this whole issue of ASUU strike and the federal govt is getting out of hand.plz can we student devise a means of solving this problems plz opinion should be posted thru replies.!!!

THIS WHOLE ISSUE OF ASUU STRIKE AND THE FEDERAL GOVT IS GETTING OUT OF HAND.PLZ CAN WE STUDENT DEVISE A MEANS OF SOLVING THIS PROBLEMS PLZ OPINION SHOULD BE POSTED THRU REPLIES.!!! EDUCATION

ASUU and national development
By Kehinde Adefemi
Posted to the Web: Thursday, April 26, 2007



The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has become a reprehensible agent provocateur in the focussed effort of the Federal Ministry of Education to rescue the educational system and make our children employable in today’s competitive world.

Its belated attempt to talk about broad national issues is belated and can be easily seen as a ragged attempt to sound serious under a leadership that has acquired a reputation for incoherent posturing.

If ASUU has shown any real determination to fight within the last year or so, it is against everything that would create an inclusive environment for resolving the extant and compounded problems of the sector; which ASUU itself helped to create.

It is shocking that a once -vibrant platform for ‘the gathering of wits’ around the Nigerian Project should degenerate into body that now spends all its time saying that it is a trade union. The primacy of the education sector in societal development and the need to make our system respond to the demands of global change and challenge are all lost on ASUU.

Nations that have achieved meaningful progress are those that have demonstrated commitment to the pursuit of quality education for their citizenry and those with an intelligentsia that knows its onions. But ASUU is at daggers drawn with an education sector that it watched go under. Neither in its articulation of counter arguments to the reforms nor in its self-presentation has ASUU been anything but beggarly and pathetic.

It is in this light that the current strike action undertaken by ASUU comes into odious focus.

As part of the on-going reform agenda of the Federal Government, the Federal Ministry of Education has initiated and is implementing a range of programmes for all tiers of education in the country.

Although the reform programmes were outcomes of extensive stakeholder consultations across the country, ASUU which initially discussed frankly with the Minister and the Ministry suddenly went berserk and announced that their problem was not with the current Minister of Education. At the moment ASUU major distinguishing feature is a widely acknowledged lack of capacity for informed debate.


It has learnt nothing from its disastrous conference of last year, which one one Ogungbemi from Akure rightly described as ‘miserable’. If ASUU is recording any successes at the moment, it must be in the area of sending confusing signals to parents, the government and the international community.

A comparative assessment of the mode of operation of the body leaves much to be desired. Even where they once had a case, they have made the issues threadbare by pointless wrangling and a combative posture that is at least 10 years out of date. One is concerned about the welfare of academics in the country, but ASUU has really become something of a nuisance in its very predictable, knee-jack responses to serious issues.

The real issues that have provoked ASUU’s strike actions in the last five years are encapsulated in its myopic focus on the welfare of its members. Its once altruistic halo is now in tartars. Its agenda-setting role of the seventies and eighties has given way to a reactive, sullen and sulking distemper. Scholarship, not to talk of sound scholarship, is not the issue anymore. A holistic approach to addressing the problems of the sector is sacrificed on the altar of a presumptuous attitude that denies other actors within the tertiary education environment a voice that could promote more encompassing solutions. ASUU certainly has the right to argue for its members’ welfare and all that, but the recurring decimal of pretending that the only way to relate to government is to appear implacable is open to question.

Is ASUU’s strike a patriotic gesture? Let’s ponder the growing speculation that ASUU has reached an understanding with some politicians to improve the supply of thugs for the 2007 elections by keeping our youths out of school for the period. Why now and why in the middle of an on-going negotiation? Why does ASUU often embark on their strike actions when the semester examinations are about to commence? If ASUU finds it convenient to time their strike actions to coincide with such critical periods in a student’s life, are they friends or enemies of parents, students and the national economy? When the students are deprived of the right to study, or to sit for their examinations, what other activities does ASUU expect these young people to engage in?

Would increasing student involvement in violent crimes and other nefarious acts be considered ‘extra-curricular’ activities? Should we be surprised to see university students, released prematurely from school work, engaged as political thugs, especially during the on-going electoral campaigns of over 30 political parties? The timing of ASUU’s strike action during a critical electoral process, leaves little to the imagination. It is common knowledge that some members of the union are consultants to a number of political parties

Strike actions and other disruptions in academic activities also enable some ASUU members to pursue contracts and other patronage with the same Government agencies which they often vilify - using their ex-students in top positions. How many ASUU members can give an emphatic “NO” or “NEVER” to the following questions, among others: (i)Do you award good grades to some of your students in exchange for financial or other favours? (ii)Do you write projects, or parts thereof, [or contract out same] for your students for a fee? (iii)Do you merely recycle your lecture notes from one semester or class to the other? (iv)On balance, do you accord more time to your consultancies and other private interests than your school work, for which you are registered as a full-time employee of Government?

Nigerians have become increasingly discerning of the motives and intentions of our new, self-styled academic elite. Many people were fooled in the past, but not anymore. As the age-long saying goes, “error will always float on the surface”. The people will judge for themselves the roles their various elitess have played in the making or unmaking of their fortunes. The ASUU is obviously out of its depth under the current leadership and needs a rescue job. As a platform for promoting discourse and development, its contributions have now become visibly retrogressive and counterproductive.

for more info go to:http://www.vanguardngr.com/articles/2002/features/education/edu226042007.html

And how do u tink we student can solve d problem of ASUU nd d govt.Pls any body know d latest on unijos diploma stundent resumption date,nd when dey re realisin d list of d diploma student.

but i heard it is may 7th for uniben resumption date.but i am not certain.plz if any of u have any info on this plz reply me okay!!!!!

hello. i am a uniben student too and i have no idea when the school is resuming pls anybody with uncles in ASUU pls inform us of any development.I have gone ahead and started my industrial training till whenever they call us back.take care

As its said in the town. ASUU and people of goverment are gonna hold a meeting on 9th and 10th of this month. Our is that the meeting to have a good ending aggrement.Ameen

I think i heard May 29th thats after swearing in of the new government.Which ever the case it is, the issues shld be solved once and for all.

hi,new member,i learnt it had been postponed till 14th Jan. Any 200L Engine. student, when does ELA reg. begin?

am in 300l engr. Ela registration will be when school resumes and thats by 3rd feb. Maybe 2 weeks after that date