[Asuu strike and question of united struggle] ***************************** For more than eight weeks now, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been on strike action to press home its demand for implementation of the 2009 agreement with the Federal Government, which borders on funding and conditions of service. The strike has, expectedly, paralysed almost all activities in Nigerian universities. There is no special need to justify the reasons for the strike because the public agrees that it is dishonourable for government to break any agreement it reaches with any party. Nevertheless, some members of the public have advocated that ASUU should call off the strike, go back to work and negotiate with the government. What a fascinating hope! Although it is true that shutting universities has grave social consequences, reopening them without resolution of the crises portends more severe social, economic and even political doom. Universities and every other educational institution are not merely places designed to keep youths off the street; they are places where their intellect is cultivated, equipped and prepared for the major task of national development. Unfortunately, the state of learning and welfare facilities in tertiary institutions nullify that single, major objective. A gloomy future awaits a nation like Nigeria whose medical doctors and scientists are trained in “dry” laboratories where kerosene stoves have replaced Bunsen burners! This is a future that can be averted with a sincere, practical commitment of government towards the proper funding of education and democratic monitoring of these funds by elected representatives of stakeholders. A case of school authorities diverting funds can be prevented. Asking ASUU to go back to work without government resolving the crisis of underfunding is invariably demanding that students, parents and staff should continue to adapt to the woes bedevilling the education sector. However, while I support that ASUU strike should continue until government implements the 2009 agreement, yet the method ASUU has employed in prosecuting the strike – sitting at home method – is not enough. You cannot fight your freedom with a gagged mouth and bound hands. Since the beginning of the strike, the government has always, especially through print media, erroneously reduced the demands of ASUU to a mere disagreement on ‘Earned Allowances’. On the other hand, ASUU will come out the next day to disprove government’s statistics and arguments. While this is essential in educating the general public and preventing poisonous message of government, the reality is that government is not ignorant of facts and figures. The reason why government focuses attention on trivialities is to shift public attention away from the crucial issues. Governments at all levels know that their deliberate under funding of education and mismanagement of allocated resources to education is the underlying cause of the rot in the sector. However, their class interests forbid them to own up to their irresponsibility. But, if politicians can stoop so low to wage the war of calumny against truth and just cause, then, on the part of ASUU, where is the capacity to educate the public and convince them of this common cause? Where is the mass action that the ruling class fears? The condition of our social and economic sectors bears no witness to the stupendous wealth bestowed on us as a nation. Instead, public funds that should have been diverted to these sectors are looted, laundered and squandered by the ruling class. The mystery of their wealth is our misery; they fatten only as long as we remain skinny. Every demand from the organised labour for better working or living conditions necessarily threatens this exploitative arrangement. This also explains why government employs every tactic possible to resist every attempt by the working people which poses a threat to this anti-poor arrangement – including entering agreements without any intention of fulfilling them. In the case of the education sector, a non-sectarian front of the workers in this sector, students and parents, with programmatic mass actions, can force an anti-poor government to meet the demands of all the education workers. TO BE CONTINUED... ***************************** THE S.P.C EKSU © 2013
Posted on: Thu, 12 Sep 2013 06:06:43 +0000
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