texazzpete:

You misunderstand my post.
I never claimed there needed to be parity in pay between a graduate assistant in a federal university and the pay for a new employee in a private organization like Zenith Bank. My point was that conditions of service were so bad then that a man who had spent the last 5 years of his life becoming a scholar in Engineering would easily cast his discipline aside for a mundane, repetitive job as a cashier.

You'll also notice that apart from the comment on remuneration, I also talked about decaying infrastructure.




Actually, UNESCO recommends 26% of the budget for education as 'vital for national development'. There's still a lot of scope left in the 74% remaining if judiciously used. This IS a pragmatic way to develop a country.
As far as I know, we're still devoting less than 10% to Education, a far cry from UNESCO's recommendation. You may argue the 'minority of Nigerians' line, but the ripple effect from millions of Nigerians receiving top notch tertiary education in a decade will be felt by a much larger pool of Nigerians.

I respect the intellectual edge you've brought to this discussion. If only that 'oxford' fellow could learn from you!

I told you earlier on that clarity is what is lacking in you comm skills. How comes everybody is misunderstanding you?

So, simply because UNESCO recommended 26% we should just obey? Check the link below and tell me how many countries commit more than one digit figure to education as a percentage of their budget?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_spending_on_education_(%25_of_GDP)



Its ok to support whatever course suits your fancy, but you don't have to be illogical in your submission.

Take your pen and write this down:

ASUU can not hold us to ransom any longer.

Thank you

oxford:
Thank you for the correction. I guess you silly ability to communicate CLEARLY need to be worked on. All the same thanks.

Everyone else seem to have clearly understood my words. I accept your gratitude for the education I just gave you.

oxford:
However that does not in any way belittle the points I have made which is ALL human institution have challenges with funding and it thus mean by ur stup!d postulation that all institution should be on strike right now! see ur mumulity?

Some Institutions are FAR more crucial than others. Also, when underfunding moves to chronic levels and threatens the development of the nation, drastic action should be taken.
As far as I know, the presidency seems to have zero 'underfunding' problems. Wasn't it N1bn dedicated to meals alone in one year?
Careful prioritization should always be used when tackling underfunding. For example, if not for the Nigerian Senate, we would have put aside N4bn for building a 'First Ladies Peace Mission' secretariat in Abuja. Think of how many Primary school classroom blocks that sum can build!

oxford:

So what if I don't have the time to cross my 't's and sot my 'i's? on my priority list nairaland is not even on the first page.

We both know it's a whole lot more than 'crossing your 't's'. To be fair, I'm pretty sure you're being paid per post, so you're probably always in too much of a hurry to churn out your usual daily quota of drivel to worry about your grammar.

oxford:

The bottom line is ASUU is an AS$-hole and you.....emmm an as$ licker!

There you go again with the Irony . A cursory look at your post history paints an unflattering picture of you as a crude Sycophant and paid propagandist.

Seriously, I have no connection to ASUU. All I want is for my country to progress and develop. I will stridently battle you traitors that are only interested in stuffing your pockets.

oxford: texazzpete today is Saturday and I have some free time in my hands and I will gladly take you on any dim-witted, ludicrous and ridiculous comment you have.

Good thing I do not make comments of that nature.
I will respond to you as far as you amuse me. I am under no illusions that I stand to gain anything from these exchanges...you're clearly as dumb as a door-nail and your standard operating procedure on Nairaland seems to be a weird admixture of insults, GEJ cheerleading and illogical arguments. We'll see

oxford:
GEJ is here to free from the shackles of people like ASUU that has held us back for years and people like you are advocating stone age methods of resolving trade dispute.

Hmm. i could have sworn that the FG 's the entity that has held us back for years. Afterall, if the FG had implemented the 2009 agreement, our Universities should have had a marked increase in quality...and these same undergraduates that are excoriating ASUU right now would be better equipped to take on the real world.

Strike still remains a viable tool for resolving issues like these. Would you prefer methods like the Arab Spring? Popular uprisings like in Syria, Libya, Egypt?

I'd be MUCH more impressed if GEJ were here to free this country from the shackles of terrorism, corruption, power failure, inadequate health care and poor infrastructure. Paid lapdogs like you probably think he was elected to stuff your pockets, but he was elected to tackle those things I listed above.

oxford:
Am only glad that your opinion on this matter is trivial, immaterial, completely insignificant.

My opinion on this doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, true. ASUU's opinions matter. As long as they stand their ground and do what it takes to move this country forward, that is all that counts!

Hmm. You still went with 'Am' over 'I'm'. I guess you're one of those 'ineducable' people

Oxford abi hogwash, You need to keep quiet sometimes.
Your posts on this thread have been very senseless!

texazzpete:




Everyone else seem to have clearly understood my words. I accept your gratitude for the education I just gave you.




Some Institutions are FAR more crucial than others. Also, when underfunding moves to chronic levels and threatens the development of the nation, drastic action should be taken.
As far as I know, the presidency seems to have zero 'underfunding' problems. Wasn't it N1bn dedicated to meals alone in one year?
Careful prioritization should always be used when tackling underfunding. For example, if not for the Nigerian Senate, we would have put aside N4bn for building a 'First Ladies Peace Mission' secretariat in Abuja. Think of how many Primary school classroom blocks that sum can build!




We both know it's a whole lot more than 'crossing your 't's'. To be fair, I'm pretty sure you're being paid per post, so you're probably always in too much of a hurry to churn out your usual daily quota of drivel to worry about your grammar.






There you go again with the Irony . A cursory look at your post history paints an unflattering picture of you as a crude Sycophant and paid propagandist.

Seriously, I have no connection to ASUU. All I want is for my country to progress and develop. I will stridently battle you traitors that are only interested in stuffing your pockets.






Good thing I do not make comments of that nature.
I will respond to you as far as you amuse me. I am under no illusions that I stand to gain anything from these exchanges...you're clearly as dumb as a door-nail and your standard operating procedure on Nairaland seems to be a weird admixture of insults, GEJ cheerleading and illogical arguments. We'll see





Hmm. i could have sworn that the FG 's the entity that has held us back for years. Afterall, if the FG had implemented the 2009 agreement, our Universities should have had a marked increase in quality...and these same undergraduates that are excoriating ASUU right now would be better equipped to take on the real world.

Strike still remains a viable tool for resolving issues like these. Would you prefer methods like the Arab Spring? Popular uprisings like in Syria, Libya, Egypt?

I'd be MUCH more impressed if GEJ were here to free this country from the shackles of terrorism, corruption, power failure, inadequate health care and poor infrastructure. Paid lapdogs like you probably think he was elected to stuff your pockets, but he was elected to tackle those things I listed above.





My opinion on this doesn't matter in the grand scheme of things, true. ASUU's opinions matter. As long as they stand their ground and do what it takes to move this country forward, that is all that counts!

Hmm. You still went with 'Am' over 'I'm'. I guess you're one of those 'ineducable' people

Obviously you are confused.

See the contradictions in your post:

You think the university system (or would you prefer I say ASUU) is 'FAR' more crucial and yet at the breath you think the FG should pay more attention to terrorism, corruption, power failure, inadequate health care and poor infrastructure. Well on the latter, you are right - these are the issues that this govt is placing on the front burner and not you self seeking ASUU.

U really think am the only one 'misunderstanding' your post? scroll back brother!

"paid propagandist" this line have been over used by GEJ haters like you, come up with new ones please.

Lastly, you will soon be disappointed because now that payment of their salaries have stopped, you begin to hear a different tune soon, very soon.

How far with phone market or are you also on strike

Anofia

Bros, I dey wait for u oooh.

When I fight, I don't stop half way - one of us has to go down. Ask you friend, the one called ''prof''

As of you, I understand that all you want is anything that will undermine this administration. If I may ask, why do you have such an acidic resentment for President Jonathan? Your flood of deadly hate is doing you more harm than GEJ.

So super grammarian, no amount of English can change the fact that you worst nightmare will become reality: GEJ till 2019.

and before you start feeling like a super man, consider the words of George C. Lichtenberg - "Some people come by the name genius in the same way as an insect comes by the name centipede, not because it has hundred feet but because most people can’t count above fourteen"

Thanks akuya!

Eminey: So prof...look at this description...this man in his "hummer" gets bashed by a man on his "okada"....the Hummer's gets down...and grab d okada's by his throat...oh u must pay for the damages he says....the Okada's is like...oga...I no get money now....meanwhile a hold up is building(the hold up can be interpreted as us students..and others affected by the strike, the Hummer's ASUU with all the authority...and the okada man's the FG..lacking enough money as we speak).....the hold up lingers as the Hummer's bent on...pay me or the hold up's gonna last for as long..."we don't care"..."we r fighting a just course"....so the Okada man's pressured to find money as he goes away to come bck nxt year...what would u do if u are stuck in diz hold up?....what would u fink of the Hummer's that's refused to park well...and negotiate with the Okada's...averting hold up and d likes...

I appreciate the time you took to craft that analogy. However, analogies can be an unruly beast, because they do not always bend themselves to the situation being addressed. What do I mean? Your analogy is flawed in many respects. To mention a few:

1. You likened ASUU to a Hummer owner. Far richer and more influential etc than your poor okada man. By doing this, you load sentiments against the hummer guy

2. You *assume* FG cannot afford the demands of ASUU, hence you liken them to an okada man

3. In your analogy, it *is* possible for the hummer guy to engage the okada man without obstructing traffic (hence your suggestion that he should have "parked well well". If you read my initial post, you will see where I submitted, in an apologitic tone, that there is no way to pressure the Nigerian government beyond strikes. Before you pounce on that, let me assure you that ASUU has done *a lot* previously. When ASUU was writing more than 50 letters, nobody listened. When ASUU begged all stakeholders and leaders of thought to prevail on FG, nobody responded. Now we go to the unsavory final resort, suddenly you think we should "park well well?"

4. In your analogy, the people in the hold-up have nothing to gain from the issue. I admit that you have a right to believe whether ASUU is fighting *only* for allowances or for more than that. I can assure you that the reason why *I* support the strike is not just to ask for my allowances (more on that soon).

Summary: your analogy is deeply flawed.

I dont knw if ASUU has been selfish or greedy. But the fact is that FG has remained a disgrace to the citizen of this nation. A lecture hall of 150 capacity for 400 students. Two of my lecturers opt of lecturing to work wt nnpc in abuja. One of them suppose to take us petroleum accounting, very brilliant, intelligent and friendly man

4 Play: Prof Femi, would ASUU consider a termination of the strike if its infrastructure demands are met but not the allowance demands?

You have loaded this question to see whether I would stick to the obvious and risk looking "selfish". I cannot answer that question, and really, no one can. It will come down to what the majority of ASUU members think.

But come, let me ask you, all other issues aside, would *you* feel it is fair for government o owe *you* money for 4 years, and the decide not to pay any of it just because you are concerned about the system? Chew on that, and be true to yourself as you answer it.

Anyhow, let me tell you that I could be "silly" enough to accept those conditions. If the government agreed to provide *all* my infrastructural needs and pay me no allowances, *I* would bite. Heck, if the government assured me that I could fairly compete for funds to fund my research the way it's done elsewhere, *I* would even agree to a reduction in my salary. Having said that, what I have just said is an extreme view, and I would be insane to expect any reasonable percentage of ASUU members (or Nigerians of any walk of life) to say same.

theoctopus: You have been using this line and I find it very deceitful. You dont need more money to get better lecturers, except you are saying the FG should go and recruit lecturers from the USA. If you are really honest, post your salary for us to see. I have a good idea how much lecturers are paid in Nigeria because my brother is one. Interestingly, he is not interested in this your strike and thinks you guys are being selfish and deceitful. Does a good lecturer in Ghana earn more money than you? You guys are very well paid and you keep trying to tell us no good lecturer would want to receive your salary. How much is the average salary out there? Most of the folks working in banks and going around with big suits and ties earn less than you. Many MTN, Glo and Airtel staff still earn 40, 000 - 80, 000. How much is the salary for an entry level lecturer? Please tell us! And now FG is still paying billions in allowance which you claim you guys have earned by either asking students to come to you for "blocking" or harassing female students for marks! How exactly have you earned anything? In fact, it is ironic that on one hand, you claim the lecturers cant produce good students because they are not well funded, and on the other hand, you claim you have earned some kind of allowance? You mean you have earned good allowances for the poor job you do? I told you, you aint being honest at all at all!

Your post is lovely. I especially like where you asked how much Ghanaian lectures collect. In fact, to digress a bit, I once had a similar argument with a friend of mine in a top university in the US. He opined that the salary scale in the US is top-loaded, so that junior lecturers have enough incentive to hurry and work hard for promotion. The answer I gave him, which he ended up accepting, is what I will modify for you.

The average Nigerian is more aggressive, materialistic, and flamboyant than the average Ghanaian. We need salaries that will, in the first place, *attract* the very best minds here. The figure needed to convince a US scholar to a life of service is less than what it would take to convince a Nigeria in the same economic system. What it takes to convince a brilliant Ghanaian to become a lecturer is obviously less than what it takes to convince a Nigerian to do the same. Did you see the vivid example given earlier of the guy who dumped an offer of free appointment to become a cashier in a bank (even though, per your own argument, the bank job pays less). Can you tell me why?

Let us be honest with ourselves here. Did you finish with a First Class degree? Are you lecturing? If yes-no to the 2 questions, why? Otherwise, how many *outstanding* students did you know in school? How many of them are lecturing now? Please be honest with your answers.

By the time your answers are in, we will be able to collectively see why Ghanian lecturers can be paid less (*if* they are) and still work hard.

Having said all this, one thing still stands out. Apart from the salary, Ghana is said to be investing heavily in their educational system, so the working environment is obviously going to be better. That is also part of your answer right there.

I await your response.

sage007: At University of Ibadan,while this current strike is still on and ASUU members are refusing to attend to students, the Dean of Faculty of Law in connivance with the VC organised clandestine examination for the final year Law students so that they can have their children leave for Law school! SO WHY SET DOUBLE STANDARDS

It happens sometimes that when one is ignorant of the facts, one accuses others of favoritism. Nigerians in particular like this argument that "they did it because their children were involved".

The fact is that two courses have always been problematic to ASUU: Law and Medicine. In both these courses, the time of graduation determines seniority FOR LIFE. Deans and lecturers of Law and Medicine *all over Nigeria* have always been under intense pressure to get exceptions for those students where possible. When such deans now turn around to fight for the case, it is because they are trying not to let the strike leave a lifetime scar on their students.

You need to attend ASUU meetings where such cases are made. It often almost turns violent. The usually refrain is that if they were to grant such concessions to medical and law students, people like *you* will come around making this same argument you are making.

Me, I have no clear-cut stand. But I'll throw it to you: should we prevent Law and Medical students from losing seniority *for life* because we are on strike, or should we be more consistent ("principled", you'd say) and bar (no pun intended) everyone? You tell me; I'm all ears.

2.What do we say about universities giving honorary degrees to money bags of questionable characters while turning blind eyes to real deserving individuals. I KNOW UNIVERSITY DONS WANT TO NETWORK WITH BIG MEN

I personally do not go for that [expletive]. In fact, my universities is notoriously tightfisted when it comes to handing our honorary degrees. However, without holding brief for those who do, I put it to you that it is more likely a ham-fisted attempt to get the "big men" to support their universities than it is a play for personal gain. With all this noise about IGR left, right, center, who blames them?

3.Nigerian Professors now retiring at 70 years is a huge joke. While their counterparts in other educationally developed climes have their retirement age below 65 years. Everyone knows all these are for personal gain of ego & power in the ivory tower.

This also happens to be one other issue on which I do not agree with ASUU at all. Had this been the US where I know a few octogenarian profs walking spryly to class, I would have been okay. Fact is, in the current system, a 70-year old prof is more likely to just hold everyone back (I did say "likely" o, not "certain" ).

Having said that, I know exactly where ASUU is coming from, and once again, it is (tada!) the fault of funding (wait, I'm serious). The issue started, I believe from UI when they realized that some departments had found it so hard to employ *and retain* younger staff that once their professors retired in a few years, the departments would collapse. I ask you once again, why do we find it so hard to get, and KEEP good graduates

Pls let me stop cos I don't want to spill more bean! ASUU is just another typical congregation of people just like PDP, PENGASSAN, APC, NPF, SSANU etc. All fighting for personal gains & not for the common man. QED.

Please go ahead and spill the beans. This is a faceless forum, is it not? Thank you.

uzoexcel: Just to point out that the aforementioned countries u mentioned, u are designated as an INTERNATIONAL STUDENT...U obviously cant compare ur fees with those of the local indigens or home students. Moreover in the UK, most of the students are all on student lons which they would have to pay back to the government installmentally once they graduate and start working

Can you kindly tell us how much the locals of those countries pay for university education? I await your response.

switdick: Prof, wouldnt this defy your stance as a body(ASUU) for the masses{students} thus as credence to being against us the masses?....

You guys are funny...this strike is the very thing called a thankless job. I have made it clear that ASUU, as a union, will have nothing to lose by caving in and letting universities charge millions of Naira (which, truth be told, is what they should be doing, if not that FG is the Santa Claus of this country).

You say no! We are fighting for our pockets. You stone us (not literally, I hope!), mock us, call us all sort of names for fighting your dirty fight for you. Yet, the moment I dare whisper the possibility of just giving up and letting you pay for the value of your education, suddenly, ooh, we stop being the champion of the masses. Pray tell me, where have the masses ever agreed that we are their champion?

I tire o. What exactly do you want us to do?

NO LONG TIN: But personally I'm sick of ASUU, I wish they could ban that association. ASUU members are lecturers who want to live like politicians - that's the major problem. If infrastructure was their priority, VCs would invest their IGR into building labs/equipment, instead they focus on buying exotic cars and build (wedding) halls

If you have actually gone through this thread, and you're still saying "VCs would invest their IGR into building labs/equipment, instead they focus on buying exotic cars and build (wedding) halls", I am sorely tempted to ask which university you just recently graduated from.

For wetin nah?:
God bless you boku boku for asking him those questions. All we hear is 'we are not fighting for our benefits alone but for the infratructures in a various Universities'..Yeah right?! What happens if after the FG dishes out the said 'billions' ASUU is asking for and NO CHANGES are made in our Varsities after much Bruohaha? Should the FG arrest all the VCs or Governing body under ASUU? And then what? There should have been changes already with the little ASUU has, you don't wait till a trillion bucks is deposited before you budge..let's face it, our lecturers here don't do shii.iit, all everybody wants now is MONEY, and a very BIG yes..this whole drama has been meddled with politics, same thing happened some years back in RSUST.

Let me ask you a few questions. For how long have you been familiar with the state of Nigerian universities? Are they the same way they were 15 years ago? I await your response before addressing the meat of your post.

wallex1983: Kudos Prof. All I knw is dat I am an ASUU member by virtue of my profession as a university don. But I'm not proud of being one. Education is not adequately funded I believe, but we are too greedy.

If you have gone through my post, you will see that I have often stated where I don't agree with the union. I have called out lecturers when I needed to. The difference between us appears to be that I look beyond the excesses of the union and my colleagues at the bigger picture. The greed and other problems you and I have noted is no excuse for the FG not to do what needs to be done for the future of this country. The icing on the cake for me is that once FG does this, those same things I don't like will sort themselves out. Otherwise, how do you want us to tackle the question of greed you mentioned? Sacking all greedy lecturers now? But as I have asked many times, who do we replace them with (and will they be any better?

My question is: Is d health sector adequately funded? Are even d Prisons adequately funded? Don't even go to infrastructures: roads, water, etc... And even creation of jobs. Look sir, its a general problem. We can't shut down d country because of ASSU's greed.

Continuing in the same vein of separating "ASUU" from "tertiary education"... I will be surprised sir, if you, as an academic' do not realize that, based on the history of EVERY industrialized country, all those sectors you mentioned, and Nigeria itself, have no hope unless tertiary education is sorted out.

Top in our demand now is 'earned allowance'. That's what Fagge emphasizes each time.

That may be true. However, I have seen three interviews Fagge granted on this very site, and going from them, it is not true AT ALL that all he emphasized was allowances. If you have read this thread through, you will realize that I never apologized for ASUU asking for the allowances. I have lecturer friends too, licking their chops calculating how much they will get and what they will buy. The questions however are (i) did, or did they not earn such monies (ii) if yes to the first, should they be ashamed to ask for it? (iii)even if Fagge emphasizes allowances like you said, does that mean there are no other issues?

I submit, we are greedy, despite d fact that I agree that politicians also squander our resources. If we want more money, we can still join politics.

I do not know any set of Nigerians that, considering their actions and antecedents, would not be labelled "greedy". Could you tell me one sir? That ASUU is no different should not be cause to lose sleep (for now). Be that as it may, this is still not an excuse for the FG to mix up "ASUU" and "tertiary education survival".

I thank you for your time sir.

lagosph: What happens to the internally generated revenue from students and what have u? Why can't these be used to settle ur earned allowances and other infrastructions?

This has been treated before. For the sake of lazy readers (like me) however, I will repeat in summary:

Yes, there is corruption in the universities, just like there is everywhere else in Nigeria (unless you want to tell me an exception). The corruption means some money is lost, but it is usually not significant because the cost of running a university is MUCH more than people think. Simple illustration: private universities charge up to half a million Naira per session, yet, they have still not reached international levels. Why? Because even those rates are *still* not enough to run a top university.

Please check this table to see what Ghana is doing, and then riddle me why they are fast emerging as the sub-regional power?
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS

[s]Also look at this. Notice how "far behind" the developed countries Ghana is, and then, how "forward-thinking" we are:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_spending_on_education_%28%25_of_GDP%29[/s]
* I pulled that because I observed the data is dated. Still makes for interesting reading though.

Then, come back and tell me that all is well, and ASUU are just being belligerent, greedy old fools.

Prof Femi I don't know how to Thank you for the time and effort u've really put into this.I can imagine what ur wife and children would be sayin "wat has dis man been doing on his computer for some days now"..
GOD BLESS YOU SIR.

Very Soon ASUU would start sounding like SPDC and will also start payin like SPDC..
3 of my friends have always told me even b4 dis strike how they want to become lecturers in future.presently 2 are doing dia Masters.

The reason(s) they gave for wantin to become lecturers are;
(1)Job security
(2)Less stress
(3)The Pay and finally
(4)No jobs - its easier becomin a lecturer than workin in an oil company.

Prof why am sayin all dis is because I'm also thinking along dis line..I only hope afta ASUU gets all dis funds,to become a lecturer won't be as difficult as getin a job in a multi-national.

U235weapongrade:
The reason(s) they gave for wantin to become lecturers are;
(1)Job security
(2)Less stress
(3)The Pay and finally
(4)No jobs - its easier becomin a lecturer than workin in an oil company.

Thank you very much.
I am very interested in dissecting your post because no one has discussed this issue of recruiting outstanding graduates with me. Can I ask you (and please do be honest): those your friends, were they the best students at graduation (first degree)? If not, where are the best students in their sets?

Having said that, ASUU jobs will not become like SPDC after the strike because there is no salary increment component in it. Apart from the infrastructural issues, its only allowances.

I also have advice for you and your friends. If you want to take lecturing jobs because there is less stress, then you may end up like one of the "bad" lecturers we have been panning. For serious, up-and-doing lecturers, this job is stressful like nothing you can imagine. Personally, what I love about it is the relative freedom to decide what I want to do research-wise, and the chance to mould lives.

Also, the Chinese say "be careful what you wish for...you may get it!" I believe that if ASUU gets the sort of government intervention it seeks, job security will no longer be a given. I am okay with that. In the US, keeping lecturing jobs no be easy thing, unless you work in Podunk Community College...

This is how a responsible body conduct itself:

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/10/ssanu-suspends-strike-says-fg-complies-demands/

Waiting for that fo00l called texazzpete to come and display his grammar!

Son of an imbeci-le father! mothered by as$ hawker.

Oloshi!

prof.femi:


Thank you very much.
I am very interested in dissecting your post because no one has discussed this issue of recruiting outstanding graduates with me. Can I ask you (and please do be honest): those your friends, were they the best students at graduation (first degree)? If not, where are the best students in their sets?

Having said that, ASUU jobs will not become like SPDC after the strike because there is no salary increment component in it. Apart from the infrastructural issues, its only allowances.

I also have advice for you and your friends. If you want to take lecturing jobs because there is less stress, then you may end up like one of the "bad" lecturers erwe have been panning. For serious, up-and-doing lecturers, this job is stressful like nothing you can imagine. Personally, what I love about it is the relative freedom to decide what I want to do research-wise, and the chance to mould lives.

Also, the Chinese say "be careful what you wish for...you may get it!" I believe that if ASUU gets the sort of government intervention it seeks, job security will no longer be a given. I am okay with that. In the US, keeping lecturing jobs no be easy thing, unless you work in Podunk Community College...

Frankly speaking None of dem were the best graduating and I am also not one..concerning Job security that is one of the reason(s) I love the lecturing Job-i hope it would still be dia afta dis present industrial action by ASUU.

Another issue is the stress level you mentioned.I always told doze my friends its a stressful Biz,but it seems they have made up dia minds. I wud appreciate if you throw more light on the nature of the stress.I know of some which include @least lecturing 2 courses during a semester - which may not include the post graduate students,Academic advising,exams officer,HODs and Deans.

You made mention of "no salary increment component" are you sayin dat a professor dat earns btw 400k- 600k in 2013 wud still be earning dat come 2020 as his/her basic salary.

oxford: This is how a responsible body conduct itself:

http://www.vanguardngr.com/2013/10/ssanu-suspends-strike-says-fg-complies-demands/

Waiting for that fo00l called texazzpete to come and display his grammar!
Son of an imbeci-le father! mothered by as$ hawker.
Oloshi!

oxford, you must notice that I have decided not to address you anymore (and you have declared likewise you, me). However, I can't help interjecting that use of such string language does nothing to project you in a positive light, and dare I say it, improve your sense of self.

prof.femi:
Please check this table to see what Ghana is doing, and then riddle me why they are fast emerging as the sub-regional power?
http://data.worldbank.org/indicator/SE.XPD.TOTL.GD.ZS

[s]Also look at this. Notice how "far behind" the developed countries Ghana is, and then, how "forward-thinking" we are:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_spending_on_education_%28%25_of_GDP%29[/s]
* I pulled that because I observed the data is dated. Still makes for interesting reading though.

Then, come back and tell me that all is well, and ASUU are just being belligerent, greedy old fools.

Prof.Femi, I studied the world bank data with emphasis on Ghana and Nigeria. These are my summations.

1. There appears to be no data on Nigeria educational financial commitment. Also, other countries in that category were either politically unstable or economically deficient. This to me suggest that the amount Nigeria designated to education as at the time of compilation of that report was insignificant and negligible.

2. The percentage spent on education by Ghana as a fraction of the countries GDP was comparable to the the world's known most developed nations such as U.S, U.K, France, Germany E.T.C. Using the same indices of comparison.

3. However, disturbingly no country at the moment spends up to 26% of their GDP (going by that report) on education as recommended by the IMF (not sure if it was IMF can't remember the body at the moment).


Please analyse what I inferred in points 1 and 2, give me your opinion and confirm if they are correct by your own deductions.

Secondly, if my observation in point 3 is correct then would it not be unreasonable for ASUU to demand an increased expenditure from government using the recommended 26% as a yardstick.

Finally, don't you think it is somewhat misinforming to state categorically that developed countries of the world spend that amount or close to it on education when what the world bank has reported appears to be contradictory.

I have a strong feeling that my interpretation of the data in the link you posted might be faulty. Please let me know your take and kindly put things in proper perspective for me if necessary. Thanks

oxford:

Obviously you are confused.

See the contradictions in your post:

You think the university system (or would you prefer I say ASUU) is 'FAR' more crucial and yet at the breath you think the FG should pay more attention to terrorism, corruption, power failure, inadequate health care and poor infrastructure. Well on the latter, you are right - these are the issues that this govt is placing on the front burner and not you self seeking ASUU.

The fact that you can use 'ASUU' interchangeably with 'University system' shows you up as a half-wit. When we're talking about a thorough revamp of our tertiary education system, we aren't talking about ASUU. ASUU is ONE union in the Universities. The likes of SSANU, NASU et al are also very critical cogs in the machinery.
Funding the University System to the tune of the 2009 Agreement is not benefiting ASUU alone. In fact, I make bold to say it is the students that will reap a significant amount of benefits.
You probably think money given to the Universities goes through ASUU

For you second point, even if your paymasters suddenly get a strong does of common sense and implement the UNESCO recommendation in budgetary allocation, there's still a whole lot more left to tackle all those other societal ills I mentioned earlier.

Funny how you built your entire argument on what I did not say. If we were to turn your logic back on you, it would seem you're insinuating that GEJ isn't here to do anything apart from 'shackling ASUU'.

Tell me, Is the goal to 'shackle ASUU' or rejuvenate our Universities to enable them turn out much better graduates? If you insist ASUU strikes are the bane of our educational institutions, are you saying that yourself and GEJ are perfectly happy with maintaining the status quo?

oxford:

"paid propagandist" this line have been over used by GEJ haters like you, come up with new ones please.

Well, feel free to make up one of you own. Here's a fun way to do so
(Paid, Sponsored, unrepentant, imbecilic) (Sycophant, lapdog, Shill, Traitor, Esau)

Pick one word from each bracket and concatenate them together to get a new name for yourself. For example: 'Paid Shill', 'Imbecilic lapdog', 'unrepentant sycophant'.

You can come up with more fun combinations to describe yourself

oxford:
Lastly, you will soon be disappointed because now that payment of their salaries have stopped, you begin to hear a different tune soon, very soon.

The only thing that will disappoint me is if the strike is called off without a significant part of their demands being met.
Either way, I doubt anything can be more disapointing to me than the performance of your paymaster. Such a cruel blow to me...when I remember staying up late to cheer him on in the PDP primaries against Atiku. I believed in him then.

oxford:

How far with phone market or are you also on strike

i feel for you. I really do. You obviously went through my post history, hoping to see something to use to tie me to the likes of APC or Tinubu or any of the other cudgels you PDP apologists use when you're arguing on Nairaland. You have now no doubt seen that I do not spare anyone who underperforms. I have harsh words for the likes of Fashola and Tinubu in their handling of the doctors strike, infrastructure in Lagos and the Lekki tollgates saga.
I have no history of tribalist posting on Nairaland. A thoroughly detribalised Nigerian from none of the 'big three' ethnic groups. Zero motivation except to leave a better Nigeria for my children.

So what do you do? You see my interests in the 'Phones' section, m0r0nically surmise that I am into the 'phone market' and try a weak jab at me
I shudder to think what your jibe would have been had I been a prolific poster in the Romance section.

I think I overestimated your intelligence levels. I'm now mentally downgrading you from 'naive, greedy simpleton' to 'brainless neanderthal'

oxford: Waiting for that fo00l called texazzpete to come and display his grammar!

Son of an imbeci-le father! mothered by as$ hawker.

Oloshi!

Such an embarrassing, impotent display of childish petulance . I take it you have no logical rebuttal to put forward?

chreld_b:

Prof.Femi, I studied the world bank data with emphasis on Ghana and Nigeria. These are my summations.

1. There appears to be no data on Nigeria educational financial commitment. Also, other countries in that category were either politically unstable or economically deficient. This to me suggest that the amount Nigeria designated to education as at the time of compilation of that report was insignificant and negligible.

2. The percentage spent on education by Ghana as a fraction of the countries GDP was comparable to the the world's known most developed nations such as U.S, U.K, France, Germany E.T.C. Using the same indices of comparison.

3. However, disturbingly no country at the moment spends up to 26% of their GDP (going by that report) on education as recommended by the IMF (not sure if it was IMF can't remember the body at the moment).


Please analyse what I inferred in points 1 and 2, give me your opinion and confirm if they are correct by your own deductions.

Secondly, if my observation in point 3 is correct then would it not be unreasonable for ASUU to demand an increased expenditure from government using the recommended 26% as a yardstick.

Finally, don't you think it is somewhat misinforming to state categorically that developed countries of the world spend that amount or close to it on education when what the world bank has reported appears to be contradictory.

I have a strong feeling that my interpretation of the data in the link you posted might be faulty. Please let me know your take and kindly put things in proper perspective for me if necessary. Thanks

I'm sorry, I've been going off topic for a while with that oxford fellow, but i'd love to commend you for breaking the mold and actually engaging the Prof in the sort of logical discussion he's been asking for on the ASUU strike issue.

It isn't the IMF, It's UNESCO. and it's 26% of the budget, not the GDP. I'm glad you confirm that Ghana is putting a whole lot more effort than Nigerian in funding and revamping the education sector. At least if we aren't supposed to benchmark ourselves with the developed giants, Ghana's an analogue right beside us here in West Africa that we can use.

26% may be a stretch, especially when we have several other equally important sectors (health is one that is sorely lacking, security is another...then power generation etc) but there's a lot more the Government can do than to dedicate 8.7% of the budget (marginally up from 8.43% in the 2012 budget) to education.

texazzpete:



Such an embarrassing, impotent display of childish petulance . I take it you have no logical rebuttal to put forward

---

?

Arrant nonsense!

What should I be rebutting? that you are not a bast!ard or what?

Can see you have no response to my earlier post and then you select ones you feel you can respond to.

Since you cant keep up the pace, I will just give you my last word and leave your with you woes.

Go back to the zoo you came from. Monkey!

Cheers and bye for now

prof.femi:


oxford, you must notice that I have decided not to address you anymore (and you have declared likewise you, me). However, I can't help interjecting that use of such string language does nothing to project you in a positive light, and dare I say it, improve your sense of self.

Prof, thanks - just been gentle with gentle people and....

texazzpete:

I'm sorry, I've been going off topic for a while with that oxford fellow, but i'd love to commend you for breaking the mold and actually engaging the Prof in the sort of logical discussion he's been asking for on the ASUU strike issue.

[b]It isn't the IMF, It's UNESCO. and it's 26% of the budget, not the GDP. b[/b]udget) .

. Thanks for the clarification. If that be the case then Aluta Continua! On another note I suggest you ignore that mentally unstable juvenile narcissist (He knows himself).

texazzpete:
You misunderstand my post.
I never claimed there needed to be parity in pay between a graduate assistant in a federal university and the pay for a new employee in a private organization like Zenith Bank. My point was that conditions of service were so bad then that a man who had spent the last 5 years of his life becoming a scholar in Engineering would easily cast his discipline aside for a mundane, repetitive job as a cashier.

You'll also notice that apart from the comment on remuneration, I also talked about decaying infrastructure.

The above clarification of your point is a distinction without a difference. The import of your post is that someone ought to be paid more because someone else, in an entirely unrelated sector albeit perceived as less prestigious, is paid more. Whether being paid more results in wage parity is immaterial.

I don't want to turn the debate into an overly wonkish discussion but a few obvious points need to be made. A top notch engineer wishing to work in his field has 2 main options: work as an academic or an engineer in the public/private sector. If your friend didn't like the former he could have taken up the latter option. Without being privy to his particular circumstances, it would be reasonable to assume he couldn't find an engineering job attractive enough for him compared with being a cashier. If the assumption is correct, it belies the argument that funding for universities ought to be dramatically increased when the graduates can't find decent jobs in their chosen fields. Or is the thinking that increasing the supply or quality of graduates would increase the availability of graduates jobs? This is not to say that less graduates are good but that demands for more state funding requires a realistic assessment of what society gains from increased funding of a particular sector, in this case the university sector, over another. Which brings me to your second point.

texazzpete:

Actually, UNESCO recommends 26% of the budget for education as 'vital for national development'. There's still a lot of scope left in the 74% remaining if judiciously used. This IS a pragmatic way to develop a country.
As far as I know, we're still devoting less than 10% to Education, a far cry from UNESCO's recommendation. You may argue the 'minority of Nigerians' line, but the ripple effect from millions of Nigerians receiving top notch tertiary education in a decade will be felt by a much larger pool of Nigerians.

I agree that Nigeria needs to spend more on education and I have always advocated for free education up to the conclusion of secondary school. If you take ASUU demands which I understand to be spending of 1.3 trillion on universities over 4 years the annual cost, 425bn Naira, of which will be about 8.5% of Nigeria's 4.9 trillion Naira 2013 budget. Economists agree that primary education, followed by secondary education, provide more returns to society than university education therefore it follows that both must each be accorded greater priority than university education.

So how would Nigeria fund primary and secondary education if universities get at least 425bn Naira each year? More specifically, where would you cut more money from? The obvious candidate is fuel subsidy but most Nigerians including ASUU campaigned for its retention at previous levels. With a subsidy expenditure at least 43% higher than health and education combined, it means that Nigerians including university lecturers value cheaper fuel more than good health and education put together. The usual populist retort is to point to the Aso Rock food budget, legislators' wages or militants income but scrapping all these in their entirety, apart from being politically unfeasible, won't go far to meet our education needs or just ASUU's demands.

Apart from education, what about health which I think should be free for at least infants. Why spend an additional 425bn Naira per year on just universities when we have one of the world's highest rates of infant mortality (850,000 thousand dead in the last year, a mortality figure which will compete with the Biafra war casualty figures)? Is it right that our lecturers cannot subsist on a starting wage of 800,000 Naira per year, the figure could be higher, when we are facing a holocaust because of poor health facilities?

What about our infrastructure in general, investment in which is needed to grow the economy so as to provide jobs for university graduates and tax revenue to fund society's needs including the much revered universities? Is the present imbalance between recurrent and capital expenditures in favour of the former not understood as making economic growth grind to snail pace, thereby jeopardising future university funding? If increasing public sector wages were a path to development, Nigerians will be one of the richest people on earth. Compare a civil servant's wage today to 15 years ago, minimum wage has gone from 800 Naira per month to 18,000 Naira. This is a death spiral as failing to address the country's economic capacity will lead to a decline in living standards as the cost of living rises faster than wage increases. Fewer business investments due to poor infrastructure means that we have to import a lot more of what we consume but our ability to import is dictated by the exchange rates which is gradually depreciating as the supply of foreign currency, dictated by the influx of foreign investments and foreign export revenues, cannot keep up with demand. Simply yanking up public sector wages without addressing adequately our infrastructure investment needs is long term st-upid.

For me the numbers don't add up. ASUU's demands simply cannot be met within current budgetary environment which ignores the trade offs that meeting their demands entail. The populist retort is to claim that we can meet ASUU's demands if corruption is reduced. Those anyone seriously think that the extra funding to meet ASUU's demands will come from the portion of money stolen by politicians and not from the portion allocated to things like capital expenditure?

@prof femi.
Came across this on facebook and I'll love to know your thoughts on this

via facebook:

THE PURPORTED FG-ASUU AGREEMENT!!!
The reader is warned that this piece contains the
implied opinion of the writer. The reader is also free to draw conclusions.
Thanks to Qawiy Temitope for this excellent piece, I am much indebted.

ASUU Part Quatre: We Have An Agreement
Before you complain that Peter Jackson’s Lord of
The Rings only had 3 parts, I have 2 words for you – The Hobbit. First of all, shout out to the good man who dug up this agreement, scanned
it and emailed it to me. As we say here in Blighty;
you Sir, are the dog’s bollocks. Thank you.
I think the first thing that struck me about this
agreement is how strong ASUU are as a union. I wonder how other unions will feel if they see the
kind of stuff ASUU managed to extract from
government. Part of the reason for this, in my opinion, is immediately obvious when you look at the list of the people who negotiated for both sides. While the ASUU delegation was led by its President and senior members, the government side was led by Gamaliel Onosode and some other Professors and ex Pro-Chancellors. The
highest ranking members of the negotiating team from the government side appear to be some civil servants who acted as observers’.

This is not to invalidate the agreement of course – the government clearly signed it so they should honour it. But when you look at the composition of people purportedly negotiating on behalf of the government, ASUU were already 1 nil up even before anything was signed. Does anyone know why things were done this way? Was it that relations between government and ASUU had broken down to the point where they couldn’t sit round a table and trash out the issues? Not even a minister? To the agreement proper – there were 4 main issues to be negotiated
namely
1) Conditions of service [salaries]
2) Funding
3) University autonomy and freedom
4) ‘Other matters’.

Here are the highlights of the agreement as I saw them
1. ASUU asked for and got a special salary structure for themselves called Consolidated University Academic Salary Structure I(CONUASS). This CONUASS was further made up of 3 components –
1) CONUASS I [the previous one from 2007]
2) Consolidated Peculiar University Academic
Allowances [CONPUAA]
3) Rent.
The CONPUAA was apparently to capture all the other allowances that they wanted but not captured in the CONUASS. Stay with me. The reason why they were allowed this was because the committee agreed that ‘Nigerian academics represent the critical mass of scholars in the society’ and as a result of this they ‘deserved unique conditions that will motivate them [...]
to attain greater efficiency’.

2. In exchange for this new pay, ASUU agreed to be of good behaviour and not do anything that disrupts the academic calendar to get whatever it wants i.e. no striking.

3. Next thing they did was to look at the countries where Nigerian academics frequently migrated to e.g Botswana, Ghana and other developed countries. Based on this they came up with a salary structure that would prevent this kind of brain drain. They called this Table 1. The highest salary anyone could earn based on this table was N7.5m per annum. But ASUU then seemingly looked at the government’s condition and took pity on them because the government didn’t have a lot of money and then gave them some sort of ‘discount’. This gave birth to Table 2 in which the highest possible salary was N6m. The cynic in me thinks this was simply a clever negotiating tactic but I wasn’t there.

4. As far as I am aware from all of ASUU’s statements since the strike began, the government has complied with this CONUASS
salary structure. Indeed it will be difficult for the government to not pay them the salary they agreed to. It is the next bit that seems to have caused all the problems and it’s easy to see why.
Something called Earned Academic Allowances was also agreed to by both parties. In essence, this was supposed to be a kind of piece-rate payment where ASUU members as academic staff were paid a fixed amount for each
unit of work they did. So for supervising postgraduate students, a Professor was to be paid N25,000 per student while a Lecturer 1 and Senior Lecturer were to be paid N15,000 and N20,000 per student respectively.

For Teaching Practice/Industrial Supervision/Field Trips, a Professor was entitled to N100,000 per annum. Further, if a Professor did more than one field trip in a year, he would be paid separately for each one. Even though
this money was for field trips, such an academic
staff would be entitled to mileage and overnight allowance in line with government regulations. It’s unclear why, after being paid N100,000 for a field trip, the same person will then be entitled to mileage and overnight allowance. What is the definition of ‘field trip’ I wonder?

There was also Honoraria for helping to conduct exams internally or externally ranging from N45,000 for Master’s to N105,000 for Doctorate. For moderating external undergraduate or postgraduate exams, there was a separate honoraria ranging from N60,000 for 50 undergraduate students to N80,000 for more than 10 postgraduate students. To encourage young academics to ‘further’, postgraduate study grants were to be given – N350,000 per session (up to a maximum of 2 sessions) for a science based masters and N500,000 per session (up to a maximum of 4
sessions) for a science based doctorate. The figures were N250,000 and N350,000 respectively for non science studies. I am not too familiar with the intricacies of academia but another N200,000 was to be paid to external assessors for the position of Reader and
Professor. Call duty and clinical hazard allowances were to be paid to those who qualified to them per existing government regulations.
It is unclear what a Responsibility Allowance is (at least to me) but a Vice Chancellor and Librarian were entitled to N750,000 per annum for this allowance while ‘all other officers’ were entitled to N150,000. Excess Workload Allowance was to be paid per hour to teaching staff ranging
from N2,000 per hour for a Graduate Assistant to N3,500 per hour for a Professor.

You can see the problem with these allowances – there is no way for the government to know how much they will cost in advance. They could cost N10bn or they could cost N100bn. Lecturers would simply submit the bills and the government would have to cough up the
money. You can also see that ASUU played a clever hand by giving the government a ‘discount’ on the base salaries while loading up with all sorts of allowances elsewhere.
For a lecturer earning say N3m per annum, it wonttake much for he/she to earn an extra say 50% of that salary through all these allowances.
The government isn’t there on the campus so it will simply get the bill to pay. And I have not even mentioned corruption.

5. There were other non-salary benefits in the
agreement as well. Each academic staff was entitled to a car loan equivalent to his/her annual salary charged at 2% for administrative cost (stop laughing). They were also
entitled to a car refurbishment loan for those who wanted to refurbish their old cars, again charged at 2%. At least with a car loan you get to see the new car if you want to, but refurbishment? That’s just money in the bush.
For housing loans, each academic was entitled to 8 times his/her annual salary to buy a house. After 6 years service, an academic would be entitled to a sabbatical leave. If this sabbatical was abroad, the university would pay
the ‘transport’ costs for the academic, a spouse and up to 4 children. If hospitalised, an academic would be entitled to 6 months paid sick leave which could be extended for another 6 months.

Retirement age was increased from 65 to 70 and
any one who retired as a Professor would be entitled to a pension equivalent to his/her final salary.
Indeed even if the Professor retired before the
retirement age of 70, he would still be entitled to the final salary pension provided he had served as a Professor for 15 years in a university.
University staff and their spouses as well as up to 4 children under the age of 18 were entitled to health insurance. There are various other benefits in the agreement but these are mainly standard stuff like maternity and 26
days leave. What I find interesting is that while the section on pay was quite specific in what university staff were entitled to, as soon as you get to the other sections, everything turns to a ‘recommendation’. So for example it was
recommended that the government spend N472bn on the universities in 2009, N498bn in 2010 and N549bn in 2011.

Somehow, the Federal Government was also supposed to fund the State Universities (at least
recommended to) on a per student basis i.e. N3.7m per student in total from 2009 to 2011.
Another recommendation was for the state and
federal governments to spend a minimum of 26% of their budgets on education. Of this amount, at least 50% was to be allocated to universities. Bear in mind that this was a
negotiation between ASUU and the FG – the primary and secondary school
interests were not represented there but ASUU was effectively making a recommendation on how much they should get from the budget. In all this, there are 1.2m students in our universities while we need to find a way to get 10.5m children into school.

It was also recommended that the Education Tax
Fund be changed to a Higher Education Fund i.e. solely for the universities, polytechnics and
colleges of education. This would be hilarious if it wasn’t so scandalous – after taking 50% of the budget, the universities were to take 100% of the ETF as well. You couldn’t make it up but then, when you start negotiations from the premise that there is a critical mass of nation transforming scholars in our universities, this is not a surprise. I wonder if the mumu NUT who are threatening to go on strike in solidarity with ASUU know that ASUU don’t really give a toss about them.

Universities were also to access the Petroleum
Technology Development Fund (PTDF) for the training and development of their staff i.e. more money for ASUU and government was to grant universities duty-free importation rights
for educational materials. Given that even our
churches have been known to terribly abuse such waivers in the past, this is amusing to say the least. Where the agreement descends into outright farce is when it reaches the section on autonomy. Having demanded and obtained all the above things from the government, ASUU then proceeded to add insult to injury by asking
that university autonomy and academic freedom should be ‘enhanced and protected’. Note that this agreement wasn’t exactly
reached with smiles and good-natured banter – it came after a strike that eventually forced the
government to the negotiating table. So ASUU were not only asking the government to give them as much money as they could demand with a straight face, they were asking to be left alone to spend it and run their affairs as they wish ranging from changing the laws impeding university independence to allowing them admit students as they saw fit. You want the government to look after you and your family by paying everything you want and you want the same government to grant you freedom and
autonomy. Eh?

As I’ve said several times before – this dispute is all about pay and nothing else. The thing with recommendations is that they are just that; recommendations. You cant take someone to court for not following a recommendation. So it was up to the government to follow those parts of the agreement or not. But ASUU weren’t messing about with the parts that concerned them. The numbers were clearly specified which is why today they can say the government is owing them N92bn in earned allowances or
whatever the figure is. It is also the same reason
why the government feels it can throw N30bn at them and ask them to ‘manage’ it. Afterall its ASUU’s word against the government’s.

You hardly come across the word ‘student’ in the agreement at all. And there is nothing specific about infrastructure in there other than the large sums of money the government was supposed to give the universities. There are many people today making ignorant noises about government ‘honouring the agreement’ and even coming up with things that are not in said agreement as ‘ASUU’s demands’. There really isn't anything for anyone in here other than ASUU so personally I’d say, leave them to fight it out with government.

Who in Nigeria wont like free medical insurance for their family? This is why i get confused when the whole debate about education comes down to pay. Even if we had the best universities in the world, there will still be a case for paying our lecturers more. 99.9% of humans beings, when asked if they wanted more pay, will respond ‘Yes’. So why exactly is this the pillar on which the arguement always rests? You can also see the sinister side of ASUU in the draft amendment bill with the way they were eager to tightly regulate the private universities via the
NUC to protect themselves… going as far as
recommending up to 5 year jail terms with no option of fine for anyone who so much as uses his property for the operation of an unapproved university.

Be that as it may, I think the government should
honour this agreement. It should pay every last penny. That is the only way it might learn a lesson for the future. How you can send a team of ex- academics to negotiate with a team of academics on your behalf is beyond me. But hey, I don’t know what went down in those days. Once this strike is over, prepare for the next one
because as sure as night follows day, it will come.
Ultimately this document shows the impossibility of reaching an ‘agreement’
after one party has forced a negotiation via hostage taking. There is absolutely no way in this life or the next we are going to have anything
approaching education reform until we break out of this death spiral of strikes and pay deals. The conversation we need to have has not even
begun at all. My suggestion will be that the government should just pay ASUU whatever it is it wants right now and then begin talks on university reform i.e. the lecturers need to be in class when negotiations start. That
way, we can know what everyone really wants. [

4 Play:

The above clarification of your point is a distinction without a difference. The import of your post is that someone ought to be paid more because someone else, in an entirely unrelated sector albeit perceived as less prestigious, is paid more. Whether being paid more results in wage parity is immaterial.

I don't want to turn the debate into an overly wonkish discussion but a few obvious points need to be made. A top notch engineer wishing to work in his field has 2 main options: work as an academic or an engineer in the public/private sector. If your friend didn't like the former he could have taken up the latter option. Without being privy to his particular circumstances, it would be reasonable to assume he couldn't find an engineering job attractive enough for him compared with being a cashier. If the assumption is correct, it belies the argument that funding for universities ought to be dramatically increased when the graduates can't find decent jobs in their chosen fields. Or is the thinking that increasing the supply or quality of graduates would increase the availability of graduates jobs? This is not to say that less graduates are good but that demands for more state funding requires a realistic assessment of what society gains from increased funding of a particular sector, in this case the university sector, over another. Which brings me to your second point.



I agree that Nigeria needs to spend more on education and I have always advocated for free education up to the conclusion of secondary school. If you take ASUU demands which I understand to be spending of 1.3 trillion on universities over 4 years the annual cost, 425bn Naira, of which will be about 8.5% of Nigeria's 4.9 trillion Naira 2013 budget. Economists agree that primary education, followed by secondary education, provide more returns to society than university education therefore it follows that both must each be accorded greater priority than university education.

So how would Nigeria fund primary and secondary education if universities get at least 425bn Naira each year? More specifically, where would you cut more money from? The obvious candidate is fuel subsidy but most Nigerians including ASUU campaigned for its retention at previous levels. With a subsidy expenditure at least 43% higher than health and education combined, it means that Nigerians including university lecturers value cheaper fuel more than good health and education put together. The usual populist retort is to point to the Aso Rock food budget, legislators' wages or militants income but scrapping all these in their entirety, apart from being politically unfeasible, won't go far to meet our education needs or just ASUU's demands.

Apart from education, what about health which I think should be free for at least infants. Why spend an additional 425bn Naira per year on just universities when we have one of the world's highest rates of infant mortality (850,000 thousand dead in the last year, a mortality figure which will compete with the Biafra war casualty figures)? Is it right that our lecturers cannot subsist on a starting wage of 800,000 Naira per year, the figure could be higher, when we are facing a holocaust because of poor health facilities?

What about our infrastructure in general, investment in which is needed to grow the economy so as to provide jobs for university graduates and tax revenue to fund society's needs including the much revered universities? Is the present imbalance between recurrent and capital expenditures in favour of the former not understood as making economic growth grind to snail pace, thereby jeopardising future university funding? If increasing public sector wages were a path to development, Nigerians will be one of the richest people on earth. Compare a civil servant's wage today to 15 years ago, minimum wage has gone from 800 Naira per month to 18,000 Naira. This is a death spiral as failing to address the country's economic capacity will lead to a decline in living standards as the cost of living rises faster than wage increases. Fewer business investments due to poor infrastructure means that we have to import a lot more of what we consume but our ability to import is dictated by the exchange rates which is gradually depreciating as the supply of foreign currency, dictated by the influx of foreign investments and foreign export revenues, cannot keep up with demand. Simply yanking up public sector wages without addressing adequately our infrastructure investment needs is long term st-upid.

For me the numbers don't add up. ASUU's demands simply cannot be met within current budgetary environment which ignores the trade offs that meeting their demands entail. The populist retort is to claim that we can meet ASUU's demands if corruption is reduced. Those anyone seriously think that the extra funding to meet ASUU's demands will come from the portion of money stolen by politicians and not from the portion allocated to things like capital expenditure?

You make sound arguments as to why you think we cannot meet the 26% UNESCO recommendation for education. Currently we stand at around 8.7% of the budget. Throwing in an additional 8.5% pushes that up to around 17%. Is this increment supposed to be a deal breaker? As it stands, of the N400+ billion in the 2013 budget for Education, only around N60bn is reserved for Capital Expenditures. This is not a sustainable development at all!

4 Play:
For me the numbers don't add up. ASUU's demands simply cannot be met within current budgetary environment which ignores the trade offs that meeting their demands entail. The populist retort is to claim that we can meet ASUU's demands if corruption is reduced. Those anyone seriously think that the extra funding to meet ASUU's demands will come from the portion of money stolen by politicians and not from the portion allocated to things like capital expenditure?

I will defer to you on matters of Economics . It is not my forte, afterall. But there are still significant funds to be mopped up from a more vigorous sanitization of the fuel subsidy payments, for example. Subsidy payments have more-than-quadrupled since 2010, and the undoubted reason is unbridled corruption. I do not believe the corruption in that sector is as insurmountable as the FG loves to pretend it is.

Either way, we are faced between maintaining status quo (and thus continually churning out subpar graduates) or at least a VERY clear acquiescence on the part of the FG that there needs to be a 'state of emergency' declared in the education sector and the budgetary allocations to Education be meaningfully reviewed upwards (not the minuscule 'upgrade' from 8.43% to 8.7% between 2012 and 2013).

For me, I think the FG is not - and has never been - sincere in its negotiation with ASUU. It does seem they are far more interested in winning the PR battle with the ordinary Nigerian than to tackle the rot in our Educational system. I'm not surprised. As I stated earlier, GEJ himself told us all in 2011 that "the only problem with our Universities is hostel accommodation". I see nothing in his disposition these days that this viewpoint has now been changed.