University teachers under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) have commenced another strike to protest the Federal Government’s failure to fully implement the 2009 agreement and 2013 Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) it signed with the union. The industrial action, which commenced on Monday, August 14, has paralysed academic activities in about 40 federal and 44 state universities across the country.
As explained by ASUU President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, the “total, comprehensive and indefinite” strike became necessary because of the alleged breach of the MoU arising from the 2009 FG/ASUU Agreement on financing of state universities; breach of the conditions of service; refusal to honour the Earned Academic Allowance (EAA), and re-negotiation of the agreement. The ASUU leader stressed that other aspects of the 2009 agreement which the government has been reluctant to implement include conditions of service, funding, university autonomy and academic freedom. Altogether, ASUU says that the federal government owes the universities over N880 billion intervention funds arising from the NEEDS Assessment Report. The other critical issues are lack of funds for revitalisation of public universities, non-release of Nigerian Universities Pension Management Commission (NUPEMCO) operational licence, non-payment of earned academic allowance, and non-payment/payment of salaries infractions.
The Federal Government has opened dialogue with the leadership of the striking union with intent to resolve all the outstanding issues. And, there are strong indications that the matter will be resolved soon. While the strike is on, it is good that the government, through the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, has admitted that its failure to resolve the outstanding issues with ASUU was responsible for the industrial action, even though he frowned that ASUU went on strike without following due process and giving the government enough notice.
Since the government knows the cause of the current strike, it must do all in its power to arrest the situation to avoid an indefinite lockdown of the universities. We say this because long closure of these institutions will not be in the best interest of the university system, academics and the students. The earlier all the issues that informed the strike are resolved the better for the country.
We recall that our public universities suffered industrial actions in 2011, 2012 and 2013, due to the failure of government to honour the 2009 agreement. The government must avoid a situation that will perpetuate such a vicious circle in the university system.
Although ASUU did not fulfill Section 17 (1) of the Trade Disputes Act which provides that “an employee shall not declare or take part in a lock-out and a worker shall not take part in a strike in connection with any trade dispute where (a) the procedure specified in S.3 or 5 of this Act has not been complied with in relation to the dispute,” it has genuine grounds for the strike.
We disapprove of government’s penchant for reneging on agreements it freely enters into with workers’ unions. It is not proper that the Federal Government reached an agreement with ASUU and failed to fulfill it. It is not good for government to renege on its pledges.
Since equity does not act in vain, we urge the government to set in motion the steps that will lead to the resolution of the longstanding dispute with ASUU. Considering declining government revenue on account of the crash in oil prices, we urge ASUU to be realistic in its demands from the government. While government is a continuum and the present administration is bound by the agreement signed by its predecessors with the union, the lecturers must realise that the finances of the country are not as buoyant now as when the agreement was signed. They should, therefore, allow the country’s difficult financial situation to temper their demands.
We also wish to remand ASUU that the frequency of its strikes has become embarrassing and unacceptable. It should seek other ways of airing its grievances without regularly making nonsense of the university calendar and throwing students into a quandary.
Above all, let government take education very seriously, especially university education. It should fund the universities adequately so that they can compete favourably with their counterparts the world over. Frequent disruptions of the academic calendar are not good for universities. The poor ranking of our universities on global indexes show that all is not well with our university system. We enjoin both parties to this dispute to find an amicable solution to the problem and avoid indefinite lockdown of the universities..
