By Ernest Chukwusoro Igwe
Strike as a fundamental human right across all divides of human society is a form of protest against such vices as ill treatment, unjust practices, deviation from the norms and expectations, sadism, wickedness, denials, and not keeping faith with agreements. Strikes come in different forms and may include crying by little children; contrarian discussions and writings; partial or full withdrawal of services; insurrections and public protests; overthrow of governments through the ballot boxes, demonstrations, military coups, etc. Strikes as the means of addressing shortcomings and injustices do occur everywhere in the world, and Nigeria is no exception.
The
nine-month-long – February to October 2022 – strike by the Academic Staff Union
of Universities in Nigeria (ASUU) has taken the cake in the recurring decimal
of strikes in Nigerian universities. Most Nigerians, especially members of
ASUU, believe that these strikes are totally avoidable and, even where started,
could be nipped in the bud by government’s quick intervention.
Sadly, it has always been alleged that the selfishness and short-sightedness of bureaucrats such as Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, Director-Generals, Directors and other members in the relevant Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) relish in ensuring the prolonging of such discussions due to selfish and unpatriotic reasons.
Added to this is the type of academically lazy and non-zealous latter-day students whose interests now dwell on fraudulent and immoral tendencies that have not helped in the quick resolution of these incessant strikes. There is also the as yet unsubstantiated claims of inflexibility of ASUU leadership that tend to prolong the ASUU strikes.Much more worrisome and unheard of are such unintelligent and
subtle approaches so far adopted by the various MDAs of governments aimed at
sadistically punishing ASUU members rather than solving the problems. Such
measures include: Targeted with-holding of only ASUU salaries when other
several agencies of governments on strike are receiving their salaries;
formation of rival academic unions against the statutory provisions of the
country; and alleged manipulation of the courts to frustrate the ASUU
struggles.
The operators and managers of the present-day MDAs in Nigeria seem
to unpatriotically personalize the issues and are unmindful of the negative
catastrophic consequences of their actions on the future of education in
Nigeria. One may ask what is so special about this protracted 2022 strike by
ASUU that university education will be affected in such ways that it has never
been? The answer is that this is the first time there has been punitive
sadistic punishing of ASUU for attempting to ensure that the standards and
quality of university education in Nigeria are complied with.
Also,
the students and Nigerian parents ASUU is fighting for happens not to be
supportive of their unselfish struggle. The consequences are legion and from
feelers among the rank and file of ASUU members, university education is on an
irreversible downward trend that will soon fall like a pack of cards. Such
statements from gullible and frustrated lecturers include: “University
lecturing will now be secondary to me after this ASUU strike”; “I must ensure
that I proceed on annual leave like the non-academic staff of the university
because the students we are fighting for are not interested.
Can you imagine that since over two decades of my lecturing, I,
just as every other lecturer have never gone on annual leave?”; “Since the
judiciary can now be used to scuttle such credible and genuine ASUU struggle,
why should I waste my time being more catholic than the Pope? For example, so
if I am given a death sentence, the Appeal Court will want me to be executed
before appealing as the Appeal courts asked us to resume work as a condition
for hearing ASUU appeal”; “Of what use is it for me to continue to show faith
in this job when Local Government Councilors and Majors in Nigerian Army earn
much more than a professor in the Nigerian university”; “I can also join politics
or be involved in business and do better than those politicians and business
men.”
The above excerpts from frustrated lecturers no doubt are true
positions of things with university education in Nigeria. A similar scenario
had occurred in the past but with secondary education in the 1977-1978 periods
in the old Imo State of Nigeria. That was when the then Dr. Agom Eze was the
Commissioner for Education in the old Imo State. The teachers’ strike lasted
for over six months without payment. By the time the salary was paid and the
strike was called-off, virtually all the secondary school teachers had become
involved in one form of business or the other so as to make ends meet when the
salary was not paid. The tragedy was that none of the teachers abandoned their
rescue-trading-subsisting occupation to concentrate on their primary teaching
job. Since that time, secondary school education has suffered untold negative
deprivation in standards and quality. Similarly, the fate of university
education in Nigeria will be worse-off after this nine-month-long 2022 ASUU
prolonged strike.
Those
Nigerians who studied in public universities in the 1970s, up to the mid-1980s,
will totally agree that what we have now is a shadow of what was regarded as
university education then. Owing to the stronger value of Naira to the USA
Dollar then, every reputable scholar in the world then enjoyed migrating to
Nigeria to work, seeking greener pastures. In fact, Nigeria was among the
world’s best scholar destinations.
But what do we have in Nigerian universities today? It is a sorry
and ghost state of what existed before. Worse still is that the fate of
university education in Nigeria will be far worse-off after this prolonged
strike. Most unfortunate is the negative, frustrated and heart-broken state of
the chimeric Nigerian lecturers. It is obvious that, post-nine-month-long ASUU
strike, lecturers will be grouped into: Lecturers that have left or are
planning to leave for greener pastures in foreign countries and Academic staff
that will remain behind in the job in Nigeria.
The
latter are also categorized as: “Those too old or have health challenges and
hence will like not go through the hassles of travels for greener pastures”;
“those with primordial attachments at home and therefore find it difficult to
go outside the country for greener pastures”; “those who will remain behind and
concentrate in other money-spinning activities like politics and businesses”;
and “those who do not know how to go about searching for greener pastures in foreign
countries”.
The consequence is the further worsening of an already
impoverished university system. The way out of these envisaged negative
consequences is genuine, honest, patriotic and non-self-serving damage control.
This should be through an all-inclusive thought-out process that will be
enduring like the Tertiary Education Fund (Tet-Fund) proposed by ASUU and
established by the President Ibrahim Babangida military regime. Until then
shall we know what the future of university education will look like in
Nigeria? Only time will tell.
*Igwe
is Professor of Food Processing, Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Nigeria.
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