“Not only is our interaction today necessary, but it is also urgent to clarify the misrepresentations and draw your attention to the facts which you, as managers of our universities, ought to know by virtue of your assigned duties. It is indeed one of your statutory duties to negotiate with your workers on matters of their welfare and conditions of service … As the most important officers in our university system, pro chancellors and vice-chancellors must demonstrate more commitment to ending the ongoing strike.” – Mallam Adamu Adamu, Minister of Education, Premium Times, 6th September 2022.

In Yoruba common parlance, it is said: “ti won ba fi enia je oye awodi, O ye ko le gbe adie” (meaning: when one is offered a chieftaincy title to hunt hawk, he should at least be seen hunting hen successfully).  This seemingly was the challenge thrown at the Pro-Chancellors and Vice-Chancellors of federal universities by the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, in their parley, part of which was done behind closed door, on Tuesday, 6th September 2022 in Abuja. The venue of the meeting was the National University Commission (NUC) office.  First of all, it is instructive to pinpoint that this column’s edition of last week was harping on the need to extend and expand the stakeholders to interface with in terminating the nagging strike of university lecturers. The Minister of Education should be commended for heeding this clarion call that is imperative as the ASUU’s industrial action has stretched over 200 days! In opening the meeting, Mallam Adamu Adamu poignantly pinpointed the pro-chancellors and vice-chancellors as “the managers of our universities” and in essence, ought to be awake and alert to their roles and responsibilities. Furthermore, he stated, inter alia, that it is part of their “statutory duties to negotiate with your workers on matters of their welfare and conditions of service.” He concluded his opening remark at the parley by categorically shifting the onus of terminating the industrial imbroglio on the body of pro-chancellors and vice-chancellors. In real terms, within Nigeria’s academic context, does this body of “university managers” possess the power ascribed to them by the honourable minister? To this columnist, it is rather a rhetorical rehearsal to raise the amour propre of the pro-chancellors and vice-chancellors. However, to the discerning mind, the honourable minister is stating the obvious in a sane clime and context where things are done the right way. Is it not high time for the major stakeholders, not just ASUU, to agitate or activate, albeit legally, full autonomy of the university system in order to forestall recurring perennial and painful industrial action?

Approaching Autonomy Agenda

One good thing that came out from the honourable minister’s mouth worth considering in going forward was the aspect ascribed to President Muhammadu Buhari. He saliently stated thus: “In all, we have been doing, our guide has been the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari, namely, that while the unions should be persuaded to return to work, Government should not repeat the past mistakes of accepting to sign an agreement it will be unable to implement. Government should not, in the guise of resolving current challenges, sow seeds for future disruptions.” This is really showing leadership. Imagine the nebulous agreement endorsed in 2009 triggering this nagging industrial action by ASUU; the end of which parents, students, university managers and other concerned stakeholders do not know! Tinkering along this line, is it not the right time to do the right thing even as the honourable minister’s body language depicted that aftermath of resolving this impasse with university lecturers, this may be the last time the Federal Government and ASUU may be engaging in industrial dispute. Really?

In a swift response to the last week’s edition of this column, a retired registrar of a federal university, Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile Ife, Mr. Ayorinde Ogunruku, was vociferous against how ASUU has weaponized strike to war against the federal government. He aligned with this columnist that there is the need to change tactics as doing same things recurrently whilst expecting different results amounts to nothing but insanity. In his cerebral and sagacious response, he pontificated on the need for government to behave responsibly in encouraging the universities to truly and fully be autonomous. He succinctly and saliently stated inter alia: “Government must begin to behave responsibly, promoting the rule of law, respecting contractual obligations, respecting the principle of autonomy for the institutions, delimiting its pervasive influence over the day-to-day governance of the institutions, and reviewing the policy of funding.

Read Also: FACT-CHECK: Can FG use $23m ‘Abacha loot’ to meet ASUU’s demands?

By so doing, centralisation of directives and control should be done away with. In a situation where Abuja determines salaries and wages rather than give bench marks should stop. A situation in which universities are directed to employ or not is sickening. The unwarranted centralisation of salaries and wages of universities in Abuja through IPPIS should stop. They should review the laws constituting the governing councils to allow representatives of government, professional bodies, local communities, alumni and the workers. Government can appoint the chair and a few representatives based on national or state interests (sic).” Furthermore, he enthused on the imperatives of unbundling the unions in such a way that they will be relating with governing councils of each university. However, this could only happen where such councils are, in his words: “properly democratized and empowered to determine salaries and wages and see to the welfare of their communities.” The Minister of Education apparently wanted this scenario as expressed in his meeting with the pro-chancellors and vice-chancellors but there is no seeming sincerity of purpose in activating or actualizing this kind of autonomy as it is practiced in developed climes and countries globally. In addition, this erstwhile university administrator of repute concurs with the stand and stake of this column in its last edition that government should not be fully funding education in our universities. In his response, he pontificated that, in developed climes, what the government as proprietor does is to give a percentage or ratio of each institution’s annual budget whilst the governing councils source for the remaining. According to Ogunruku, in following this route, “there is no legislation of uniform salary and allowances, there is no unionization of workers beyond their institutions on matters of salaries and wages except in unusual moments of government interventions in bench-marking this. All that the institutions do is look for resources from the products of their research and services. Also, a situation in which ASUU is asking for improved funding and demanding non-payment of fees is anachronistic . . . Higher education needs to be paid for. What governments do is provide funding institutions where students can take loans for higher education. Local, State and Federal governments give scholarships. Big players in the industries also give scholarships. It was like this before in this nation. We should plead with ourselves to go back to the days of yore to do things right.”

Addressing Autonomy Agenda

It is high time the federal and state governments stopped paying lip service to the democratization of our university system. In essence, there is the dire need of fashioning out ways and means of proactive inculcation of full autonomy into the governance of our tertiary education in Nigeria. Government fully funding tertiary education is not sustainable; it is not an acceptable global practice either! Even our honourable minister half-heartedly hinted of the seeming weariness of the government in that direction when in the meeting with the pro-chancellors and vice-chancellors he highlighted thus: “Government will continue to support the physical and academic development of its universities. Government will continue to reasonably enhance the working conditions of all university staff, academic and non-teaching. The main challenge, as you are fully aware, is dwindling resources available to address all the concerns of the citizenry.” The minister pinpointing dwindling resources as a major challenge to catering for the universities is not an alibi.

In concluding this piece, relevant stakeholders should forge a common front in approaching, addressing and activating the autonomy agenda in our universities as it is practiced in developed climes and countries globally. Meanwhile, the federal and state governments should halt the process of establishment of new universities whilst strengthening the established ones. Moreover, ASUU after terminating the present industrial imbroglio could approach the court and seek to enforce the enshrined autonomy in the Act establishing the universities as advised by accomplished scholar and administrator, Professor Jide Osuntokun. According to him: “What ASUU should now be fighting for is university autonomy, which the law has, in fact, granted. ASUU should take governments, both federal and state, to court over university autonomy.” Invariably, ASUU may need to approach the National Assembly (NASS) in case the extant law is not favourably disposed to institutionalizing full autonomy that will sound a death knell to incessant and interminable industrial action in our higher institutions. These are options that could be fully explored and exploited rather than weaponizing strike as a perennial action. ASUU needs be pointedly told that students, parents and other stakeholders in the education industry are angst with industrial action. It is high time ASUU changed strategy and activate the autonomy mode!

• John Ekundayo, Ph.D. – can be reached via 08155262360 (SMS only) and drjmoekundayo@hotmail.com