There are moments in our lives when we need to stir things up, other times that we must be content to stay calm, modest and more factual. I am writing this letter because I was once a staunch member of this union and was able to make some valuable contributions towards the progress of the union. I am worried that after nearly three decades, the face-off between the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) over issues of adequate funding of the federal universities is still lingering.
ASUU is claiming among other things that the federal government has refused to abide by the agreement it freely entered into with the union since 2009. On the other hand, the federal government holds that it has indeed kept up with its commitment and also upheld its pledges to the union. There is no doubt that this “father-child” discord or friction has negatively impacted other stakeholders such as the students and parents. Students are the most hit because they have been left high and dry, helpless and hopeless, idly wasting at home for no fault of theirs.
It is appalling that in this contemporary time that successive political leadership in Nigeria has failed to recognize and appreciate the importance of education to the extent that the sitting government would be pressurized before it could at least release money for the funding of universities. Any credible government is expected to be responsible and responsive to its citizens. As some of the American founding fathers- Alexander Hamilton, James Madison and John Jay, argued in “Federalist Papers”, “responsibility is the only test of government. To be responsible means to be responsive and answerable to their will, to serve their true interest, moving their passions in the proper direction. It is also to be equal to a challenge or obligation, to live up to a view or solemn promise”.
Developed nations invest in education because they understand that education is critical to any country’s advancement in all fields of human endeavour. The United States, for instance, invests hugely in education because both the public and private sectors rely enormously on the research carried out from the universities. This is not the case in Nigeria where the government does not have much interest investing in education but in other less important areas such as rails and politics. Perhaps, that was why the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu could walk out on the protesting students that came to his office to seek for his help. Following this, the minister of Labour and Employment, Chris Ngige, and Minister of State for Education, Emeka Nwajiuba, did not care a hoot about the lingering ASUU strike as they joined the presidential race for the 2023 elections. All this suggests that the Nigerian government focuses more on the insignificant many rather than on the critical few.
Since it is overtly clear that the Nigerian government has consistently and increasingly demonstrated lackadaisical attitude towards improving the educational system in Nigeria, the union should brace up and begin to brainstorm, strategize and initiate some other implementable options capable of making the government rethink. This is not to dispute or discountenance the good works of the successive ASUU leadership over the years. It is to underscore that the past successive ASUU leadership have regrettably, failed to adopt a new perspective outside the conventional strike action to engage the “stubborn” federal government.
But the question is, has this strategy worked, having applied it for many years? Has the strategy provided a lasting solution or compelled the federal government to have a rethink and come up with any implementable policy that can tackle the perennial problem of poor university funding? To the best of my knowledge, the answer is No. I think the strike action only provides a short term solution essentially to douse tension aroused by the aggrieved lecturers.
Records have shown that each time the union embarked on strike action and the government offered them a paltry sum, especially the Earned Academic Allowance, they would go back and suspend the strike only to resume sooner after they had exhausted their allowance to the chagrin of the disenchanted students and disillusioned parents. This attitude has led to loss of public confidence in the union. Attitude is contagious, and from time to time we need to ask ourselves, is mine worth catching? Does this frequent attitude of embarking on strike action really impact your happiness and your success? Does it also impact the happiness and success of the main stakeholders?
It is against this backdrop that I offer an option. I strongly feel that a better alternative option to ASUU strike for now is “covert involvement in Nigerian politics”. The union should adopt Harold Lasswell’s definition of politics as a guiding principle. ASUU should indirectly involve itself in Nigerian politics in order to have an inroad to the Presidency. How? The union should strive to weaponize its membership, numerical strength, interact and interface with the student body and also that of the non-teaching staff of universities (SSANU, NASU) to actualize the set objective. In union, there is strength. The union would ensure that all these stakeholders have their voting tool, “Permanent Voters Card”. I am convinced that Nigerian political parties have credible presidential candidates who are very compassionate, knowledge driven and have a good vision for Nigerian citizens, but only need massive support by a strong union like ASUU to thrive. Yes, these few talented personalities, who can hold their own anytime, can be found in the All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Youth Progressive Party (YPP). To facilitate this, ASUU should organize a high powered conference that comprises teaching staff, students and non-teaching staff of universities and invite some towering intellectuals of national and international repute to deliver papers that can stimulate and galvanize the stakeholders into action. The union may go a step further to woo other stakeholders like the Colleges of Education, Polytechnics in the country. As Charles R. Swindoll put it, “life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it”. I want to believe that ASUU has all the intellectual skills to revolutionize the Nigerian political system to the extent of assisting the ignorant masses to choose the best candidate for the office of the presidency if it can put its acts together.
Recall that in the 2011 Nigeria general elections that was arguably considered to be the best, ASUU was very instrumental in the huge success. Professor Attahiru Jega, the then INEC chairman employed the services of the union for the first time in Nigerian electoral processes and the outcome was excellent. The union has since then been indirectly adopted into the election processes, where the union members are often used as local and state governments returning officers. Yes, this option may appear laborious, but it is possible and doable.
It is imperative for ASUU to apply some flexibility and diplomacy in its dealings with the government. No matter the way we look at the situation, the union remains an employee of the government and so should exercise caution and avoid some excesses. For instance, the issues of Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) and Universities Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) should not be much of a problem. If the government brought forward the idea of IPPIS and insisted that every federal government employee should key into it including ASUU, then, the union should first of all adapt to it. But if they feel that such a system is somehow anomalous, they can go to any competent court to seek for redress instead of going all the way to establish UTAS. This is the way things of this nature are handled in most developed countries. Of course, you need a cloud to have a silver lining. Every bad situation holds the possibility of something good.
- Ojukwu writes from California, United States via chriscojukwu1@gmail.com