ASUU STRIKE: Hope rises as lecturers agree
to call off STRIKE, but demands for N200b
more
NO one single sentence can succinctly capture the rot
that has progressively emasculated Nigeria’s
education sector.
The dysfunction is exemplified in the current strike by
the Academic Staff Union of Universities, which started
on July 1 over funding dispute. The industrial action has
grounded activities in federal and state Universities,
sending undergraduates out of school for almost four
months.
For a leader who wants to leave a mark, the prolonged
ASUU strike should be an opportunity for President
Goodluck Jonathan to jump-start a serious discussion
about the future of higher education in Nigeria. Since
the government and teachers have failed to agree, an
emergency has to be declared so that the problem can
be solved holistically.
There are two main issues arising from the Federal
Government’s non-implementation of the 2009
agreement between the lecturers and the government
that forced them (lecturers) to embark on their “total
strike.” The first is the non-payment of “earned
allowances”, or overtime pay. ASUU has a N92 billion
figure for this.
Out of this, the government, claiming that it would go
bankrupt if it had to meet all of ASUU’s demands, has
provided N30 billion. ASUU however insists that the
money has to be fully paid before lecturers can return
to their teaching posts.
Should there be this kind of shameful hubbub in a
nation that earned about N11 trillion in revenues in
2012? It shouldn’t if the two parties are focused.
Two, ASUU, seeing the degradation of hostel
accommodation, libraries, laboratories and research in
Nigerian universities, wants the government to fund
infrastructure development with N400 billion.
According to Nyesom Wike, the minister supervising
the education Ministry, the government has provided
N100 billion, and has added another N100 billion
sourced from the Tertiary education Trust Fund. This
leaves a balance of N200 billion, which, again, ASUU
insists must be given before it calls off its strike.
But it is a fatal flaw for the lecturers to think that
meeting the demands of ASUU will end the rot in the
education system, and restore the sector to the
halcyon days. No, it won’t. In fact, paying off the
lecturers will only paper the deep cracks bedevilling the
sector. This is not in the interest of the nation, and is
certainly not good for the students and parents who
have been calling on the government to end their
ordeal. Meeting the lecturers’ demands will only
cement the tarnished era producing half-baked, poorly-
educated graduates who are not fit for the labour
market.
The rot in the University system is deep. To be
successful in their research and teaching missions,
Universities need to be able to take their own
decisions, which only organisational, financial, staffing
and academic autonomy can guarantee. But Nigerian
public Universities are run like an extension of a
government agency. ASUU says circulars are
emanating in most cases from the National
Universities Commission, NUC, interfering in the day-
to-day running of the Universities. While governing
councils of Universities are dissolved at a drop of a hat,
vice chancellors are reportedly summoned by SMS to
come to Abuja.
Since 1999, when Nigeria returned to civil rule,
lecturers have been on strike for a total of “30 months
out of 156 months, or 20 per cent of the total time in
the past 13 years,” according to TheScoop, an online
publication. “This is an equivalent of six semesters or
three academic sessions,” the publication added. The
worst of the strikes lasted for six months between 2003
and 2004 when lecturers demanded that professors
had to retire at the age of 70. But more than this, our
whole education structure is in a shambles. From
primary to secondary and tertiary levels, education in
Nigeria has collapsed. Standards in Universities are at
historic lows, yet, private Universities unjustifiably issue
first class degrees to their products.
The problem is that there is so much corruption in the
system. Universities not only mismanage the little
funds being given to them, they also engage in
unwholesome practices such as extortion and
examination fraud. With wanton abandonment, they
regularly admit more intakes than their carrying
capacity, with a school like the University of Ibadan,
which can carry only 12,000 students, having 40,000.
How to resolve the problem?
Our Universities face a grim choice. First, declare a
moratorium in the establishment of new public
Universities and review the guidelines for private ones.
The present number of 74 federal and state
Universities is unwieldy and the Federal Government is
fooling itself that it can fund its own share. As a matter
of urgency, Abuja has to stop the 12 new federal
Universities it established with a grant of N1 billion
each earlier this year.
This is a political joke carried too far as it will worsen
the funding crisis. As a nation, we have to come to the
painful reality that it is time to declare an emergency in
education that will lead to a total overhaul of the
system. Infusions of more public money will not clear
the rot. Ghana has gone this path before so it should
not be seen as a bad proposition.
Academic excellence is the hallmark of University
education, but it does not come cheap. Our
Universities’ overdependence on public funding is not
neat enough. State Universities have to be separated
from federal ones in the new system since their
sources of income are not the same. While the Federal
Government collects 52.68 per cent of public income,
and states 26.72 per cent, it is unjust to subject the
workers on the two platforms to the same reward
system.
It should be noted that Universities are not simply
vocational Institutions churning out graduates to meet
the needs of the marketplace, and a degree is not
merely a meal ticket. A well-educated citizenry is a
benefit both to the individual and to the state. Our
public Universities need huge funds to repair decades
of neglect. Also, it is time to introduce tuition for
University education, as painful as it seems. University
education is expensive and those who desire it must
be ready to pay, since the government cannot fund it
wholly. The United Kingdom may raise its University
tuition benchmark from £9,000 to £16,000 per session;
undergraduates pay heavily in the United States
though a level of subsidy and scholarships are
provided by the state.
If we must put the knowledge economy at the heart of
the nation’s development, the deception that goes with
funding of our University education must end. We must
set the compass in the right direction. While parasitic
bureaucracies like the Joint Admissions and
Matriculation Board should be scrapped, the NUC, a
creation of the military that has over-centralised the
system, has to be overhauled.
VNTI
Short URL: http://www.osundefender.org/?p=127814

Blah, blah, blah

hijacke: Blah, blah, blah

Hahahahaha.
Blabbing indeed

Y e b say na osundefender go carry dis news,who r dey

Let's continue in the 'hope' na. Lol

Beloxxy: Let's continue in the 'hope' na. Lol

hope for osun defender news

quote

odizeey: hope for osun defender news

Wetin man go do na,this strike wan scarra my head

Beloxxy:
Wetin man go do na,this strike wan scarra my head

naso o,which school

odizeey: naso o,which school

ABSU,what about you?

Beloxxy:
ABSU,what about you?

just admitted to unibenn

odizeey: just admitted to unibenn

Estate Management,200lvl.Congrats,which course?

Beloxxy:
Estate Management,200lvl.Congrats,which course?

thnks,its bnking n finance