Nigeria in a State of General Crisis: What if ASUU Declares a Strike Action Today?

09/10/2024

The Academic Staff Union of Universities gathered some of the willing stakeholders and intellectuals for the ASUU National Conference on the State of the Nation. The conference attracted over 300 participants. The theme of the conference was “Nigeria in a State of General Xrisis: A Search for a New Path to Development. Gen. Ishola Williams (Rtd) gave an explosive keynote address that challenged us on what to do to make the country work again.

As the Union engaged those who cared to discuss a way forward from the general crisis that has engulfed the nation, government agents equally gathered elsewhere, celebrating the fact that there has yet to be any strike action in the universities since they took over the leadership of the country. They summoned the courage to say that they had stabilised the universities without a strike, unlike the previous government, where there were strike actions for several months within 4 years.

The question is, is the “no strike” over the last year a function of the provision of the needs of the universities and the workers that are responsible for strike actions?

The answer is simple. They are yet to look into the issues on the table after several months in office. The 2022 report of the Nimi Briggs Renegotiation Committee is still gathering dust at the Ministry of Education. They are using the usual delay tactic to drag the issue till 2027. They are not celebrating any achievements in
University education system because there is none. They are rather celebrating the idea that lecturers won’t dare go on strike for fear of salary stoppage (the so-called No-work no-pay).

The 14 months “no-strike celebration” is coming after a second ultimatum was issued by ASUU for industrial action if nothing is done to tackle the pending issues. Strike actions are usually resolutions taken by the members at the branches. The ultimatum is almost over, are the academics truly scared of another strike action despite the deliberate dehumanisation and denial of our legitimate benefits while they don’t joke with theirs? Time will tell.

Meanwhile, the members of the ASUU branches are frustrated and angry. As the ASUU conference was ongoing a few days ago, there was a comment from an academic that ASUU is organising a conference instead of focusing on members’ welfare. That is the level of frustration among us. Some of us could not understand that the poor state of education and the inhumane treatment meted on the country’s intellectuals have a connection with the state of the nation and the existing general crisis.

The Union has been on the renegotiation of the 2009. Dear colleagues, the 2009 agreement is a small document. You need to read it to know if your welfare is properly captured in or not for renegotiation. We are intellectuals, and we need to stop behaving otherwise.

The refusal of previous governments to renegotiate the 2009 Agreement, a renegotiation that was due since 2012, is one instance of the general crisis. The refusal to pay the country’s intellectuals their legitimate Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) while the political class don’t joke with stuff such as wardrobe allowances is another instance of the general crisis.

That education and healthcare are still in a state of pain despite the justification from the government that the proceeds from subsidy removal will be invested in education, healthcare, and infrastructure is another instance of the general crisis. That the president said the election victory in Edo state is a testimony of people’s acceptance of his anti-people policy shows how deep the ‘general crisis” is.

How can you say that people are happy that they are hungry? How? They seems to have dump the general well-being of the people in the bin. If he had stepped out of his office to see the number of children dropping out of school to hawk on the streets to help feed their families, he would shed tears for the country he is leading rather than dancing.

ASUU gave another ultimatum to FG for an industrial action. Everyone wants ASUU to find another way other than strike. Even the representative of the Speaker of the House of Representatives said the same at the just concluded ASUU National Conference. However, the engagement with FG for the last year has yielded no results. But nobody is questioning FG on what they have done for the past 16 months to address the issues that they inherited which caused the last 8 months’ strike action.

You can’t be asking ASUU to use another strategy when the Union has exhausted all the peaceful means. But if you have a solution, please bring it up. I mean a solution that has been demonstrated in a place with similar political complications to Nigeria and worked within a timeline. You can even serve as a mediator between ASUU and the. FG.

16 months have gone from the 4 years of President Tinubu’s government. The general comments is that ASUU has a case but should drop the strike option. So, what should ASUU do to get the attention of the government to solve the lingering issues about the University system?

ASUU should keep begging for meetings till May 2027? It doesn’t matter if the government responds or not. Is that what you want?

It is no doubt true that ASUU’s struggles gave the Nigerian University system a semblance of a university. Even the private universities csmt survive without public universities. They still rely on human resources from public universities. Since the public doesn’t want a strike and the government doesn’t care about the system and the only language the political class understands is strike, should ASUU step aside and allow the public University system to be destroyed the way primary and secondary schools were destroyed? We are all stakeholders.

If ASUU, as an important stakeholder, decides to keep fighting and declare another strike action, who would you blame? The patriotic intellectuals fighting for the survival of the public University system or the insensitive government who do not have plans for your education system since their kids are either abroad schooling or in private universities?

What should we do for the government to properly fund public education?

Siddon look and watch as the system gets destroyed?

©Amoka