Another round of ASUU strike: Time for introspection

Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), once again, on November 4, 2018 embarked upon an indefinite strike action over the non-implementation of the Memorandum of Action (MOA) signed with the federal government September 2017. According to the body, all entreaties made to the federal government to honour the agreement with the union fell on deaf ears and they had no other option than to begin an indefinite strike action. The MOA was signed in September 2017 after more than a month of strike action by ASUU. Then, the grievance was alleged breach of the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for the 2009 FG/ASUU agreement on financing of state universities; breach of the conditions of service; refusing to honour the Earned Academic Allowance (EAA) and re-negotiation of the agreement.

As a background, the 2009 agreement was reached after a series of standoff with the government that started in 2007 at the tail end of the Obasanjo regime. Even after signing the agreement government still reneged on the implementation of the agreement and it took another round of strikes in 2011 and 2012 before the agreement was renegotiated in 2013 where the government agreed to release N1.3 trillion over six years. Since the government released the first tranche of N200 billion in 2013, it has not released any more funds to the system in line with the agreement. It was obvious to all that the government reluctantly signed the MOA to get the lecturers back to the classroom and this current crises was bound to happen.

True, the government has not fulfilled its duty of adequately funding public universities and ASUU is within its right to demand that the government live up to its responsibility. However, the strategies employed by ASUU have not been the most effective and have become obsolete, aggravating rather than helping to solve the problem.

First, we believe, like former president Obasanjo, that ASUU merely stampeded the Yar’adua government into signing the 2009 agreement even when it knows from the first day that government will not honour the agreement. Second, we think the some of the contents of the agreement are self-serving, impractical and inimical to the development of education in Nigeria. It is perplexing that part of ASUU’s demand is to create a separate pension system and for the federal government to continue to fund staff schools in the various universities. How does a progressive union expect to tear up a very progressive and workable pension law that took years to enact and which is working seamlessly just for the benefit of its members? How does a progressive union expect the federal government, despite the cash crunch in the country and the call for restructuring, expect the government to take on additional responsibility of funding all the university staff schools?

But beyond the often trumpeted adverse effect of ASUU strikes on students and the education system, ASUU strikes fasten the degeneration of ASUU members themselves, making them lose track of and unable to participate in conversations within their disciplines thus turning them into quacks operating in silos in Nigeria. Anytime ASUU goes on strike, it directs its members to completely halt teaching, research and all academic activities. The world over, research is known to be the life-wire of serious academics. How does a serious academic therefore halt his/her research activities and picks it up after months of inactivity and still expects to be an academic to be reckoned?  It is not surprising therefore that our universities are bereft of any serious academic endeavours and our so-called academics are lost in the conversations within their disciplines. Haven cut themselves off from ‘the conversations’ with their global colleagues, Nigerian academics now create illusory ‘fiefdoms’ in the various universities where they are lords, create their own journals where they ‘converse’ with themselves, assess themselves and award themselves phony professorships with relish.

It is so bad these days that Nigerian academics can’t even participate reasonably in national discourse.  They now hold their discourse in beer parlours and staff clubs over beer and pepper soups.

At a time when progressive universities are outlawing any form of sexual or romantic relationships between students and teachers, our universities are centres of sexual harassment, rapes and transactional sex. Pray, how can any meaningful knowledge be learnt and transmitted in such an environment?

We have been deceived all along by the ASUU to think that the major problem of our universities is that of government neglect or insufficient funding. Sadly now, even when the universities are properly funded, we will be faced with a bigger problem – total lack of academics worth their salt. ASUU needs to do a thorough introspection!