According to (Enrinco Fermi, 1901-1954) an
Italian theoretical physicist, “It is no good to
try to stop knowledge from going forward.
Ignorance is never better than knowledge”.
In the attempt of the Nigerian government to
stop knowledge from going forward, it has
consigned the university teachers to
perpetually embark on strike because of its
refusal to do what is right for the university
education. So it has become a ritual for the
lecturers in the universities to embark on
strike at least once every year with some
strikes lasting up to four months or more.
University lecturers, under the aegis of
Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU,
usually embark on strikes over agitations for
improved salaries, allowances and
infrastructural development of universities.
The ongoing strike, which commenced on July
1, 2013, was as a result of an agreement
government reneged on. The union adopted a
resolution to go on strike after its NEC meeting
at the Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-
Iwoye, Ogun State in June. Government’s
response conveyed through the Minister of
Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Rufa’i, was
that it was working hard to resolve the
impasse.
But ASUU National President, Dr. Nasiru Fagge,
said Nigeria’s economy has been taken over by
the Chinese as political leaders in Nigeria have
refused to provide quality education to the
people.
The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Mr.
Emeka Wogu, while presenting the scorecard of
his stewardship to the leadership of the
People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in Abuja, also
said government was re-negotiating the 2009
agreement with ASUU to make it
implementable. But ASUU said it will not
suspend the strike until government fulfills its
part of the agreement.
However, the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)
threatened to join the strike if the Federal
Government failed to address the demands of
the lecturers. The threat was issued by the
President of the NLC, Comrade Abdulwaheed
Omar, at the opening ceremony of the 2013
Rain School in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State. Omar
said, “We call on the Federal Government to
have meaningful dialogue with ASUU with a
view to implementing the agreement. Should
these strike persist, workers of Nigeria will not
hesitate to join them in solidarity.”
At the stakeholders meeting held in Lagos, the
Joint Action Front, JAF (a body of civil society
coalition and the trade union movement), in
sympathy with ASUU, also threatened to
mobilize for a mass protest if government
failed to call the lecturers to negotiation table
to resolve stalemate. In a statement by the
Chairman and Secretary of JAF, Dr. Dipo
Fashina and Abiodun Aremu, the body said
preparations were in top gear to mobilize for
nationwide mass protests.
While throwing more light on some of the
issues at stake between the union and the
government, a lecturer at the University of
Abuja, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
said ASUU was tired of government’s
unwillingness and inconsistency on issues that
affect university education in Nigeria. This
lecturer said government is paying non-
challant attitude to issues of university
education in Nigeria because most of the
people in government don’t have their children
in Nigerian universities. According to him,
some of the issues at stake between the union
and government include Academic Earned
Allowance, AEA, to be paid to lecturers for
excess work load and allowance for
supervision of post-graduate programmes. He
said the highest AEA is N12, 500 per month
and then wondered why it was difficult for
government to pay such small amount when
lawmakers take home millions of naira as
Sallah and Christmas bonuses.
Some university students blamed government
for the strike. Nanbal Panpe James, a final year
student in the Department of Mass
Communication, University of Jos, said
government is not concerned about the
welfare of lecturers and infrastructural
development in universities because almost all
the children of the people in government are
not schooling in Nigeria.
Eric Dakwo, also a final year student of Mass
Communication Department of UNIJOS, was
not happy that the strike has temporarily put
on hold his desire to graduate before the end
of the year. He queried why the government is
saying that it does not have money to honour
its agreement with ASUU but the same
government has money to lavish on frivolous
things like payment of huge allowances to
members of the National Assembly.
Comrade Morgan Anigbo, a veteran trade union
leader and former acting General Secretary of
the NLC, speaking on the way out of lecturers’
strikes, wants government to call for a
conference on university education. According
to him, until that is done, our educational
system would continue to falter. He is of the
view that government should have the political
will to fund the universities and thus foster
academic excellence among lecturers and
students .I agree with Anigbo’s suggestion.
Tahir Hashim is a 400 level Mass
Communication student of the University of
Jos.
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