In the last three months, we have watched with bewilderment the mind-boggling kid-gloves approach adopted by the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN) over its agreement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). The height of it is the last September national media briefing of President Goodluck Jonathan. The president who was asked about his position on the ASUU strike said inter alia, “In the past, they did not go this far when strikes were called off but now politics has gone into everything.” This response is an uncomplicated indication of the low level of leadership in the country. The president seeks to create the impression that ASUU strike was politically motivated. This is far from the truth and we wish to highlight some salient points at issue in the three-month old standoff for the benefit of many Nigerians who are yet to grapple with the basics.
The university is the highest place of learning in most societies. It is a place for research, knowledge production and reproduction as well as its use for the benefit of society. The commitment of academics is the pursuit of truth wherever it leads and this is central to the autonomy of the university. It is not a place to be indicted for ‘teaching what one is paid not to teach.’ It is a place of dissent and controversy and that is the dialectics of arriving at the truth. Countries which believe in the development and transformation of their society invest heavily in education. The industrialized countries of the world invested in research and capacity building and therefore were able to attain the height of development which they occupy today.
It is to be noted that developing countries that have caught up with the first world have also invested heavily in education and training. Japan, South Korea, China, Malaysia, Taiwan Singapore, Indonesia to name a few have all invested heavily in education making the respected scholar, Amartya Sen, to christen education in Asia, and especially in China, as the “Eastern Strategy”. South Korea alone commits over 60 percent of its public spending to achieve universal primary education. China invested $1.26 trillion representing 4 percent of its GDP on education in the last five years. Its institutions have access to all published journals worldwide. Indonesia invested 29.5 percent of its public spending in 2011 alone.
UNESCO recommends 26 percent of a country’s annual budget to education. In Africa, Ghana tops the list of country with a huge 31percent, Cote d’Ivoire, 30; Uganda 27; Morocco 26.1; Swaziland 24.6; South Africa 25.8; Kenya, 23; Botswana, 19; Burkina Faso, 16.8 and Nigeria hugs the bottom at 8.4. Tell us how a Nigerian scholar can compete effectively with his/her colleagues elsewhere availed with so much huge learning resources. Celestin Monga once identified four deficits in Africa. These include deficit of self-esteem; deficit of knowledge and learning; deficit of leadership and deficit of communication. In the twenty-first century, the worst deficit is that of knowledge and learning. In Nigeria and elsewhere in the continent it is due largely to naive consciousness of the leaders who believe that development can come about by miracle and rhetoric. Simply put, it is surrender to irrationality. This is the scourge which ASUU is fighting.
It is important to reaffirm here what ASUU demands are in the current standoff. The demands are that the FG implements agreements in three separate documents: the 2009 Agreement; the January 24, 2012 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF) and the July 2012 Needs Assessment Report on Nigeria public universities. The common elements in the documents are that: 1) Government shall provide N1.3tr and N1.6tr funding for addressing the rot and decay in the universities. The MoU specified N100 billion for 2012 and N400 billion for each of the three years 2013-2015. 2) Payment of earned allowances to all staff in 24 federal universities. The allowances for July 2009 to April 2013 stand as N92b. Government insists that ASUU must forget about the agreements because ‘they are just on paper’. It wants to provide 100 billion for funding and N30 billion for earned allowances on a ‘take it or leave it’ basis. ASUU says no. Do note however that even the N100 billion which source the FGN has refused to disclose is to be taken from Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) already set aside for the universities. 
Earnest leadership elsewhere knows the significance of education. Recently, France made public its policy to build a digital economy based on research and training. At the turn of the Millennium, Bill Clinton made public his policy to put every American child in school and improve the standard through systems assessment and accountability as basic requirement for today’s world economy. About the same time, Tony Blair made bold to say that the British would control the information superhighway in the new century. What is the Nigerian vision? None. The staff-student ratio of 1:30 is hardly met in our tertiary institutions and so is the staff mix of 20 percent professorial cadre, 35 percent senior lecturers category and 45 percent others. Full-time staff are complimented by adjuncts and associates lecturers in order to meet National University Commission benchmark. Now private universities proliferate the landscape with low staff capacity and churning out deficient graduates to justify the huge amount of money parents pay. Virtually all those in leadership positions in the country today have their children enrolled in schools abroad. Does anyone need to go far to know why they are not bothered?
The situation in our universities today is so bad that we cannot produce globally competitive graduates. Majority of graduates are simply unemployable. The consequence of the FG’s imprudence is that the tertiary institutions in the country will suffer a triple tragedy: half-baked graduates, deficiency of academic staff and development stasis. Indeed, many of our colleagues who out of patriotism returned to the country to help turn around the dwindling fortunes of our institutions will return to overseas where their services are valued. Without ambiguity, political and financial commitments are required to pull the country’s education sector out of the woods. 
Parents especially must realise that the ASUU cause is not self-serving, not about salaries and not politically motivated; they must also resist the logical inclination to prize their wards’ immediate plight above the collective and longer term interest of rescuing our educational system from the brink of the abyss. Everybody must hold the leadership accountable and demand for it to do the right thing. Indeed, public officials wallow brazenly in affluence unchecked and to be acquiescent at this time is to be supportive of the status quo. The amount already earmarked for the ‘centenary celebrations’ in 2014 will conveniently address the immediate emergencies in the educational sector. We therefore, employ this opportunity to call on parents and well-meaning Nigerians to appreciate the demand of ASUU and put pressure on the FGN to save education and the future of our children.
 source:http://mobile.saharareporters.com/article/university-question-sylvester-akhaine-lanrewaju-ajiboye-surajudeen-mudasiru-femi-edun-tunde-

@ op..u must b an ASUU spokesman...biasnes is writen al ova dis write-up...dis is far frm d truth imo

They don send you?

FG should cover their head in shame, 8.4% for the entire education sector is too poor. State universities though have no business with the strike.

UNESCO recommends 26 percent of a country’s annual budget to education.

Oya tell UNESCO to pay nah

@OP, let me break it down for you as an economist; Economic systems varies from country to country just because one policy worked in Egypt doesn't mean that same policy would work in Nigeria. Nigeria is spending heavily on security on a daily basis, these other countries you mentioned are not facing half the security mess we are facing. Resources are scarce and wants are unlimited, as at now the FG don't have the amount of money ASUU is demanding give them time at least unlike before N130B has been released and more to come, so should we neglect defence at this crucial stage to attend to ASUU?, we all saw what BH did to those students in YOLA. So let's reason together and move Nigeria forward, 2014 is a nice political year to nail the FG in connection with the 2015 election I bet you they must comply. Let's reason!. One of the main macro-economic goal of Govt. Is to provide 'law and order' and also a secure enviroment for it's people, and we are no way near there. ASUU's demand is legitimate but the FG at the moment can't meet up.

@applied maths

Are you saying we are spending more money than Egypt in terms of security? Which kain ogbonge lie be dat na? There is enough money to go round; don't fall for the lies of Ngozi and the corrupt politicians that are stealing our money.

ok na...una for demand for d whol of 9ja budget..selfish individuals..dem 1 reap frm where der papa no sow...@ tyms i dnt want to blame FG because ASUU arent helpn matas...ASUU are treatn a paper agreemnt as if dey loand d money to FG..

I back ASUU up all the way

otokx: @applied maths

Are you saying we are spending more money than Egypt in terms of security? Which kain ogbonge lie be dat na? There is enough money to go round; don't fall for the lies of Ngozi and the corrupt politicians that are stealing our money.

Nigeria is not even in the top 30 economies in the world,yet you expect the FG to just give ASUU 3trillion at the drop of a hat.

Appliedmaths.:
@OP, let me break it down for you as an economist; Economic systems varies from country to country just because one policy worked in Egypt doesn't mean that same policy would work in Nigeria. Nigeria is spending heavily on security on a daily basis, these other countries you mentioned are not facing half the security mess we are facing. Resources are scarce and wants are unlimited, as at now the FG don't have the amount of money ASUU is demanding give them time at least unlike before N130B has been released and more to come, so should we neglect defence at this crucial stage to attend to ASUU?, we all saw what BH did to those students in YOLA. So let's reason together and move Nigeria forward, 2014 is a nice political year to nail the FG in connection with the 2015 election I bet you they must comply. Let's reason!. One of the main macro-economic goal of Govt. Is to provide 'law and order' and also a secure enviroment for it's people, and we are no way near there. ASUU's demand is legitimate but the FG at the moment can't meet up.

What do you mean that there is no money to pay them? Stop listening to the lies of Okonjo iweala... There is money to pay them... Do u know how much is being embezzled daily? Do u know how much money that are being embezzled by political office holders in the name of allowances?
About security situation in Nigeria: we claim that we are fighting boko haram with everything we have... How do we fight boko haram effectively when they still have recruiting grounds for potential insurgents due to lack of education? It should be noted that before we can overcome the menace posed by boko haram, we must invest heavily in educational sectors so as eliminate recruiting ground of boko haram... I rest my case for now

I am certain that Mallam Nasir Faggae does not know half of what this OP posted, neither do most members of ASUU. They just want to be paid 'earned and unearned' allowance so as to continue reveling in aggrandisement to the detriment of the students.

D small fund the FG had made available ova the years for universities doesnt not even reflect on the standard of learnin
We only see lecturers buyin cars nd landed properties, to b sincere these lectures are more less concerned about d affairs of the students than d FG.
In school then, a lecturer just come to class, dictate note for 1hr nd leaves, we are to go and read up nd recopy those note during exams. Another comes nd solve a problem on the board nd teach us how to solve it, we wil solve dsame during exams. Since I graduate all I learnt during skul I hvnt used, I tod my frnds dat d only thing University did for me was making me find new frnds, evrytin I know today, I read and studied on my own with d help of books, they didnt teach me anytin.

On my opinion, I wil advocate for d scrapping of universities, primary and secondary schools shud be brought to life to teach most of d tins bin taight in universities, after which we go for vocational trainings, learn skills and help in boosting the production capacity of this country. All we learn in class in Nigeria, doesnt help at all. Cos our employas do train us on different tins entirely bfore we are able to wok. We shud say no to universities in Nigeria nd yes to the creatin of vocational training centres. I blive that was wot tok china to where they are now nd not universities...


learn skills

kaka22:
What do you mean that there is no money to pay them? Stop listening to the lies of Okonjo iweala... There is money to pay them... Do u know how much is being embezzled daily? Do u know how much money that are being embezzled by political office holders in the name of allowances?
About security situation in Nigeria: we claim that we are fighting boko haram with everything we have... How do we fight boko haram effectively when they still have recruiting grounds for potential insurgents due to lack of education? It should be noted that before we can overcome the menace posed by boko haram, we must invest heavily in educational sectors so as eliminate recruiting ground of boko haram... I rest my case for now

Strategic planning my brother, if you have N100 at the moment you can kill 3 birds with that one stone and later face the rest squarely. You and I know corruption is the order of the day in this country so why the fuss!?. Let's tackle corruption and forget about other sectors abi?. ASUU demands would be met in due time honestly 2014 there are too many pressing issues @ hand now.

[quote author=kak It should be noted that before we can overcome the menace posed by boko haram, we must invest heavily in educational sectors so as eliminate recruiting ground of boko haram... I rest my case for now[/quote] Yes, we must invest heavily in education and not university education. Education at the primary and secondary levels are what need urgent funding and equipments. U must build a solid foundation before the walls and roof of a building can be firm.

@zebra...I disagree with what u said. We must invest heavily in pry,secondary and tertiary education... In pry and secondary schools, students are only taught the basics. It is only when u get tertiary education that u will be taught more than the basics I.e a place where u can be mentally emancipated so if we can invest heavily in pry, secondary and tertiary education, boko haram will become thing of the past... Also, there should be employment opportunities

Just dont want this fuckn story, call off strike sharp! sharp!

kaka22: @zebra...I disagree with what u said. We must invest heavily in pry,secondary and tertiary education... In pry and secondary schools, students are only taught the basics. It is only when u get tertiary education that u will be taught more than the basics I.e a place where u can be mentally emancipated so if we can invest heavily in pry, secondary and tertiary education, boko haram will become thing of the past... Also, there should be employment opportunities

Do we have good basic education in Nigeria?

ejiykzazi2007: D small fund the FG had made available ova the years for universities doesnt not even reflect on the standard of learnin
We only see lecturers buyin cars nd landed properties, to b sincere these lectures are more less concerned about d affairs of the students than d FG.
In school then, a lecturer just come to class, dictate note for 1hr nd leaves, we are to go and read up nd recopy those note during exams. Another comes nd solve a problem on the board nd teach us how to solve it, we wil solve dsame during exams. Since I graduate all I learnt during skul I hvnt used, I tod my frnds dat d only thing University did for me was making me find new frnds, evrytin I know today, I read and studied on my own with d help of books, they didnt teach me anytin.

On my opinion, I wil advocate for d scrapping of universities, primary and secondary schools shud be brought to life to teach most of d tins bin taight in universities, after which we go for vocational trainings, learn skills and help in boosting the production capacity of this country. All we learn in class in Nigeria, doesnt help at all. Cos our employas do train us on different tins entirely bfore we are able to wok. We shud say no to universities in Nigeria nd yes to the creatin of vocational training centres. I blive that was wot tok china to where they are now nd not universities...


learn skills

[color=#000099][/color] i totally agree with you.. That is why it is good for us to learn skills while in schl, or even start a business, so you won't fall to dis FG crap after yu graduate. As 4 me, i no fit be govt workaholic aftr schl IJN... Not my portion. Monkey dey work, baboo dey chop, dats the nature of our country.

[quote author=zebra][/quote]yea u are vewi corect @zebra...u jus spoke lik someone who wil ignor a leakn roof in his house because he wants to build a Mansion elsewer...kudos

@Zebra... Yes, we have good basic education...we have schools that give good basic education...