I write to support ASUU as it continues to battle for the future of Nigerian youth. Yet, I want to also tell ASUU that Nigeria is not financially capable to accept some of its demands because Nigeria does not have the funds. We all want our professors, teachers, etc to earn decent wages. We also want the funding of our universities. But the fact is this: Nigeria does not have the funds. And even strikes will not change that state in the short-term.
University strikes decimate local economies. My local government has two universities; we know the contributions those schools provide to the local economy. When students are in town, okada boys have jobs, mama put has buyers, etc. In short, every student could be contributing at least N1,000 to the local economy (food – N800, transport – N200, etc). Multiply this conservative N1,000 by tens of thousands of students, workers and associates, you will see why every community wants a university. With strikes, those opportunities dry up.
ASUU will likely return in weeks since the government understands the political risk as national election arrives. Also, the labour union is planning to join in solidarity. Yet, that return is nothing but a pause of a deep problem which must be fixed.
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The current structure we have in the Nigerian university system is not viable. A major tax reform can help so that the private sector and individuals can help support the schools. And besides any tax reform to boost funding, the organization of our school system must evolve. The Ivy League club could soon hit $1 trillion; Nigerian schools can at least hit $50 billion.
The Ivies added $48.6 billion to their endowments this year, and new estimates show their collective endowment could exceed $1 trillion by 2048. Organized as charitable non-profits, the Ivy League is a cash generation machine. Their collective endowment now stands at approximately $192.6 billion, which is up from $144 billion in 2020.
I do believe and continue to posit that Nigeria should thrive to consolidate many federal universities. In Southeast, we can have UNN with many federal universities in Southeast as campuses. For example, Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umuahia can be the agriculture school of this new UNN. You do the same across the nation.
Sure, I know that it would not happen because no one would like his or her alma mater to disappear. But one day, whether we like it or not, poor funding will force most schools to collapse and they will now beg some bigger ones to absorb them!
The Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has thrown its weight behind a planned protest by the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC) over the ongoing strike by university lecturers under the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
NLC President, Ayuba Wabba, had, on July 1, said that the NLC would embark on a nationwide protest if the strike persists.
The strike by ASUU has been on for almost five months since it began on February 14.
Other workers’ unions across the nation’s universities hav also embarked on similar industrial actions, grounding completely both academic and non-academic activities across public ivory towers nationwide.
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Comment : Cutting down on what the government spends on itself can fund ASUU many times over in my opinion. The problem seems to be how the government places education on the lower rungs of the ladder.
My Response: “Cutting down on what the government spends on itself can fund ASUU many times over in my opinion. ” – it can go both ways. Nigeria needs to trim dozens of our federal universities and cut the number of VCs, provosts, etc. The same problem you saw in government is also in schools. UNN can operate MOUA Umuahia as a campus for agriculture, etc. By the time you are done, Southeast will have only 2 federal universities under two VCs, etc.
The cost you will save from official cars, duplication of registrars, etc can go into learning, research, etc. I worked on that for Rwanda and converted most of the universities into one leadership, saving $millions. Me with one of the ministers here . Today, most of their funds go into learning and research and not buying official cars for VCs, provosts, etc.
Comment 2: TETF was originally Nigeria University system idea ?. What’s happened to it?
My Response 2: The problem is not just having more money. It is having a reformed structure to make use of money. Nigeria has created more than 20 new federal universities since 2010 when it could have expanded the existing ones. Doing that would have saved more VCs, provosts, official cars, etc. That saved funds would go into learning, research, etc. That is the problem. Today, you have a federal university with 1,700 students with all the officers in a university. The ROC (return of capital) is poor for the Nigerian people.
Comment 3: Sorry sir but you are wrong….DEAD WRONG! Nigeria has the funds
My Response 3: life is at levels. South Africa’s budget is close to $152 billion for 59 million people; Nigeria’s budget is $42 billion for 210 million people. I know that Chinedu will not understand but when you look at things at bigger angle, even if Nigeria is super-prudent, it cannot support 210m with $42b at the same level SA can support 59m with $152B.
But I do not blame your comment “dead wrong” – you have been reading that as a kid and it is hard to think otherwise. But get this from me, your nation is one of the poorest per capita in the world.
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We have discussed the ASUU/FG issue many a times here, but here is a country where majority of her citizens live in denial, we are already seeing the signs in the forthcoming elections. We always pretend to want to move forward but remain deeply rooted in backwardness. It is both ridiculous and pathetic.
If you point out that we do not generate the kind of incomes needed to run proper universities, considering the quantity, with the little or no tuition fees, some will point to government spending on politicians; plus those who steal billions of naira.
But again, how much is National Assembly budget? Sure, N150 billion is a lot of money for 469 people and their aids, but that humongous N150 billion cannot fund two federal universities here properly; I know what we are trying to build in that space and the numbers involved. Whether ASUU demands for N2 trillion and gets it, the amount will still fade after few years. The cost will continue to go up. How do you make it sustainable? You have to run them like universities, but for now we are running universities like secondary schools; therein lies the misery.
When we are ready to move forward, solutions will come, we know what to do there to make it work, it remains the will.
@Dr ndubuisi your analysis towards the solutions to end Asuu strike 97% True and possible. The problem we Nigerians is that we practice individualism.
Top officials to government are seeing your post but they keep mute because it’s not really affecting them.