The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) recently stated that the union will embark on an indefinite strike following the Federal Government’s failure to honour all the agreements it reached with the union over the years. The ASUU Chairman, Prof. Chris Piwuna, criticised the government’s nonchalant attitude towards issues concerning the welfare of academic staff of universities and other critical issues affecting Nigerian universities. Piwuna demanded the immediate implementation of all Memoranda of Understanding (MOUs) and Memoranda of Action (MOAs) signed since 2009. The union demanded the release of withheld salaries from the 2022 strike and also the payment of lecturers on part-time and sabbatical appointments affected by the IPPIS payroll system. The union condemned political interference in university administration, unlawful appointments and the undermining of institutional independence.
In the past year, university communities in Nigeria have enjoyed relative peace because ASUU has not gone on strike. Students have made uninterrupted academic progress in all public universities in Nigeria. While some people have commended ASUU for not embarking on strike, others have praised the Bola Tinubu administration for ensuring that ASUU did not go on strike. However, the relative peace in all the universities is now threatened by the latest ASUU pronouncement. Barring any last-minute changes, ASUU is poised to embark on another strike any time from now.
It is disheartening that the issue of ASSU strike is rearing its ugly head again at a time when the country is grappling with major economic challenges. The Federal Government should honour agreements reached with ASUU and implement all decisions to demonstrate responsibility and integrity. ASUU demands are legitimate. The parlous state of universities in Nigeria should worry the government. This has led to the mass exodus of lecturers from Nigeria. They are leaving because of poor conditions of service and remuneration. Successive governments in Nigeria have toyed with the welfare of academic staff of Nigerian universities and this should be condemned. Government should take the welfare of its university academic staff seriously. It is not a good advertisement for the government that university lecturers are being owed for months.
Beyond the welfare of academic staff, Nigerian universities are grossly underfunded. Many public universities in Nigeria are not adequately equipped for effective research and rigorous academic activities. In most universities in Nigeria, the laboratories, teaching aids and learning materials are obsolete. Many state universities are in deplorable conditions. Therefore, the state and federal governments should rise to the occasion and pay the much-needed attention to universities in terms of funding and welfare of academic staff. Universities should be centres of research and development. They form a critical segment that will enhance national growth.
The federal government must do everything possible to avert the looming ASUU strikes. The relative peace in our universities should be sustained. It is ridiculous and shameful that many Nigerians now take their children to countries such as Niger, Mali, Benin Republic and even Chad for university education. Going forward, the federal government should honour all agreements reached with the academic body. Not honouring the agreements does not present the government in good light. When agreements are reached, they must be honoured, especially in a democratic dispensation. The pain of having their children return home and stay for long periods is enormous for parents. Also, the disruption of academic activities in the universities will lower the quality of graduates. During the strike period when students are at home, they get involved in different vices such as prostitution, internet fraud, thuggery, stealing and many others.
It does not help matters that the children of politicians who make these promises and reach agreements with ASUU do not attend school in Nigeria. They school abroad where there are no strikes by lecturers. Therefore, these politicians do not feel the pressure that ordinary, less privileged parents feel when their children are at home as a result of a strike by their lecturers. President Bola Tinubu’s administration should, as a matter of utmost urgency, convene a meeting with ASUU and ensure that they do not carry out their threat of crippling public universities with a strike action. The government has a responsibility to ensure a seamless academic calendar in Nigeria’s public universities.