The federal government has taken the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to court. While we commend layers of government for using the legal system, I do think it is time we begin to question the basis of these calls. This negotiation or disagreement moving to the National Industrial Court is a distraction here. Students, parents and the whole nation need leadership on this lingering ASUU case.
This matter is very clear: ASUU has no chance of getting what it is asking for because Nigeria does not have it. So, what needs to happen is to follow Sam Mbakwe’s strategy: go with Nigeria’s balance sheet and profit/loss statement and use that to explain to ASUU that we understand all the issues but this is the best the nation can do.
ASUU needs to be strategic here to avoid the poison pill where the current administration will sign a nonsensical agreement that will kickoff June 1 2023, knowing that the next administration has no chance to honour the terms. This has been the strategy for years: forwarding a mess to the next government which has no chance of being executed.
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People, Nigeria must over-grow this shame where universities are shut down for months. It is about time! This is 2022!
The lingering strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which has for seven months now, grounded academic activities in public universities, has entered a new phase.
Following unsuccessful attempts to get ASUU to call off the strike, the federal government of Nigeria has dragged the union to the National Industrial Court.
The development was announced on Sunday through a statement signed by the Head of Press and Public Relations at the Ministry of Labour and Employment, Olajide Oshundun. He said the Federal Government took the decision after dialogue between it and ASUU failed.
Update: The course adjourns.
The National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN), on Monday, adjourned the suit filed by the federal government challenging the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
The judge, P.I Hamman, adjourned the suit until 16 September for further mention.
At Monday’s proceedings, the Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP), sought to join the suit as an interested party.
SERAP’s lawyer, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, said his client had filed a similar suit asking the court to compel the federal government to honour its 2009 agreement with the striking varsity lecturers.
“We filed a similar suit on 8 September, asking the court to compel the federal government to honour an agreement it willingly entered into with ASUU,” Mr Adegboruwa, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) said on Monday
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Comment 1: It will be difficult to explain to rational people that you don’t have money to pay or fund the educational system but you have fund to buy vehicles for another country, pay politicians in elected offices etc. it just doesn’t add up. The problem is we have handed over the affairs of the nation to wicked people who do not have any iota of selflessness. It is even more painful that this is not making the rounds of discussion amongst the OBIdients, ATIkulated and the BATified. These things hurt some of us so much that we wonder why many don’t see it. If we Nigerians are actually serious, none of the 3 major contenders should be in the presidential picture based on past performance. Pls before you attack me on Obi, do a google check on how he treated ASUU, Students and teachers while he was Governor of Anambra state.
My Response: Sure – I understand that irony. As I have noted, most Federal institutions in Nigeria will collapse by 2027 and would be forced to be quasi-privatized. Oliver de Coque sang: na good money dey make better soup. Harvard’s budget is more than twice the whole education budget of Nigeria. So, the root cause is funding. How can that be fixed? We need to find a way to pioneer student lending that tracks inflation and currency deterioration. If that happens, students would be expected to pay. Then schools will have funds to operate at higher quality.
Comment 1b :Excellent, but I am still of the opinion that beyond all those funding you’re talking about, we need knowledgeable people in power who understand the gravity of a failed educational system to nation building. We need people who understand that education is the number 1 most important thing to nation building, prosperity and even security. Unfortunately, the guys we have in government and the ones we are trying to bring to government don’t understand that and don’t even care. I’ve always said it, the problem we face as a nation is bigger than we think, but to some people one is just an alarmist. I recently saw a post that said most CEOs of the biggest Tech companies in the world are of Indian descent and they also had their education up to 1st degree in India. That doesn’t look like coincidence, some people strategically planned for it and what we are seeing is the result. We need capable and patriotic people in power who understands the tneed for a new strategic direction for the educational system and infact for the nation as a whole.
Comment 1c: You’re right sir, that’s exactly the problem.
Ndubuisi Ekekwe Can students and Parents in Nigeria afford such increased fee? Sir, what would be the value of naira then? It’s never possible to erect a structure in the air. Nigeria can’t work! No matter the reformation! No matter the new governance! The structures on ground are so rigid to resist any form of change. Sir, it’s not about being pessimistic, it’s the bitter truth. As well sir, the root problem is not funding. Assuming Nigeria receives a foreign gift aid of $500 million towards educational budget. With 90% confidence, there will be another strike action before the end of 5 years.
What I believe can bring about “any” change is the dismantling of the so called amalgamation created in 1914 and new independent nations emerging.
My response: If a man has 10 kids and earns N100k per month, he may be a great manager but he will struggle to compete with another man who earns N2 million for 3 kids. South Africa’s budget is about $150 billion for 60m while Nigeria is N42 billion for 210m people. There is a limit we cannot perform because the resources are not there. Sure corruption has to go but that is not the whole issue.
Comment 2: Well said my prof. But the major obstacle is how to convince ASUU that the government does not have the money. The truth is that members of ASUU and all of us are very much aware that government big boys have so much money to throw around and each day, we see them showcasing stupendous wealth. One million Balance Sheets and Financial Statements cannot convince people that same government cannot afford the money needed to restore our universities. This contradiction is what we need to resolve to move ahead.
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To resolve this issue between FG and ASUU is not really difficult, how? First we all need to come to terms that funding education doesn’t imply university education, once we understand this, we are halfway to the solution.
The next step? We can have a clause in the Education Budget that says 30% of whatever we budget will be for university education. Here is where the real work begins. This 30% is for all the universities, as government counterpart funding, to help cushion the tuition for students. Government will now allow each university to be autonomous, some can now choose to pay their own professors N2 million per month, it’s their money. Each year you submit independent audit report on the 30% you collected from government.
So, if we are pushing for 20% or 25% Education Budget, university administrators already know their portion, each university can now admit and recruit based on its financial resources.
We don’t need this lazy argument of government should meet ASUU demands, no, government can never meet ASUU demands, because those demands will remain a moving target, as the years roll by.
We need some intelligent people on both political and academic sides, enough of this lame excuses from both sides.