WHO defines Health as a state of complete
physical, mental and social well-being and not
merely the absence of disease or infirmity. (Emphasis mine)
Has anyone, therefore, bothered to find out
the mental health challenges and social disruption that ASUU strikes impose on
the youth of this nation? Do students have any rights to uninterrupted academic
calendar?
We grew up with the name “ASUU” evoking
imagery of militancy, disruption of academic calendar, forced holidays on
students and parents, and general uncertainty on career and future of
university students in Nigeria. That was decades ago. Unfortunately, nothing
has changed about ASUU and their mode of engagement with government till date.
What do we usually get from ASUU strike? University
lecturers rightfully lament about the poor state of our universities and the
educational sector generally. And following one failed negotiation after
another, with successive governments, strikes are called.
What is this strike? Services/teachings are
withdrawn and our universities become a ghost town.
Parents and guardians toss from one side of the bed
to another thinking how to manage the emergency of their "jobless"
children.
The future of the students is put on hold
indefinitely.
The government in place appears to move on to the
next item on the menu as the effect is apparently not directly felt.
Their children are either in private universities
or studying outside of the country.
ASUU members, hitherto moonlighting in private
universities or in some other endeavours, could now devote the entire time for
their private pursuit. After the strike or even within it, ASUU still expects
all salaries be paid in full!
What is the morality in all this? How can we
possibly run a nation in this way? The waste and missed opportunities that both
government and labour unions appear to condone is alarming and unsustainable.
The future of the nation and a leadership
generation is short-changed, and a dicey and uncertain future awaits the
rest of us.
ASUU needs to rethink strategy. If strike becomes
"inevitable", ASUU should well mobilize their members, civil society,
ordinary citizens and even students to join in public protest, nationwide, to
bring to the attention of the world the precarious state of our education, and
the reasons they will not continue to “aid or abet” such dangerous decline by
pretending all is well. But this is not what ASUU does. Indefinite strikes are
declared and there is no obvious plan for public activities to continue
mounting pressure and drawing local and international attention through public
protests/demonstrations. How many ASUU members truly believe in these strikes
enough to participate in public protests and risk their convenience or lives
for the passion of sound education in this country? That's why ASUU's strike
could last up to six months or more and the nation simply "moves on".
The thriving private universities are a testament of some bypass
mechanism.
The ultimate victim is the ordinary students and
their parents, and a public university education on auto-pilot that may give
way to some disastrous landing any time. The implication is far reaching with
the turnout of poor quality graduates in medicine, engineering, law and other
professions. The people and the nation as a whole suffer damages as a result of
a decline in standard of care from the very
foundation.
Meanwhile, with the decline in purchasing power of
Europe due to economic crisis, the increase in oil production quota from the
Middle East, the discovery of oil in other countries (especially in Africa),
and the Americans weaning to some clean energy, oil money will soon dwindle
down drastically and the states and federal government of Nigeria may soon be unable
to maintain the present over-bloated recurrent expenditure which mostly goes
into paying salaries (real and ghost) with little productivity to show for it.
It may not be too long before workers in the public
sector will have to make a choice between a pay cut and downsizing. Already,
some indirect pay cut has been introduced by some state governments in the name
of higher taxes.
We should carefully consider that time has changed.
Our population continues to grow and there is little and inadequate infrastructure to
support such growth. Every sector of the nation, be it health, education etc,
must take a holistic view of the situation to be able to know how best to
engage in our collective struggle to achieve a nation state we can all be proud
of.
Making demands for a desired state of affairs is
not out of place. However, without due consideration of the inter-relatedness
of the problems and needs in the larger society, it may amount to chasing
shadows to insist on narrow demands. Yes, "agreements" may
eventuality be reached and signed but we'll still get back to this vicious
cycle again at the point of implementation which usually reveals the weakness
of such agreements which might have been reached at the exigencies of the
moment without some deeper thoughts and strategic planning taking into
consideration national developments goals, in all honesty and selflessness, by
all parties involved.
I wish ASUU good luck in this present venture but I
sincerely believe that if anyone wants to know why this country, Nigeria, is
such a sick giant, the answer will be found if as individuals we take the
courage to look at a mirror.
We should strike against ourselves and honestly ask
if we are truly working enough for the money we earn, and for the small
privileges we enjoy (of course we still have so many complaints, no doubt).
More importantly, we should ask ourselves how much we've utilized available
facilities/resources in the best interest of common good. These posers are both
for the labour unions and the government-both are driven by people; WE!
This is simply my opinion and this opinion does not
in any way pretend to know all the ramifications or have all the answers. It is
an opinion borne out of my personal conviction that we can do things
differently, and that we can also modify our attitude towards one another and
towards public cause. ASUU should urgently device an exit strategy from
incessant strike actions. We must think out of the box, re-examine our tactics
and rethink our strategy. Let’s give students and the public some respite!
ASUU is acronym for Academic Staff Union of Universities
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