Follow Us on Google
By Gabriel Dike and Isioma Chidozie
The ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) entered the seventh month tomorrow with no end in sight.
Despite directive by some governors that their state-owned universities should reopen for academic activities, the institutions remained shut. In swift reactions, branch congresses of the state universities resolved to continue with the strike.
However, the National Parent Teacher Association of Nigeria (NAPTAN) expressed concern that ASUU strike has entered seven-month and students still at home without the resolution of the face-off, which is threatening university education.
University lecturers in February 14, embarked on strike to force the Federal Government to implement its outstanding demands. Some of the contentious demands date back to 2009 agreement signed by both parties.
The union had rolled over the strike from one month to two months. On Monday, government dragged ASUU to the National Industrial Court of Nigeria (NICN) seeking an order to compel the union to call off the strike.
Defending the seven-month strike, ASUU Lagos Zone Coordinator, Dr. Adelaja Odukoya, said “we are very worried that a government in a democracy is this irresponsible and insensitive.”
Odukoya said ASUU is prepared to continue with the strike as long as it takes the government to be responsible and live up to its responsibilities of properly funding public universities in Nigeria.
He disclosed that the facts are in the open if lecturers in the state universities obeyed the calls of their governors to abandon a patriotic struggle to safe public universities education in the country.
A 400 level Microbiology student of University of Lagos, Akoka, Awele Oderachukwu, said she felt like her life is wasting after staying at home for seven months, “I ought to have graduated last year but I’m still waiting for school to resume so I can complete the first semester of my final year and hopefully graduate without any other further incident.”
She continued: “I feel like I have not received proper university education. This whole issue is holding my life back because I can’t get a job without a degree. Nigerians aren’t selfless enough to want to hire an undergraduate in this kind of situation when there are numerous graduates that would fall over themselves to get a chance to work for any amount.
”I’m sad but at the same time I have accepted that it is what it is, and that this country is not going to prosper as long as they treat education as an afterthought.”
Oderachukwu urged the union to find an alternative to strike because going on industrial action for years and it hasn’t gotten them anywhere. She is of the opinion that ASUU be disbanded to avoid unnecessary strike.
Precious Ogochukwu, a 300 level Mass Communication student of UNILAG, said ASUU has been going on strikes without positive results, stating, “when are they going to realise that strike has never resolved their problems and the students are the ones that take the hit.”
Ogochukwu advised the union to find a better way to table their demands before the government and observed that the strike has affected final year students, who ought to have completed their programmes.
She explained that Nigerians should not expect politicians to find solution to the prolonged strike as long as their children are schooling abroad.
The Deputy National President of NAPTAN, Chief Adeolu Ogunbanjo, said the February 14 ASUU strike was a terrible gift to parents on Valentine day, arguing, parents were shocked why the union chose that day to go on strike. We didn’t know it will last this long.”
Ogunbanjo disclosed that with the strike entering the seven months, university education has been threatened and observed that ASUU is not helping matters by insisting on University Transparency Accountability Solution (UTAS) for payment of their salary.
His words: “The employer has the right to decide the system to use for payment of salary. This is an area we think ASUU is taking it too far. ”
Chief Ogunbanjo urged the government to pay lecturers the seven-month salary but with a stern warning that next time they would not be paid, stating, ”ASUU is ruining the lives of our children.”
The seven-month strike has grounded academic activities in public universities, threatened academic session, affected senate meetings, admission exercises, supervision of final year students’ projects, matriculation and even convocation ceremony.
