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Common Law is a body of law that evolved from the unwritten law of England which became notoriously popular and conventionally accepted by majority of the citizens. The word common in the law is to show its universal acceptance. Overtime they became pretty certain, consistent and subsequently became codified into written laws. It is within the intendment of the common law that you cannot force a willing employer on an unwilling employee and conversely, you cannot force a willing employee on an unwilling employer. Apart from the resolution of the issues of salaries, wages and damages due and accruable to the workers and employees through the courts, hardly will the courts be the best forum to compel a protesting worker to forcefully resume work. The Academic Staff of Universities Union’s President aptly described this scenario when he and his colleagues were presenting their intractable case before the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamilla. He asked whether anybody will want to be a patient for a Medical Doctor who was compelled to work? Nobody answered in the affirmative.
ASUU has been having a running battle with the Federal Government since the military days and has always stood its grounds. Mahmood Jega was the ASUU President during the regime of President Ibrahim Babangida and led ASUU to a principled protest on the conditions of the University and welfare of University workers. IBB did all his military maradonic manoeuvrings to no avail. He later on came back to a round table conference and achieved a breakthrough. From 1999, ASUU has been having rounds of running battle with both the PDP and APC governments culminating in an unfulfilled agreement by PDP in 2009 and currently in an eight month strike in the APC government. Between PDP and APC, ASUU has embarked on about 71 months of strike amounting to about 5 years at home within a period of about 23 years.
The apparent lesson one would immediately draw from this is that our leaders place little emphasis on education. One powerful legislator once told me about one revealing conversation he had one time with his daughter that was being educated abroad. After passing some gruelling time during her master’s degree pursuit abroad and was almost getting frustrated, she called her father and questioned why she should be going through those sufferings when it’s only an elementary school certificate that is required for her to be President of Nigeria. The ability of anybody to be anything in Nigeria without academic qualification makes those leaders have the innate belief that education is not a priority vis-a-vis other priorities. It makes those leaders also develop inferiority complex in relation to the lecturers as every act of the lecturers is deemed to be the ‘I too know” syndrome of educated people. Tinubu calls them educated relics.
However , it’s not as simplistic as that because when Umaru Yar Adua/Goodluck Jonathan joint ticket appeared in the horizon, lecturers heaved a sigh of relief. They were quite sure something good was going to happen because Yar Adua and Goodluck Jonathan are University lecturers who should understand the plight of fellow lecturers. Granted that Yar Adua died prematurely in 2010, but he managed to reach comprehensive agreement with the lecturers in 2009. It was unfortunate that Goodluck Jonathan failed to fulfil those agreements 6 years after they were made before being defeated by the APC in 2015. The unfulfilled ASUU agreement was one of the issues used against his second term bid. Unfortunately, APC came in and failed to fulfil the same agreement for over 7 years despite it’s modifications. The problem then with our country is not the academic qualifications of our leaders but simply the lack of character and political will on the part of our leaders to do what is right. In order to bring a lasting solution to this problem, ASUU must take stock of its strategies.
Let us be the first to admit that the court is not the best place to settle the employment feud between ASUU and the Federal Government. This APC government has shown itself incapable of doing things right. I was taught in Industrial Relations in Management that collective bargaining is the best approach to settle industrial disputes. Collective bargaining is the tripartite arrangement among the employers, employees and the government in which they come to a round table to settle trade disputes. Alternative dispute resolution is always preferable because it creates a win-win situation, not a win-lose situation. This APC government went to court and obtained an interlocutory order for ASUU to go back to class without resolving the issues raised. ASUU announced the resumption of schools but declared that they do not have the transport fare to go back to class. Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria announced resumption of school but suspended resuming teaching until January 2023 when the outstanding salary arrears would have been paid. Eventually, the best the government can get with this unfortunate arm twisting tactic is the peace of the graveyard. ASUU technically is still on strike despite the court induced resumption of schools. The strategy of registering opposing, government friendly associations to compete with ASUU over influence on the academic community is self destructive. When these associations come fully on line, they will start competing for resources, space and attention of the government and Nigerians. This may undermine the peace of the university community and effect the overall well-being of learning by the students. Students who support factions of the association or support rival association may be subject to intimidation and maltreatment by other opposing association leading to disquiet in the university community.
In searching for the solution to the disagreement between ASUU and the government, ASUU must avoid certain fruitless tactics. Labour unions in general must desist from the concept of solidarity rallies. Solidarity rallies of crippling the entire economy to protest the disagreement in one sector is inappropriate. This amounts to punishing the entire citizens of Nigeria because of the action of government. Wicked governments will simply ignore the collective punishment on the citizens by ASUU to make ASUU lose the sympathy of the people. The government will use such actions to buttress the fact that ASUU wants to bring down the government as a strategy to support another candidate for the election. Labour as a whole must restrict its industrial actions on that aspect that is in dispute. It’s unfortunate that when the government descends unjustifiably on any association, they take revenge on all citizens of Nigeria.
State universities joining the strike is also not right. Federalism meant that each state should be guided by its laws not the laws of the Federal Government. It will be unfair to any Governor who struggled to pay the salaries of the lecturers and keep the state universities in good conditions to be rewarded with strikes just in solidarity with the ASUU in its disagreement with the Federal Government. This will serve as a disincentive for the Governors to continue being good to the Lecturers because it will create the impression that whatever the Governors do, the State universities must go on strike. Am not aware that ASUU in all the Federal Universities will declare a national strike because of the action of a Governor within a state University. Federalism demands that the Federal Government workers should form same association if they so choose, to press for their welfare benefits from the Federal Government, while state government University workers should form their own association to press their welfare packages from the Governor.
Also intractable strike is not the answer. The rule of no work no pay is a law in Nigeria. The proposal by ASUU that it can cover up for the wasted months whenever it resumes as a basis of demanding that the government pays its arrears will not be a good excuse for the balance of the salary arrears. The strike is eight months old. Is the ASUU insinuating that it can compress one year programme into four remaining months of the year? This is dangerous as it will lead to the overloading of the workloads of the students. Some students develop mental problems when their brains are tasked beyond their capabilities. ASUU should be able to forego their salaries if they want to embark on an intractable strike because nobody will appreciate paying someone else for a job not done. Moreover, ASUU should not teach in 4 months what they teach in one year. Holidays in-between are an essential part of learning and resting and ASUU cannot deny the students such healthy rest because of its disagreement with the Federal Government.
The only choice therefore that ASUU has is to look diligently for leaders that have the character, capacity and competence to make the university education better for all. Character is that trait in human beings that make them honour their words after signing it. Whichever party that signed any agreement but failed to honour it lacks character to be trusted again in future. Whichever party that signed but failed to implement and was giving excuses to explain away their failure lacks the capacity to handle their issues. Any party that failed to utilise the alternative dispute resolution to resolve the crisis between government and ASUU, but rather headed to court to use intimidation to overwhelm the lecturers lacks the competence to handle the educational sector. Election is the only method to democratically change the leadership of our country. ASUU should be able to mobilise its members and students to entrench the government of character, competence and capacity to bring solutions to the educational needs of our society. In other climes, every party and politician that promised to bring industrial harmony between ASUU and government and failed should have resigned since. Liz Truss, the British Prime Minister, just resigned after 45 days in office when she realised that she couldn’t deliver on the mandate on which she was elected by the Conservative party. Nigerian politicians hardly resign. They cling to power no matter their awful performance. The only choice is to break this cycle of bad leaders and bad political parties by all Nigerians, with ASUU, which is one of the worst hit, taking the lead. 2023 general election provides a new opportunity for a new beginning for ASUU and Nigerians. ASUU can start organising rather than agonising about the past. We believe that God has the ability to restore to ASUU the years that the canker worms and locusts have eaten from them but they must fulfill their own part of the deal, which is coming out to vote out bad leaders and vote in good leaders.
