THE above title may seem incredulous in the minds of the discerning, but it’s encased in a layer of truth. On the literal plain, it looks innocuous while a further interrogation, however, conveys the basis of that utterance by Professor Monday Igbafen, the Coordinator, Benin Zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU).
He probably spoke out of utter frustration by the Federal Government, which, ideally should be worried about previous notices of the academic body to make good its threat of walking the path of industrial action, if its grievances are not addressed.
The inference, therefore, is that the Federal Government, by its actions, inadvertently encourages ASUU to engage in strike actions in which some academic staff relish obviously than their primary functions of teaching and carrying out research. Without doubt, the lingering feud between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government is one of the long drawn out issues in Nigeria today. The subnational level is not insulated as states are affected by the dominant source of conflicts, which borders on optimum financing of universities.
The disagreements between the two parties over sundry issues had become perennial hence the recurring thread of agitation seems to have acquired a life of its own. While the issues have seasonal attributes, their impacts are long lasting on the country and its people.
From the tone of the press conferences organised by ASUU zonal leaders across the country a couple of days ago, a strike action is on the horizon. But the reasons are not different from the causative factors that drove the course of previous industrial actions. Nigeria is going back and forth, cycling within the same point for almost two decades.
What do we call that? Progress or retardation? The issues have to do with the stalled renegotiation of the 2009 FGM/ASUU Agreement, funding for the revitalisation of public universities based on the FGN-ASUU MoU of 2021, 2013 and the MoA of 2017; the illegal dissolution of Governing Councils in federal and state universities; unpaid salaries of staff on sabbatical adjunct etc. due to IPPIS; the non release of third party deductions; non-payment of Earned Academic Allowances(EEA), proliferation of public universities; non-implementation of the reports of Visitation Panels and the refusal to adopt UTAS in place of IPPIS.
While the inability of the government to address many contentious issues remains worrisome, I find the blanket inclusion of absence of governing councils for federal universities is a bit disturbing because the Federal Government had intervened five days after ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke issued a strike notice a month ago.
A statement signed by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, Didi Esther Walks Jack, broke news of the newly constituted governing councils for 111 institutions, which included 50 universities, 37 polytechnics and 24 colleges of education The government’s decision to sort out the demand for governing councils arising from the negative impact of their absence on the respective institutions is understandable. Without equivocation, the governing council is the foremost organ next to the visitor empowered by law to constitute same.
Among other functions, the governing councils approve the university’s budget, supervise staff recruitment and promotion, approve new academic programmes and ensure that the university functions in line with its goal and objectives. Above all, the nomination of the Vice-Chancellor is one of the Council’s most important tasks. Although, the Federal Government’s response was seen as the quickest in the history of the perennial tango between the central authority and the academic body, it’s merely reactive.
A better way should entail walking a proactive path, that is, looking at the likely sources of conflict in the university system and taking steps to stave off their probable degeneration into a crisis. Doing so will pull the rug under the feet of ASUU leadership in the issue under discourse; therefore, a lot more was expected of government in this circumstance. Agreed that the aspect relating to the Governing Councils is being sorted out, but the bigger issues that impinge on the development of public universities have not been attended.
It’s a cause for concern that the 2009 FGM/ASUU agreement that was later reviewed had not been complied with on a substantial case. The deduction therein is that government after government does not seem to care about exploring ways of resting the grievances of ASUU.
This issue forms the basis of poor ranking of Nigeria’s public universities vis-avis similar institutions across the globe. A cursory look at the recent post-independence history of Nigeria shows that no government, whether at the national or sub-national level, had ever dismissed ASUU’s threat with a wave of the hands without consequences. As a formidable body of brilliant self-willed members whose agitations are predominantly altruistic, these academics not only think deeply before issuing threats of strike but they have also shown capacity to stay on a course even if it would impinge on their well-being.
This explains why their serial quests continue to generate apprehension among students and other stakeholders that desire a stable and peaceful university system. The ideal thing the government should do is to reconstitute the remaining governing councils and find solutions to other grievances. Going forward, government should think fast and act promptly on issues affecting educational institutions. It bears repeating that the growth of the education sector should not be trifled with in order to further the course of developing the country.
On this account, the government should always reach out to ASUU with a view to meeting some of its demands and re-negotiating a few needs it might lack the wherewithal to address at the moment. This is a better option instead of keeping quiet and encouraging scholars to serve strike notices almost quarterly.
