platform to adopt for the University system.
It would be recalled that as pressure mount over the need to resolve the contending issues, the Federal Government, on Monday, 7th March, 2022, inaugurated a 7-member panel it reconstituted to renegotiate the 2009 agreement it had with university-based unions. Minister of Education, Malam Adamu Adamu, who inaugurated the committee in Abuja, had tasked the committee to “submit proposed draft agreements within three months from the date of inauguration,” while appealing to the reconstituted committee to “liaise and consult with relevant stakeholders to finalise the position of the Federal Government to the issues in the draft proposed FGN/ASUU Renegotiated Agreement.” Also, the Minister tasked the committee to “renegotiate in realistic and workable terms the 2009 Agreements with other university-based unions.” Also the committee, açcording to the Minister, was mandated to, “Negotiate and recommend any other issue the committee deems relevant to reposition the Nigerian University System (NUS) for global competitiveness.” According to him, it was expected of the Committee to double its “effort towards concluding the assignment and producing a realistic and workable draft agreement that would holistically tackle the challenges confronting the Nigerian university system and reposition it to effectively play its very important role in national development.”
Meanwhile, all circumstances surrounding the strike action do not show positive moves with signals of the strike coming close to an end soonest, as contentious issues of disagreement still bear their facial reflections.
The Western Zonal Executive Council of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) had late last month on the 27th April, 2022, castigated the Federal Government over the ongoing strike, describing it as a parasitic, opportunist and selfish group whose interests are only in what favours them and not the interests of the people on whose mandates they claim to hold offices. The Association also accused the government of being dishonest, insensitive and wicked, saying Nigerians have found themselves in a sorry and unfortunate state because of the insensitivity and wickedness of those who purport to lead the country. The National Vice-President and Secretary of the Association, Comrades Abdussobur Olayiwola Salaam and Saheed Adewale Oseni, respectively, had told journalists that the Government’s action, especially in respect of the educational system, particulaly the universities, had revealed its true colours. They held the Government operates only on deceit, lies and subterfuge and cannot be trusted with agreements signed between it and its citizens.
The Association lamented thus, “If not so, how would all the four university based unions embark on different strikes over similar and dissimilar issues and our rulers would sit pretty, sipping tea in their air-conditioned offices, totally unconcerned about the agitations in our ivory towers? Their total disconnectedness is what led, NASU and SSANU to embark on a two week warning strike with no acknowledgement or response from government.
“Believing that the two weeks warning was not sufficient for our agitations to be paid attention to, it was extended by another two weeks and now a month and yet, no acknowledgement or indication of awareness that anything is amiss? What an insensitive and wicked government. This strike has antecedents dating as far as FGN/NASU 2009 agreements. Following the 2009 agreements, agitations by the two unions had led to various Collective Bargaining Agreements signed with Government. Within the last five years, no less than four different collective bargaining agreements have been signed with the government. These include the recent Memorandum of Understanding signed on 20th October, 2020 and the memorandum of action signed on Thursday 20th February, where government gave commitment and pledged resolution of the various issues affecting our universities and inter-university centres.
“The failure of government to keep up with its commitment and uphold its pledges in the collective argaining agreements it freely entered into, is what has led to this industrial action. The Government, by its actions or inactions, despite the various agreements had only shown that it operates only on deceit, lies and subterfuge and cannot be trusted with agreements signed between it and its citizens. What a dishonest Government,” the Association decried.
“Unfortunately, if Boko Haram means that education is forbidden, there is no group that depicts the forbidding of education more than the political class in Nigeria. For over six months, we gave notice of strike, repeated letters and reminders were communicated without any acknowledgement. We embarked on a two-week warning strike, no response. We extended by two weeks, yet no response either from the employer Ministry of Education or from the conciliators office at the Ministry of Labour. Nothing can be as sad and unfortunate.
“We are, however, not relenting as our national body has directed a one month extension. We stand totally by them and remain unshaken in the face of attacks, intimidation and blackmail. For us, this is a strike we entered into with the justification and we shall remain undeterred till it reaches a logical conclusion.”
Meanwhile, the Federal Government on Tuesday May 03, in a posture that reflects unawareness of the surrounding factors of the posture of the aggrieved party, said it was still not aware of reasons informing the ongoing strike by the ASUU. Raising grounds of contentions by the Government has been issues bringing more controversies into the contest. The Federal Government again has tabled the argument questioning why stakeholders in universities founded and being funded by State governments should join Federal Universities on the strike, if the surrounding issues informing the strike really bothered on subjects the Union claimed.
Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, who spoke in Abuja, told the Union that it lacked basic rights to dictate to the government how salaries of members who he noted, were employees, should be paid by government being their employer. According to him, the Federal Government has limited resources and cannot borrow money for ASUU’s sake. “Why they (ASUU) have chosen to go on strike is something that neither you nor I can explain. In the school system, we have about 2.6 million Nigerian undergraduates in the nearly 200 Universities across Nigeria. The Federal Government owns less than 50 of these Universities. State governments own nearly 50 of them as well whereas, private people, private organisations, faith based organisations own over 100 of them. The only part where children are not in school at the moment are the ones that belong to the Federal government. So, there is no need for any other university to be at home.
“The engagement with thr Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been a long drawn one, based on the 2009 agreement that was signed before we came into government. It is our duty as government to give life to those agreement which ASUU rightly seeks to make sure that the universities that the Federal Government owns are properly funded.
“The Federal Government’s funding is very limited and because of the additional challenges of security, it had to repeatedly borrow money to finance projects. This same borrowing is not available to build social infrastructure, it’s only available to build infrastructure that government can get return from, like railways. To borrow and pay people is normally not what World Bank or other financial institutions borrow money for. However, the Federal Government has continued to address this by paying the salaries that are due. Government is the one who pays, therefore, it is impractical and incongruous that somebody who is paid a salary continues to dictate for someone who pays him,” he was quoted.
Such posture connoting non awareness of the grievances informing the lingering strike, may appear too puerile with the pronounced elements which have over time been noised on the resolute posture of the aggrieved party to keep the strike ongoing. Breaches of trust and agreement, particularly as levelled against the Federal Government, have been on the record with existing facts largely proving same. It has become of concern that the stability of university education system, within the public sphere, is defeated as continuous strikes over unaddressed grievances keep taking toll with the incessant echoes of disorganisation.
The posture that keeps the strike lingering is one which bears records of destabilising vicissitudes. Disruptions of academic calender do not only pose time-waste to students, but also disrupt plans and expose a substantial percentage of the students who may not be opportuned to be actively engaged in jobs or other productive ventures, to indulging in despicable conducts, threatening, not only, to themselves and their relatives, but also the immmediate society and its extensions.
It is time for the Government to shift grounds to attend pragmatically to the demands which have kept strikes in Nigerian public institutions of learning, particularly the University system, on the stretch of incessant strikes. The heady posture of the government may not be too favourable to address the ongoing contest. To avoid an impasse that may further deepen the issues with a face-off brewing a stalemate, it is expected of the government to act pragmatically, with all sincerity and trust, to address the pressing issues of contest in the interest of the nation.
