ASUU Embarked On An Indefinite Strioke

Despite all these agreements the status quo persists. Every year ASUU will go on strike and the federal government will call for “dialogue”. The end product is yet another agreement, the strike is called off only to resume next year. What else is new?

On Monday 1, July 2013 ASUU embarked on an “indefinite strike” for the umpteenth time. The blames being battered are the same: “The Federal Government has refused to implement some of the issues contained in a 2009 agreement it had with us,” or “the government has a penchant for reneging on promises.” The union is also claiming that the strike is aimed at checking the near lack of foreign scholars in our education system and the recurring
brain-drain in the sector.
The federal government will soon reply – “the lecturers are being unreasonable” is usually their famous line of attack. Then the Minister of education will go on television to convince everyone of how much efforts they are making to reposition the education system – not forgetting to remind us, she was a teacher therefore holds their interest as priority. The bewildered students will sit at home and watch it all unfold. In three or four week time, they will be told the warring parties have sheath their swords. “All is well, please return to school immediately.” Of course there will be no explanation on what the outcome of the strike was and whether another one might be imminent. Within two weeks the institutions will hurriedly prepare the examination time table for students who just resumed lectures. Lecturers will then prepare ‘Indomie’ lectures to beat deadlines. In the end, when they cannot defend the CGPA, those that claim they know better will call them “half-baked graduates”.
I am not holding brief for any one because every stakeholder in the system – government, lecturers, students, and parents ought to be alive to their responsibilities. However, when one’s gaping hole keep reflecting badly on the rest it becomes a thing of concern. The so called rot in the tertiary education system is largely the handiwork of two actors – government and lecturers. They are the primary enforcers in the system. Their actions or inactions leave imprints on their direct subjects- the students.
ASUU strikes and agreements with government go way back. The agreements according to ASUU started from 1981, 1992, 1999 to 2001. The 1981 agreement, “established the principle of collective bargaining, in line with the international Labour Organisation,” providing a platform for resolving issues like salaries and conditions of service of their members. Subsequent agreements addressed other salient areas concerning the welfare of the body and the education sector. The 2001 agreement for instance tackled the issue of brain drain and the rot in the university system.
Despite all these agreements the status quo persists. Every year ASUU will go on strike and the federal government will call for “dialogue”. The end product is yet another agreement, the strike is called off only to resume next year. What else is new?
According to ASUU National chairman, Dr Isa Faggae, the present strike action “is going to last for as long as the Federal Government wants it.” It is the same thing they said in December 2012 before some negotiator from the government compelled them to call it off. When will it end? When will the Nigeria student enjoy at least one year uninterrupted school calendar?
Progress cannot thrive in instability. Their persistent bickering is responsible for where the sector is presently. It is time ASUU focus on new frontiers if they sincerely desire an end to brain drain.
Incessant strike action is mostly responsible for parents taking their children outside the country for quality education. No parent is happy when a child is forced to spend six years over a four year course because the school system is constantly disrupted by strike actions. Strike action is responsible for the lack of reforms in the tertiary curricular which many have complained about to no avail. Over a period of time, the patience of most parents run out and those who can afford to send their children to schools outside the country take that option. Time that should have been dedicated to developing and exploring progressive ideas towards a value-driven curricular is spent on activism or lobbying the government to honor the agreements that no one forced them to enter in the first place.
Going forward, ASUU will have to develop a new way of doing things. Their age-long battles have produced little because those in the corridors of power plays low premium on education in the first place. Or how else will one explain the existence of over 10.1 million out of school children in the country? One state in northern Nigeria boast about 750, 000 out-of-school children. What about the fact that the budgets for education have never reached the minimum requirement by UNICEF? Rather than fight the government all the time, ASUU can channel their energy in exploring new sources of funding, after all why is the school a citadel of learning?