Education: A Mirror of Society

ASUU CRISIS : MARK RESULT TO BLAME GAME

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The Senate President, David Mark, while ruling on a motion in the Senate alleged that the incompetency and ignorance of the Federal Government Re-negotiation Team who signed the 2009 agreement between it and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASSU) ,was the reason for the on-going shut down of public universities in the country.  Mr. Mark said ASUU simply took<br />
advantage of the ignorance of those who were sent and “just allowed this agreement to go on because it is obvious that this is going to be a very difficult piece of paper to implement.”</div>
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“They found out that those who were sent there simply didn’t know their right from their left and they just went ahead.’’ In his assertion, Senator Mark further said  "Listening to the agreement that was signed by the Federal Government, I was really wondering whether this was signed or it was just a proposal, but it was signed ! It only shows the level of people the executive sent to go and negotiate on their behalf because abinitio, people must be told the truth, what can be accomplished and what cannot be accomplished,’’</div>
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It would be recalled that on Thursday, 14th December, 2006, both FG and ASUU entered into negotiation in a bid to reverse the falling standard of the education sector. The then Honourable Minister of Education, Dr. (Mrs.) Obiageli Ezekwesili, on behalf of the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN), inaugurated the FGN/ASUU Re-negotiation Committee comprising the FGN Re-negotiation Team led by the then Pro-Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Deacon Gamaliel O. Onosode, OFR, and the ASUU Re-negotiation Team  led by the then President of ASUU, Dr. Abdullahi Sule-Kano.</div>
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The alleged incompetent and ignorant Government Re-negotiation Team at the negotiations include <br />
Deacon Gamaliel O. Onosode, OFR as Team Leader and Prof. Musa Abdullahi (Deceased), Prof. Greg Iwu, OON Rev. Father T. E. Uwaifo, Barrister Emeka  Nwankpa, Amb. Muh. Adamu Jumba, Prof. Mahmood. Yakubu and Senator Abdalla Wali as members.<br />
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There were also representative from Ministries of Education, Justice, Labour,Finance as well as representative from the presidency and NUC at all the negotiations. The outcome of the negotiation (2009 FG/ASUU Agreement) which was duly signed by both parties was to be effective from 1st of January 2009, but was however 'shelved' by the FG until recently after ASUU called a general strike to force the government to implement the agreement. </div>
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ASUU CRISIS : MARK RESULT TO BLAME GAME

The Senate President, David Mark, while ruling on a motion in the Senate alleged that the incompetency and ignorance of the Federal Govern...

Summary of the 2009 FGN–ASUU Agreement

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<blockquote><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>Editorial note:</strong> This post summarises some major provisions of the agreement reached between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Academic Staff Union of Universities in 2009. It does not reproduce every provision of the complete document. The original agreement covered conditions of service, university funding, academic freedom, university autonomy and other matters affecting Nigeria’s public universities. The <a href="https://asuu.org.ng/downloads%20/FG%20%26%20ASUU%20AGREEMENTS/FGN%20and%20ASUU%20%20Agreement%20%202009.pdf">full 2009 FGN–ASUU Agreement</a> may be consulted for further details.</span></p></blockquote><h2>Mandate</h2><p>Before the commencement of negotiations, representatives of both the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Academic Staff Union of Universities affirmed that they had the mandate of their respective principals to renegotiate the agreement.</p><h2>Issues for Renegotiation</h2><p>Both teams agreed that the following issues would form the agenda and focus of the negotiations:</p><ol><li><p>Conditions of service</p></li><li><p>Funding</p></li><li><p>University autonomy and academic freedom</p></li><li><p>Other matters</p></li></ol><h2>Conditions of Service</h2><h3>Salary Structure for Academic Staff</h3><p>Both teams agreed to a salary structure for academic staff in Nigerian universities known as the <strong>Consolidated University Academic Salary Structure II</strong>, or <strong>CONUASS II</strong>.</p><p>CONUASS II consisted of three components:</p><ol><li><p>The Consolidated University Academic Salary Structure approved by the Federal Government with effect from 1 January 2007.</p></li><li><p>Consolidated Peculiar University Academic Allowances, known as CONPUAA, exclusively for university teaching staff and derived from allowances not adequately reflected in CONUASS.</p></li><li><p>Rent allowance as approved by the Federal Government with effect from 1 January 2007.</p></li></ol><h2>Earned Academic Allowances</h2><p>It was agreed that qualified academic staff would receive the following allowances for carrying out the listed responsibilities.</p><h3>Postgraduate Supervision Allowance</h3><table><thead><tr><th>Academic rank</th><th align="right">Amount per student per year</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Lecturer I</td><td align="right">₦15,000</td></tr><tr><td>Senior Lecturer</td><td align="right">₦20,000</td></tr><tr><td>Reader or Professor</td><td align="right">₦25,000</td></tr></tbody></table><h3>Teaching Practice, Industrial Supervision and Field Trip Allowance</h3><table><thead><tr><th>Academic rank</th><th align="right">Annual allowance</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Assistant Lecturer to Lecturer I</td><td align="right">₦60,000</td></tr><tr><td>Senior Lecturer</td><td align="right">₦80,000</td></tr><tr><td>Reader or Professor</td><td align="right">₦100,000</td></tr></tbody></table><h3>Honoraria for External Postgraduate Examiners</h3><table><thead><tr><th>Examination</th><th align="right">Amount per thesis</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Master’s degree</td><td align="right">₦80,000</td></tr><tr><td>Doctoral degree</td><td align="right">₦105,000</td></tr></tbody></table><h3>Honoraria for Internal Postgraduate Examiners</h3><table><thead><tr><th>Examination</th><th align="right">Amount per thesis</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Master’s degree</td><td align="right">₦45,000</td></tr><tr><td>Doctoral degree</td><td align="right">₦65,000</td></tr></tbody></table><h3>Responsibility Allowance</h3><p>The following annual responsibility allowances were agreed:</p><table><thead><tr><th>Position</th><th align="right">Annual allowance</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Deputy Vice-Chancellor or University Librarian</td><td align="right">₦750,000</td></tr><tr><td>Provost, Dean or Director</td><td align="right">₦500,000</td></tr><tr><td>Deputy, Vice or Associate Dean or Provost</td><td align="right">₦350,000</td></tr><tr><td>Head of Department or Sub-Dean</td><td align="right">₦250,000</td></tr><tr><td>Faculty or Departmental Examination Officer</td><td align="right">₦150,000</td></tr><tr><td>Hall Warden</td><td align="right">₦150,000</td></tr><tr><td>Other designated officers</td><td align="right">₦150,000</td></tr></tbody></table><h3>Excess Workload Allowance</h3><p>Excess workload allowances were to be paid as follows:</p><table><thead><tr><th>Academic rank</th><th align="right">Rate per hour</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>Professor</td><td align="right">₦3,500</td></tr><tr><td>Reader</td><td align="right">₦3,500</td></tr><tr><td>Senior Lecturer</td><td align="right">₦3,500</td></tr><tr><td>Lecturer I</td><td align="right">₦2,000</td></tr><tr><td>Lecturer II</td><td align="right">₦2,000</td></tr><tr><td>Assistant Lecturer</td><td align="right">₦2,000</td></tr><tr><td>Graduate Assistant</td><td align="right">₦2,000</td></tr></tbody></table><p>The agreement stated that excess workload allowance was to be paid only to academic staff who were genuinely entitled to it.</p><h2>Other Conditions of Service</h2><p>Academic staff were also to enjoy other benefits as part of their conditions of service. These included:</p><ul><li><p>housing loans;</p></li><li><p>vehicle or car-refurbishing loans;</p></li><li><p>annual vacation leave;</p></li><li><p>maternity leave;</p></li><li><p>research leave;</p></li><li><p>sick leave; and</p></li><li><p>sabbatical leave.</p></li></ul><h2>Funding of Federal Universities</h2><p>The agreement recommended that regular federal universities would require a total of <strong>₦1,518,331,545,304</strong> for the period from 2009 to 2011.</p><p>The proposed funding was distributed as follows:</p><table><thead><tr><th>Year</th><th align="right">Proposed amount</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>2009</td><td align="right">₦472,031,575,919</td></tr><tr><td>2010</td><td align="right">₦497,531,778,701</td></tr><tr><td>2011</td><td align="right">₦548,768,190,684</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Total</strong></td><td align="right"><strong>₦1,518,331,545,304</strong></td></tr></tbody></table><h2>Funding of State Universities</h2><p>The agreement estimated that each state university would require <strong>₦3,680,018 per student</strong> for the three-year period from 2009 to 2011.</p><table><thead><tr><th>Year</th><th align="right">Proposed amount per student</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>2009</td><td align="right">₦1,144,075</td></tr><tr><td>2010</td><td align="right">₦1,205,880</td></tr><tr><td>2011</td><td align="right">₦1,330,063</td></tr><tr><td><strong>Total</strong></td><td align="right"><strong>₦3,680,018</strong></td></tr></tbody></table><h2>Budgetary Allocation to Education</h2><p>The renegotiation committee agreed to recommend that:</p><ol><li><p>a minimum of 26 per cent of the annual budgets of federal and state governments should be allocated to education; and</p></li><li><p>at least half of the proposed 26 per cent education allocation should be given to the universities.</p></li></ol><h2>University Autonomy and Academic Freedom</h2><p>The Federal Government agreed that the powers of university governing councils and senates should be fully respected.</p><p>One major source of disagreement was the use of government circulars in university administration. Some of these circulars conflicted with the statutory powers of university councils and senates and undermined due process in the operation of universities.</p><p>The agreement therefore recognised the need to protect the authority of university governing councils and senates in accordance with the laws establishing the institutions.</p><h2>Effective Date of the Agreement</h2><p>The agreement took effect from 1 July 2009.</p><p>However, the effective date for the retirement age of 70 years for academics in the professorial cadre was notionally fixed at 1 January 2009.</p><h2>Periodic Review</h2><p>It was agreed that the agreement would be periodically reviewed.</p><p>Whenever there was a general increase in public-sector salaries and allowances, the remuneration of academic staff was also expected to be correspondingly increased.</p><h2>Protection Against Victimisation</h2><p>The agreement concluded with the following assurance:</p><blockquote><p><strong>Nobody shall be victimised in any way whatsoever for his or her role in the process leading to the renegotiation and agreement.</strong></p></blockquote><h2>Update: July 2026</h2><p>The 2009 agreement remained a major source of dispute between ASUU and successive federal administrations for many years. Disagreements over its implementation and renegotiation contributed to several university strikes.</p><p>A renegotiation process began in 2017 and continued through different committees and administrations. The National Universities Commission reported in January 2026 that the Federal Government and ASUU had concluded a new agreement following the prolonged renegotiation of the 2009 agreement.</p><div style="text-align: justify;"><span style="text-align: left;">The new agreement was reported to address conditions of service, university funding, autonomy, academic freedom and other reforms intended to improve the university system. It therefore represents a later development and should not be confused with the figures and provisions contained in the original 2009 agreement.</span>.</div>
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Summary of the 2009 FGN–ASUU Agreement

Editorial note: This post summarises some major provisions of the agreement reached between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Acad...

ASUU Strike May End Soon

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Towards ending the ongoing ASUU strike, the Federal Government has committed to spending N200 billion in the 2014 budget on the universities as well as on each of the next three-four years until the universities are brought to world-class standard.  This is in addition to the N100 billion dedicated and already made available for 2013.</div>
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The government has also increased to N40 billion as a first installment, funds for the payment of earned allowances to the striking lecturers, an improvement from the N30 billion previously released.</div>
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This information is contained in an internal Federal University of Otuoke statement by Professor Bolaji Aluko, its Vice-Chancellor, seen on Wednesday night by Sahara Reporters.</div>
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On the earned allowances, he explained, “Government will top it up with further releases once universities are through with the disbursement of this new figure of N40 million, so Vice-Chancellors are urged to expedite this disbursement within the shortest possible time using guiding templates that have been sent by the CVC,” the circular said. </div>
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Professor Aluko said the development followed meetings on September 19 and Oct 11 of representatives of the Association of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities, led by CVC Chairman, Prof. Hamisu of ATBU and ASUU Representatives led by its President, Dr. N. Fagge with the Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Arc. Namadi. Sambo, Minister of Education Barr. N. Wike and others.</div>
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Of great interest to stakeholders, Vice-President Sambo, appealing to ASUU to call off the strike, apologized for the "take-it-or-leave-it"; comments credited to the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala at the onset of the strike.  The Minister did not seem to have been involved in either meeting, perhaps as the government’s way of soothing the feelings of the university teachers.</div>
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Other points of agreement at the meetings include the following:</div>
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Project Prioritization </h4>
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Universities will now be allowed to determine their priorities and not be “rail-roaded” into implementing a pre-determined set of projects with respect to the NEEDS assessment. Decisions are not to be centralized.</div>
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TETFund Intervention</h4>
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Government assured that the operations of the TETFund will not be impaired, and that the regular TETFund intervention disbursement to Universities will continue, unaffected. So the NEEDS assessment capital outlays are in addition to regular TETFund intervention.</div>
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Project Monitoring</h4>
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A new Implementation Monitoring Committee (IMC) for the NEEDS Assessment intervention for universities has been set up to take over from the Suswan Committee. The new one is under the Federal Ministry of Education and chaired by the Honorable Minister of Education. In addition, to build confidence and ensure faithful implementation and prevent any relapse as before, the Vice President will meet quarterly with the IMC to monitor progress.</div>
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Blueprint</h4>
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ASUU was mandated to submit a blue print for revitalizing the Universities to the Vice President.<br />
Prof. Aluko further stated that a signed document will soon be issued to itemize the full issues on which the consensus he had outlined here, as brokered by AVCNU, was reached.<br />
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<a href="http://mobile.saharareporters.com/news-page/asuu-strike-government-blinks-agrees-spend-n200b-each-four-years-bring-nigerian-universiti">Culled from Sahara Reporters </a></div>
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ASUU Strike May End Soon

Towards ending the ongoing ASUU strike, the Federal Government has committed to spending N200 billion in the 2014 budget on the universiti...

Ex Education Minister Join ASUU : She's Now On Strike

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Prof. Rufai says it is now unfair to ask her to speak on the strike. The immediate past Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufai, who was sacked from the federal cabinet last month, has joined the ongoing strike by Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, which she desperately tried to break while in office.<br />
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After she was relieved of her duty she had indicated that she would return to teaching at Bayero University Kano, BUK </div>
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“I plan to go back to my university, I am a professor of education in curriculum studies and I will report on Monday and then take a brief leave to have a kind of rest, but I am going back to the university,” she said.</div>
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On whether she would join the ASUU strike, which she was negotiating away while in government, Mr Rufai, said “Don’t make me controversial, don’t make me controversial.”</div>
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PREMIUM TIMES enquries at Bayero Universities, Kano, BUK where Mrs Rufai was teaching Education Curriculum before joining the Jigawa State cabinet in 2007 and later the federal cabinet in 2011, revealed that although the former minister had returned to the institution, she was yet to commence work as a result of the ongoing industrial action.<br />
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Public Relations Officer of BUK, Mustapha Zaharaddeen, told Premium Times in a telephone interview on Wednesday that the former minister had joined her colleagues in the strike.<br />
“How can she teach? She has joined the strike,” Mr. Zaharaddeen said. “She has no choice. How can anybody teach? Don’t forget, ASUU National President is from BUK.”<br />
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When PREMIUM TIMES asked Mrs Rufai on Wednesday if she had joined the ASUU strike, she merely retorted, “It is an unfair question. Ask my university.”<br />
Efforts to reach the ASUU President, Mr. Fagge, was unsuccessful, as his mobile telephone number repeatedly indicated it had been switched off. Mrs Rufai, the first female education minister from the northern part of Nigeria, was sacked from the federal cabinet alongside eight other ministers last September 11.<br />
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The other sacked ministers were Olugbenga Ashiru (Foreign Affairs), Hadiza Mailaifa (Environment), Shamsudeen Usman (National Planning), Ama Pepple (Land, Housing and Urban Development), Ita Ewa (Science and Technology). Ministers of State for Defence, Power and Agriculture, Olusola Obada, Zainab Kuchi and Bukar Tijani, respectively were also relieved of their positions. Mr. Jonathan is yet to appoint their replacements.<br />
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Before she was fired, Mrs Rufai, who became Education minister in 2011, was a member of the Governor Gabriel Suswam-led Federal Government negotiation team, which held discussions with ASUU officials led by the Union’s President, Nasiru Fagge, who incidentally teaches at BUK.<br />
However, the government team could not make any head way in resolving the issues that led to the strike which is now entering its third month, until Mrs Rufai left government, unceremoniously.<br />
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<a href="http://premiumtimesng.com/news/146741-asuu-strike-failing-resolve-crisis-ex-education-minister-ruqayyatu-rufai-joins-strike.html?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=asuu-strike-failing-resolve-crisis-ex-education-minister-ruqayyatu-rufai-joins-strike">Culled from Premium Times </a></div>
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Ex Education Minister Join ASUU : She's Now On Strike

Prof. Rufai says it is now unfair to ask her to speak on the strike. The immediate past Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Ahmed Ruf...

TETFund or TETFraud: ASUU Raises Concerns over the Alleged Misuse of TETFund

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<div style="text-align: justify;"><blockquote><p><span style="font-size: x-small;"><strong>Editorial note:</strong> This post reflects concerns raised by the Academic Staff Union of Universities during the 2013 university funding dispute. The claims of illegality, contract inflation and fraud reproduced below were allegations made by ASUU at the time and should be understood in that context. TETFund’s official history confirms that its development followed the 1992 agreement between the Federal Government and ASUU, while the 2011 Act established it as an intervention fund for public tertiary institutions.</span></p></blockquote><h2>The Origin of TETFund</h2><p>The Tertiary Education Trust Fund, formerly known as the Education Trust Fund, was a product of a challenge posed to ASUU by the Federal Government in the early 1990s.</p><p>The government challenged ASUU to propose other viable sources of funding that could be used to support tertiary education through interventions outside the regular government budget.</p><p>ASUU developed a detailed policy and management structure for the proposed Education Trust Fund, which formed part of the 1992 FGN–ASUU Agreement.</p><p>At its initial conception, the fund was intended as a special intervention for tertiary education. However, the military government later expanded its scope to cover all levels of education—primary, secondary and tertiary.</p><p>According to ASUU, spreading the intervention across all levels prevented the fund from making the intended significant impact on tertiary education.</p><h2>Establishment of TETFund</h2><p>In 2011, the Education Trust Fund law was repealed and replaced by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (Establishment, Etc.) Act.</p><p>TETFund was established as an intervention agency for the rehabilitation, restoration and consolidation of tertiary education in Nigeria.</p><p>While TETFund had made visible contributions to tertiary education, ASUU warned against attempts to turn it into the principal funding agency for tertiary institutions instead of maintaining it as a supplementary intervention agency.</p><p>The union argued that the regular funding of universities remained the responsibility of government and should not be transferred to TETFund.</p><h2>Funding of the New Federal Universities</h2><p>ASUU claimed that this concern was reflected in the manner in which the 12 new federal universities were being funded.</p><p>According to the union, after each university received a take-off grant of ₦1.5 billion from TETFund, another ₦2 billion was allocated to each institution through the National Universities Commission for the provision of “critical infrastructure” at its permanent site.</p><p>ASUU argued that this arrangement violated the TETFund Act because the Fund was meant to support existing public tertiary institutions rather than finance the establishment of new ones.</p><p>The union also questioned whether similar support would be extended to state governments seeking to establish new universities.</p><p>ASUU further claimed that the new universities had received little funding outside TETFund, except for the use of the University Stabilisation Fund to meet some personnel costs.</p><h2>Hostel Development Grants</h2><p>A hostel-development grant of ₦2 billion was reportedly approved for each of the 12 new federal universities.</p><p>However, ASUU alleged that the money was paid to the National Universities Commission to administer instead of being released directly to the universities.</p><p>The union argued that this violated the established procedure within the university system.</p><p>According to ASUU, money intended for universities should be released directly to the institutions and not to regulatory agencies.</p><p>The union also objected to the NUC acting as a tenders board, awarding contracts and sending contractors to the universities.</p><h2>Alleged Inflation of Contracts</h2><p>ASUU further alleged that the contracts awarded through the NUC were excessively inflated.</p><p>According to the union, approximately ₦1.2 billion of the ₦2 billion allocated to each university was intended for hostel construction, while the remaining amount was to be used for an ICT centre and administrative buildings.</p><p>The proposed hostel in each university was expected to contain 140 rooms and 560 bed spaces, with four students occupying each room.</p><p>At a cost of ₦1.2 billion, ASUU calculated that:</p><ul><li><p>each bed space would cost approximately ₦2.143 million; and</p></li><li><p>each room would cost approximately ₦8.571 million.</p></li></ul><p>The union described the amounts as excessive and argued that intervention funds meant to improve declining tertiary institutions were being reduced through inflated, misplaced and irregular contracts.</p><h2>Microteaching Laboratories in Colleges of Education</h2><p>ASUU raised similar concerns about grants for microteaching laboratories in colleges of education.</p><p>According to the union, ₦12 billion was taken from TETFund for the construction of microteaching laboratories, but the funds were not released directly to the benefiting institutions.</p><p>Instead, the money was reportedly allocated to the National Commission for Colleges of Education through the Federal Ministry of Education.</p><p>ASUU argued that the NCCE, as a regulatory agency, was not intended to be a direct beneficiary of TETFund intervention grants.</p><p>The union stated that a single-hall structure intended to serve as a multimedia teaching laboratory was being constructed in each of 58 colleges of education at a cost of ₦200 million per institution.</p><p>While ASUU acknowledged that providing microteaching laboratories was relevant to teacher education, it criticised the process and described the contract costs as excessive.</p><h2>First-Class Graduate Scholarship Scheme</h2><p>The union also criticised the use of more than ₦1 billion from TETFund and the Petroleum Technology Development Fund to sponsor first-class graduates for postgraduate studies abroad.</p><p>More than ₦600 million was reportedly taken from TETFund for the programme.</p><p>ASUU argued that the beneficiaries were not members of staff of public tertiary institutions and that the expenditure therefore violated Section 7 of the TETFund Act.</p><p>The union also objected to the funds being administered by the NUC when a Federal Scholarship Board already existed within the Ministry of Education.</p><h2>ASUU’s Position</h2><p>ASUU called on the Federal Ministry of Education, the TETFund Board and the management of the Fund to respect the law establishing TETFund.</p><p>The union insisted that every operation and transaction involving the Fund should be guided strictly by the provisions of the Act.</p><p>It warned that it would not remain silent while bureaucrats and politicians allegedly took advantage of the absence of a properly constituted board or substantive executive secretary to misuse the Fund.</p><p>ASUU maintained that TETFund should remain an intervention agency and should not be used as a replacement for government’s responsibility to fund public tertiary education.</p><h2>ASUU’s Demands</h2><p>ASUU called on the Federal Government to:</p><ol><li><p>immediately investigate the alleged irregularities involving TETFund, the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Universities Commission, and prosecute anyone found responsible;</p></li><li><p>direct the TETFund Board to ensure that funds meant for universities and other tertiary institutions were released directly to the institutions rather than regulatory agencies;</p></li><li><p>ensure that the approved 2013 TETFund budget allocations were implemented as approved; and</p></li><li><p>direct TETFund to begin releasing the 2013 regular and special interventions to all benefiting institutions without mixing them with the special intervention arising from the implementation of the 2009 FGN–ASUU Agreement.</p></li></ol><h2>Conclusion</h2><p>The central concern raised by ASUU was that TETFund should remain a supplementary intervention fund rather than becoming the main source of government funding for tertiary education.</p><p>The union also demanded transparency, direct disbursement to benefiting institutions and strict compliance with the law establishing the Fund.</p><p>Whether every allegation made at the time was eventually established or not, the statement highlighted the importance of accountability in the management of funds intended to improve Nigeria’s public tertiary institutions.</p></div>
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TETFund or TETFraud: ASUU Raises Concerns over the Alleged Misuse of TETFund

Editorial note: This post reflects concerns raised by the Academic Staff Union of Universities during the 2013 university funding dispute....

ASUU Strike: More Than 100 Days After…

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Tuesday last week marked exactly 100 days that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) began an indefinite strike that has shut down all the public universities in our dear country, Nigeria.<br />
Unfortunately, there seems to be no headway in the negotiations to resolve the crisis, going by the rhetoric of the zonal coordinator, Benin zone of ASUU, Dr. Ighalo Sunny. </div>
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While noting that the union appreciates the interest shown by various stakeholders in the crisis, he said, rather ominously: “But that will not stop us from finding lasting solution to the decay in our education sector. So, even if it takes us another 10 years, we will remain at home until the right thing is done.”<br />
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Instructively, the Federal Government believes it has already done enough to make ASUU call off its strike. In the course of his media chat on the eve of the country’s 53rd Independence anniversary two weeks ago, President Goodluck Jonathan indeed alleged that politics had crept into ASUU’s industrial action.<br />
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The President noted that he does not control the resources of the states and wondered why lecturers in state universities are also on strike over a matter that had to do with demands on the federal government.<br />
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While there may be no statistical measure of the cumulative damage done to the system in the course of the current ASUU strike that is now in its fourth month, it is evident that education, the bedrock of any society, has become a huge joke in our country. Incessant industrial actions have combined with inadequate attention to damage, almost beyond repairs, our institutions of higher learning.<br />
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Strike actions are sometimes justified by the fact that government officials, both at state and federal levels, have acquired a reputation for responding to issues only when they have assumed crisis proportions.<br />
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The present ASUU strike, for instance, shows no marked shift from tradition. The union and the government agreed on certain terms by arbitration, through the Gamaliel Onosode Panel, as far back as 2009. One of the major demands of the university teachers, besides the issue of emoluments, was the need for increased sectoral allocation to education in the annual budget to meet the minimum standard as enunciated by UNESCO.<br />
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The frustrating state of implementation of the agreements freely entered into, as well as the resort to strike, was aptly captured by ASUU President, Dr Nasir Fagge, when he said: “If we fold our arms, the system would die anyway. So, it is better to do something. It is because we have been going on strike intermittently that we have a system in the country”.<br />
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While the lecturers may have a point, it is also a fact that they are fast losing credibility in the eyes of several Nigerians. In the present trade dispute, as we had occasion to point out recently, ASUU is putting premium on personnel entitlements and welfare issues.<br />
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Yet the union has rarely been heard in demanding performance from its members as part of the contract with the nation. Even when we hold government accountable for the current state of the educational system, ASUU has not done itself any favour by its constant recourse to the strike option at the slightest excuse.<br />
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It is also clear that most of the university lecturers, especially the very active ASUU members and officials, do not improve themselves intellectually as serious scholars.<br />
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It is therefore no surprise that no university in Nigeria is ranked among the world’s first 500. Even within the continent, the dismal performance of our universities is better appreciated by the large number of Nigerians trooping to neighbouring countries within the West African sub-region to earn degrees. There is an urgent need to resolve the current crisis, so that our public universities can reopen and students go back to the classrooms. </div>
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Every day they are shut out of school exposes them to the danger of ultimately not being useful to themselves and to the larger society. While ASUU remains adamant with reference to the agreement under dispute, the rot it is also nurturing by virtue of incessant strikes should also not be lost on the lecturers.<br />
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<a href="http://www.osundefender.org/?p=126531">Source</a></div>
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ASUU Strike: More Than 100 Days After…

Tuesday last week marked exactly 100 days that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) began an indefinite strike that has shut do...

Akomst Education