Recently, there have been a series of protest against ASUU by various groups prominent among them are the factional leaders of the National Youth Council of Nigeria, NANS and the market women. Do you think ASUU will consider shifting ground in the face of this protest against it by these groups? I think the first thing to ask is: who are the people organizing the protest and what is their stake in the university education? Are they genuine? Do they really care about the university education in Nigeria? It is also important to note that we have gone through this before, in previous strikes it is the same modus operandi; to ensure that a lot of pressure is piled up on ASUU so that we suspend the strike action. This strike is a different one because our members have looked at what is happening with education in Nigeria and have decided that they want to address the problem. In due course we will talk about the genesis of these protests that are going on, and who and who are behind it. But for now, we like to believe that these protests will only serve as a distraction and we don’t have time for distractions. We will continue because we know our course is just and right and we will pursue it to a logical conclusion. Our conviction is that Nigerians who are genuinely concerned about education, particularly university education in this country, know what the problems are and our genuine students, the undergraduates and the post graduates, particularly those of them who are really interested in being educated, not just collecting certificates, know that what we are saying is true: that our universities are languishing in rot and decay and the brain drain syndrome is not being checked at all, and as such, they call us almost on a daily basis to say that they understand what we are doing and we should move on. So you are saying that the protests by these groups have no effect on ASUU? What I am saying is that if they are protesting, have they really gone to the universities to find out what is going on there? Do they really care about the university? I am sure if they do, they will understand that our course is just and right and they will support the struggle to salvage the Nigerian university education system from total collapse. Are you saying that the people protesting are not informed? They are not. As such ASUU is not moved by their protest because you feel they are not informed? They don’t understand what is happening. If they see the level of rot and decay, I want to assure you, that they will come out and support what ASUU is doing and they will also make sure that we begin to do what is right as a country towards addressing our university education system’s problems. In spite of not being informed of the issues, do you think they are protesting out of their own convictions or they are being induced or sponsored to do that, since you said you know from past experience that government can do that to mount pressure on ASUU to suspend the strike? I will say that we are getting information of what is really going on with the protest, but you know I don’t comment until I get my facts right. So when we conclude that investigation, we will make public what is really happening and who is behind the protests and who are organizing them. We will talk about it in due cause. Would you say the protests are out of the groups’ personal convictions? I wouldn’t say that because I have not really directly interacted with them. But like I said one thing I know is that there are students and parents in this country who have been calling us and telling us they know the situation in our universities and they are convinced that what we are doing is right and that we should continue until we address the problems. Those ones may not have the support of anybody to go public but they have been able in their own little way to give us encouragement. I am convinced by the number of calls and SMS we are getting that these are the majority of Nigerians. On what condition will ASUU go back to the negotiation table? We are not off the negotiation table and we never said we will not dialogue with anybody. We are dialoguing with government. On the issue of the earned allowances it was government that actually walked out. Because after the Minister of Finance said take it or leave it, that the worse we can do is to remain on strike for two years, the SGF said, “well, now we cannot continue, so let us call this meeting off until we have a new position then we can resume and continue with the dialogue.” On that point, it was government that actually walked out. Our union is a firm believer in dialogue and as far as we are concerned, anybody who invites us to dialogue, we will attend. It’s only when it becomes clear to us that the dialogue is akin to the dialogue between the deaf and the dumb, at which point our members will differ. And our union flourishes on internal democracy, and that seems to be what people do not understand. The principal officers do not own their own finalise decisions on behalf of the union; they normally have to consult with our members. Whenever the government invite us we will return to dialogue. The government have acknowledged to the fact that whenever they call us to a meeting we attend even at the shortest notice. It was on the Needs Assessment Implementation Committee that was chaired by Governor Suswam of Benue State that our union decided to walk out. Because we were not really convinced that what that committee was out to do is to implement the needs assessment report. It appeared to us and consequently we were convinced that governor Suswam wanted to use the needs assessment report to do some personal things. As a union of intellectuals, we will not allow that. That is why we decided to opt out of the discussions at the level of the Suswam committee. Like I said, we are open to dialogue and we have been dialoguing with government trying to find out which is the best way to resolve the impasse, but we are yet to get out of the tunnel. For me as an intellectual, I am an incurable optimist. I am convinced that we will be able to get to the end of this crisis. But we will have to do what is right because we cannot continue to suspend strike actions or struggles to get Nigerian university system revitalised only to have to go back to the trenches after one or two years. We want a situation where we will be able to address the problems so that we will not have to back to the trenches again. It appears you are willing to go back to the SGF committee to continue the negotiations because you didn’t walk out of it, but you are not ready to go back to the Suswam committee. The issue is that in the first instance, it is even a mistake to disaggregated the agreement and the MOU into separate committees. We are talking about an agreement and an MOU. What is wrong with having one committee to address everything? You can have subcommittees under the same committee that will now be going to individual components of the MOU and reporting back. That I think is what we are trying to address with government now. Are you saying that both committees should be merged since you lost confidence in the Suswam committee? I like to believe that the government will address the problem of the Suswam committee. It is up to government to decide what they want to do with these committees, but on our side, our own conviction is that we will need a situation where even if you have an implementation committee, it should be reporting to a larger committee. Invariably, since ASUU did not walk out of the FGF’s Committee, you are willing to return to dialogue if invited? It is important to state that we have been having dialogue with the government although at a different level, not at the level of the SGF, at relatively higher level. We will continue with the dialogue to see how we find a lasting solution to this problem. When can you say for sure this strike will be called-off to enable students go back to school and on what condition will your union call off the strike? I cannot say that. It depends upon the government. When our members decided to embark on strike action, they made it clear that they want the agreement to be implemented or at least let the MOU be implemented. The MOU is government’s own position on the implementation of the 2009 agreement, like I said earlier, whenever the government decides to implement the MOU, at least we will know that the government is serious about addressing the problems of education particularly the university in Nigeria, and then our members are reasonable, they will look at what government has done and gauge it, if it meets their aspirations for Nigerian university system, I am confident that they will ask us to go ahead and declare the suspension of the action. You mean until the MOU is implemented, ASUU is determined to remain on strike for as long as it takes? Yes. The End.
Posted on: Sun, 03 Nov 2013 20:17:18 +0000
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