By tunde2013abatan@gmail.com 08165660217
The Academic Staff Union of Universities,ASUU, is in the news again.
Not necessarily for the wrong reason but primarily because it is tired of entering into agreement with the federal government which has failed to keep it’s words in the past thirteen years. ASUU is enraged,understandably too,that after putting on hold its strike action, the other party in the deal failed to honour its own part of the bargain.
Hence,as hinted by Dr Socrates Ebo, the chairman of the ASUU chapter of Federal University,Otuoke,FUO,the leading trade union may down tools again anytime from now.
This time arround it may not give any notice but simply to return to it’s suspended strike action which was suspended in December 2020 after government pledge to implement three of it’s demands.
It will be recalled that suspension of the strike was done after various stakeholders and even traditional rulers have begged,cajoled and appealed to ASUUs conscience to call off the year long strike which has further paralysed our tertiary education sector.
Today,thirteen years after federal government delegation put pen to paper,it is yet to honour the 2020 renegotiated agreement presented by the President Muhammadu Buharis government acting on the Mallam Adamu Adamu, education minister and his labour counterpart,Dr Chris Ngige.
It is important to note that the panel which drafted the agreement in question was set up by the federal government itself .
But as it is usual, no part of the deal not even the Integrated Payroll and Personal System(IPPIS) which was replaced by the modified University Transparency Accoubtability Software(UTAS) have been implemented while the education sector continued to suffer atrophy.
ASUUs warning this time was handed over by the trio of,Ebo, Dr Austin Ado and Prof Stanle Ogun,National Investment Secretary and Port Harcourt Zonal Chairman respectively.
Ebo stated further that the union is tired of “government endless promises and never -ending negotiations. We have zeroed our demands to three major issues,signing of the renegotiated 2009 agreement,adoption of UTAS and amendment of the National University Commission(NUC) Act.”
It will be recalled that one of the reasons why the University teachers kicked against introduction of IPPIS is that it had caused disruptions in the operations of federal universities.
If the federal government had indeed dropped the IPPIS platform because it is fraught with gross loopholes that have caused it to lose billions of naira to sharp practices and outright inefficiency in the sector,why has it refused to implement the new UTAS.?
Is it for lack of political will to implement an agreement reached with ASUU by the committee made up of it’s chosen men?
With thirteen years in the bargaining it is doubtful whether a couple can ignore non- implementation of agreement by both parties for their union to last.
In Nigeria, as succeeding governments at all levels, has a natural penchant for lack of continuity in policies implementation so does it lack moral ground to honour agreements.
Yet between then and now,Ebo said,” federal and state government have continued to establish universities like constituency projects” adding “politicians are outdoing themselves to establish universities in their villages.”
He further painted a gloomy future of education when he declared,”what these governors are doing is to establish universities they have no intention of funding and then write to TETFUND to divert fund meant for the existing state universities to their mushroom universities”.
His assertion is not only correct but true.
At the last count,Nigeria has 170 approved universities with Federal government having 43,state government 48 and private sector 79.
Yet,both the National Assembly like state governors are keen on passing bills for new universities when existing ones are mere glorified secondary schools.
Before last week warning by ASUU,the federal government had in December 2020 promised to release a N20 billion stabilization fund to enable the universities meet some urgent needs to continue while the three areas of initial agreement are sorted out.
Today,not a dime have been released out of the fund.
Dr Lazarus Maigoro,Chairman of the University of Jos chapter of the Union added his voice to Ebo of FUO that “proliferation of universities in the country are done for political reasons.”
He described the federal government as an unfaithful spouse adding that as a result “the union will not relent until the standard of education is improved in the country.”
But then, could a government that failed to honour a thirteen years agreement do anything tangible.?
As for Maigoro,the federal government in spite of it’s pronouncements,”is a serial promise breaker and likened to “an unfaithful spouse,they are unable to match their words with any action”.
This attitude he observed,is affecting the education sector.
With the fore going,is it not too apparent that the federal government is deliberately killing the education sector more so when it kept on giving out license to new private universities?
Should ASUU proceed with it’s indefinite strike,what assurance is there to reduce the apparent brain drain that has depleted the nations human capital resources on which it has spent collosal amount to train.
Ironically,most of those at the helm of affairs in the country today are beneficiaries of the relatively stable and developed education system of the 50-90s.
Is it an elite conspiracy to kill public education system to make quality education available only to the few rich ?
Where do we go from here?
These are indeed interesting times for education in Nigeria.
With the experience ASUU have had in the past thirteen years trying to get a reasonable policy to arrest the decay in the tertiary education sector off the ground, it had better be on guard for election year promises and declaration to calm frayed nerves and cajole the electorate for obvious advantages.
The question is,will it have the grace to do the needful and implement far reaching policies to save the crumbling education sector in the face of Nigerias economic fortunes.
