Many Nigerians had hoped that the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) would end this week, but ASUU President Emmanuel Osodeke has indicated that there is no resolution in sight to the current conflict.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has said that it will continue its strike until the government meets its primary demands, despite the administration’s assertion that it lacks the financial resources to do so.
Mr. Osodeke was a guest speaker at a PREMIUM TIMES-hosted Twitter Spaces event on Wednesday.
Toyin Falola, a prominent academic and organizer of the series The Toyin Falola Interviews, and Rinu Oduala, the director of Connect Hub NG, were among the other panelists discussing the Spaces.
Meeting between the government and the ASUU fails to reach a resolution
The Tuesday discussion between ASUU and government representatives did not produce any progress. Osodeke claims the administration “did not bring anything new to the discussion table.”
“(The Nimue Briggs committee) showed up empty-handed. The ASUU President remarked, “What they brought with them is from the National Salaries, Incomes, and Wages Commission, which does not reflect anything.”
Mr. Osedeke has said before, and he says it again: Nigerians should only vote for leaders in 2023 who would adequately support the country’s universities and make education a top priority.
Any candidate who doesn’t promise to reinvigorate higher education should be rejected at the polls. Vote against anyone you think won’t look out for your best interests, such as someone whose kids are away at college. He added, “And I want to repeat again, you don’t need to vote for them.
Mr. Osodeke detailed the union’s key requests, which include, among other things, the implementation of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), a revision of the agreement from 2009, a halt to the development of universities, and the release of a revitalization fund.
He further added that the professors will not return to the classrooms unless their demands are realized.
Mr. Osodeke accused the administration of insensitivity, saying, “If we took education seriously it (the strike) would not have extended beyond February.”
He blamed the government for “destroying” public elementary and secondary institutions, saying that they are no longer a viable option for Nigerians.
Furthermore, he stated that the fact that over 90% of the country’s tertiary students still attend public colleges despite the presence of about 120 private universities was proof that ASUU’s fight was paying off.
He vowed that “no parent in their right mind” would ever send their kid to a public elementary or secondary school again. They didn’t even bother to fight for it, and now it’s dead. If you’re interested in learning more about our educational system, I can tell you that as of this writing, there are roughly 120 private institutions and about 90 state universities in operation here. Ninety-five percent of all college students attend one of the ninety public universities. Why? Due to the fact that we’ve been fighting for it (ASUU). There would be no difference between public universities and elementary and secondary schools if we hadn’t fought for them.
According to Mr. Osodeke, only one of his union’s demands is related to the wellbeing of the professors, hence the strike is being undertaken in the sake of the students and the advancement of the university system.
Professorial strikes in the United Kingdom (UK) for the past five years, as reported by Mr. Osodeke, have been roughly on par with their Nigerian counterparts.
He made the point that “it’s not about the number of strikes. It’s all about how the government responded to the strike, with a focus on how quickly the government in the UK addressed the concerns of striking academics.
He said that special advisers to President Muhammadu Buhari receive up to a million naira per month, whereas a professor in the academic sector gets paid a “meagre” N400,000 per month.
As the draft agreement ASUU had with the Mr. Briggs-led committee increased the pay of ASUU members by up to 100%, the Ministry of Labour and Employment declared its terms were not possible.
The ASUU President did not, however, make public the monetary terms of the committee’s draft agreement.
Mr. Osodeke recently revealed that UTAS has been approved for usage, and he also indicated that in comparison tests with IPPIS and the University Peculiar Personnel and Payroll System, UTAS came in “distant first” (U3PS). After the results of the tests were in, he said that IPPIS was dead last.
The ASUU president further explained that the lack of a union-affiliated Twitter account is an effort to combat the spread of false information.
ASUU has constantly denied that it is behind any of the several Twitter accounts that use its name.
There are a lot more than ten different ASUU twitter usernames. It’s clear that most people are just putting on a show. How do people tell the difference between the actual one and the ones we make or those other people make? What he had to say was.
Mr. Falola, who also spoke, emphasized that the problems facing Nigeria’s higher education system go beyond a lack of resources.
He said that, unlike in the 1950s and 1960s, when university education was primarily geared towards supplying the colonial government with manpower, the country has not yet established a clear aim for higher education.
ASUU President Emmanuel Osodeke further said that neither ASUU nor the government were acting in the students’ best interests throughout the standoffs.
He criticized the government for creating a crisis in higher education by signing commitments it couldn’t keep.
Youth activist and Connect Hub NG project director Rinu Oduala expressed concern that the ongoing strike by university professors was bringing down the quality of Nigerian universities and the education system as a whole.
She claimed that while Nigerian students are at home hoping the government will negotiate with ASUU, the government is instead preparing for elections in 2023.
The government’s assertion that it lacks the resources necessary to adequately fund institutions was also refuted by her.
There is still money to be mismanaged,” she remarked. In spite of this, expenditures will continue to be necessary. Money will still be spent on amazing things, so why not invest in learning instead?
Ms. Oduala expressed her belief that “the politicians, the individuals that are meant to make policies for us that are supposed to solve this issue… they’ve moved ahead and their emphasis is on the 2023 elections.”
