THE ONGOING ACADEMIC STAFF UNION OF UNIVERSITIES (ASUU) STRIKE: IMPERATIVES FOR AN IMMEDIATE SUSPENSION OF THE STRIKE For an umpteenth time Nigerian Students are brought under the harsh thumb clasp of yet another ASUU strike. This ASUU strike action - as at all times – will sure exert its negative toll on the entirety of the Nigerian students’ community who are at the receiving end of this cataclysmic trend. It was thus with unrestrained sadness that we received the shocking news of another ASUU strike. Let it be clearly on record that much as we do not begrudge ASUU of its demands from the Federal Government, we remain disenchanted with the fact that ASUU will arrive at such grave decisions without recourse to the plight, concerns or views of the Students’ community – in whose apparent interest the strike was embarked upon. On this note our voice of unison as the umbrella body of Nigerian students this day is neither to hold brief for ASUU nor to take sides with the Federal Government. We assert our stance for the interest of the Nigerian students. Since the inception of ASUU in 1978, its ever militant stance of embarking on strikes and shutting down our Universities has constantly left students reeling in endless pains. Between 1999 and 2012, ASUU has embarked on a total of 30months of strike out of the possible 156months within this time frame. Lecturers in our universities have been out of class for approximately 20% of the total time in the past 13 years. This is equivalent to over 7 academic semesters of 4months each or accurately put, 4 academic sessions. In 1981, preparatory to one of the strike actions, ASUU had declared in her communiqué that-“Government thinks we are a bunch of mercenaries who are interested in mere salaries and who would jump at the sight of figures-NO! Our (ASUU) concern is the totality of the conditions in the Universities which affect staff and students”. What becomes of this avowed principled statement is today a clear digress in focus, philosophy and foundation upon which the deficiencies and deterioration in the education sector need be tackled. Students no longer matter in ASUU struggles. Need we say Lecturers rape, harass, extort and fail students at will, how many times have ASUU gone on strike over that? Emasculation of students unionism on campuses over the years has met with a great silence on the part of ASUU. Expulsion of Student activists and de-capitation of the umbrella body-NANS were all done with unrestricted connivance of mostly ASUU members who struggled through the flank of ASUU to attain management positions or secure juicy appointments from government! How many times have they embarked on strikes to stop the incessant killings of Nigerian students by policemen who invade our campuses without caution? In the last two years alone, more than 34 students have been gruesomely killed by trigger happy police cops on the invitation of authorities which ASUU members are part of, what have they done to put a stop to it? The attendant result of all these strikes is a consistent decline in the rating of our public Universities. Therefore, these incessant strikes have equally done Nigerian students no good as a great number of graduates churned out of our Universities are ill-equipped to serve society innovatively as a result of the make and break system of our University system, evidenced by the incessant abrupt and rude interruptions of our academic calendar. This in itself has led to an upsurge in the unemployment rate in Nigeria. Presently there are pertinent questions we must direct at ASUU. To wit: 1. For all the strikes embarked upon by ASUU in the past ten years with students being at the receiving end what have been the beneficial results on students aside the gains of the lecturers? 2. For all the noble intentions chronicled in ASUU demands, why has ASUU not devised lasting solutions outside the precincts of a strike – that leaves Students suffering – to arrive at an amicable solution with the Federal Government? 3. If the salaries of lecturers are not paid during the period they embark on strikes, would they choose strikes as analternative? 4. Are there genuine reasons why the 2009 agreements have not been totally implemented, or is government simply being insincere? 5. Have Nigerian students become a ransom token in ASUU’s unending demands? Are we thus reduced to mere guinea pigs in the experimental laboratories of ASUU in their negotiations with the Federal Government? 6. Have strikes in Nigeria lost their true significance and weight? In 2009, ASUU embarked on a 4month strike it described as the mother of all strikes, urging for the support of all stakeholders while assuring the general public that once the FG enters into an agreement with their union, they will not embark on any other strike in the next ten years. In the end, they succumbed to the whims of the FG when the periphery was assured (salaries) with no insistence on the implementation of the meaningful part of the other items in the agreements. All of us are patriots. We are talking about one thing: The good of the educational system in Nigeria. There are no adverse roles in this struggle. Nigerian students can no longer continue to be at the receiving end of a struggle that has relied on only strike action as a negotiating tool. We cannot fold our arms and allow the university system to deteriorate further. We implore ASUU to fashion out a more involving, holistic approach that can get the FG to do the right thing without jeopardizing the future of this generation of students and their expectant parents who toiled day and night to keep them in school. The integrity of the FG is at stake. Any government that enters into any agreement especially on issues bordering on the quality and sustainable education system and reneges cannot be said to be doing well. We strongly charge the FG to re-double its commitment to making education the bedrock of Nigeria’s development by engaging ASUU and all other stakeholders in the education sector in a one-off dialogue, implementable and re-assuring in the overall interest of the nation. We all acknowledge the decay and the rot in the system. And we think that, that is a very important sector of our national life which has to be propelled to greatness with all the seriousness it deserves. For while the Federal government and ASUU keep bickering, time stays ticking and the loser remains the Nigerian education system and the students who end up spending more time to learn less in our ‘great’ citadels. In conclusion, we strongly oppose strike action as ASUU’s only option in getting the MOU it signed with the FG implemented. Nigerian students cannot afford another idle moment at home due to ASUU strike. We advise ASUU to call off this latest strike and return to the consultation table. Nigerian students will no longer accept reasons for any strike action declared and made known to us on the pages of newspaper. As a major stakeholder in the education sector, don’t we deserve consultation by ASUU before any strike action? Are we not supposed to articulate the problems together and find a common ground upon which to task the FG in re-positioning the education sector? Where is the interest of an average students clearly agitated for by ASUU in their demands over the years? Please, return to classrooms, ASUU! Long live NANS! Long live Nigerian students!! Yinka Gbadebo President, NANS.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Jul 2013 06:36:16 +0000
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