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Ending ASUU Strike: A Panacea To The Poor Standard Of Our Tertiary Education by Opara Udochukwu.

Cmoni / July 12, 2022

One morning, I was leaving for lectures. I was up early as usual and was readily dressed in my white and black. We had an assignment to submit before 8am, so I had to leave very early in order to beat the deadline. Down the rough part of the hostel as I left for school, I overhead some boys rejoicing out of unwarranted reasons, or at least that’s what it seemed to me at the moment. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had started their strike again, and this time it was until further notice. A swift but short-lived feeling of joy swept through my heart upon hearing the news. Michael and David; my elder siblings had already spent nine years studying a five year course as a result of a similar situation as this. Shaking my head, I went back to my hostel. “I’ve wasted my white again” I muttered to myself, my medical school made it compulsory for medical students to wear white and black to school daily and for obsessively neat students like me, washing this whites everyday wasn’t any fun. Days passed into weeks and weeks moving up to months, yet we were still kept in the dark. The history of Higher education in Nigeria cannot be told without the inclusion of events and periods of strikes. Strikes of various natures and of different reasons have become a normal phenomenon in growing inconsiderate policy making relationship between the government and academia. Though it is stipulated in the constitution that strikes can be used as avenues to express public opinion which can bring positive changes. However, the institutions of higher education are still facing instability and ills despite the strikes, policies money, corruption, knowledge and human resources that are put into it. The standard and products of Nigeria’s higher education are getting lower despite highly improved inputs and this situation is mirrored effectively in the Nigerian economy. Several literatures have examined the significant relationship between university education and societal development. For about a thousand year now, universities have existed and played vital role in educating a greater portion of individuals, perform research, advance understanding and new technologies and breed new potentials for action. At such, the importance of universities cannot be over emphasized. Regrettably, irrespective of the numerous advantages of university education in Nigeria, the educational sector still faces numerous challenges. These challenges have deterred the sector from achieving optimum results and meeting-up the requirements of the 21st century. According to Aidelunoghene(2014), the standard of education in Nigeria is deteriorating as the day goes by. The Academic Staff Union of the University (ASUU) was a subset of the Nigerian Association of university teachers formed in 1965. The Academic Staff Union of the University (ASUU) gain autonomy in 1978 and began to operate as a union that fights for the right of her members. The union is further saddled with the responsibility of assisting the stakeholder in attaining the aimed classic standard of education through the provision of quality education in the Nigerian university system. Further, the union also support the struggle just like another union to ensure adequate welfare of her member, job security for her member and facilitate enabling working environment for her member. In a bid for the Academic Staff Union of Universities to ensure that the government pays some listening ear to the problem bedeviling the educational system of the country, they explored several industrial actions. Popular among these actions is the strike which is the outright stoppage of work by all Academics Staff of public universities in the country. However, such industrial actions which the Academic Staff Union of Universities(ASUU) uses, plays a very devastating role on the students and on the educational system of the country. As such, this theoretical complementary seek to examine the extent to which the Academic Staff Union of the University(ASUU) strikes influences tertiary educational system in Nigeria and the adequate solution in curbing it. As stated by Punch Newspaper, the Academic Staff Union of University(ASUU) has spent one thousand five hundred (1500) days on strike in 21 years. Logically, the Academic Staff Union of University(ASUU) has spent four (4) years and thirty-nine (39) days on strike out of twenty-one years (21). This is quite an astonishing static and poses a very serious threat on the educational system of Nigeria. One of the determinant of the progress of the educational system of any country, is the ability to eliminate poor performance amongst students and however, the likelihood of Nigeria achieving this, is in doubt. One reason to this; is the regular occurrence of the Academic Staff Union of University(ASUU) strikes. Empirical result as shown that students performance in examination drops upon resumption from a strike. This is due to the fact that students are far from the academic environment during the strike. As such, less credence is given to reading and all forms of academic activities. Incessant strike actions culminate into the erosion of academic quality. The rate of school drop-out in Nigeria is becoming increasingly remarkable and has exceed that of other countries, as Nigeria is regarded as the home country for the highest rate of school drop-out. According to the report given by the United Nations(UN), over 55 million children were regarded as school drop-out in 2010 and has increased to over 57 million in 2011. One of the factors responsible for the high rate of school drop-out in Nigeria, is the incessant industrial activities of ASUU. As a result of the incessant industrial activities of ASUU, most students deem it fit to venture into the street in search for greener pasture in which the earn a stipend. As such, they find it difficult to go back to school upon resumption. The general belief is that, there is no opportunity of getting such job that will ensure that they earn a huge sum of money after school. According to the stakeholders meeting held on September 12, 2013. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)

Blog, Monishots

Varsity Poor Funding And The Need For Investment In E-Learning.

Cmoni / May 11, 2022

I had been thinking about writing something on e-Learning and how it could shape the future of education in Nigeria but it is hard to discuss topics other than politics during the campaign season. However, when I came across the following tweet a few days ago I was motivated to do a little research and write this short piece: @fimiletoks: University education is a privilege even in developed parts of the world. Basic education is a fundamental human right. Right to free and compulsory primary education. Right to available and accessible secondary education (including technical and vocational education and training), made progressively free. ASUU should realise that in the scheme of play, they are on the lowest rung of the ladder. The least of our worries. In tweeting his musings on the ASUU/Fed Govt imbroglio that has become a permanent fixture in our tertiary education calendar the author also echoed the thoughts of many including yours truly. He went ahead to suggest that the federal government should quit subsidizing tertiary education which is supposed to be a privilege and focus more on providing basic and secondary education which should be a fundamental human right for every citizen. Historically, governments have played a dominant role in funding tertiary education, especially in Africa where the need to bridge the gap created by departing expatriate civil servants at the wake of independence from colonial masters necessitated governments input. The exigency to train a group of professionals was well appreciated thus in the early 1970s the federal government abolished school fees in all the six federal universities and took up the task of funding them. With the subsequent discovery of oil and the attendant boom witnessed by the Nigerian economy, all the federal universities in the country were fully and adequately funded precipitating an increase in the demand for higher education, which in turn led to the establishment of additional tertiary institutions. Consequently, the government’s allocation to universities has continued to increase. This trend has continued to date. As a matter of fact, a study titled “Higher Education Funding in Nigeria — Issues, Trends and Opportunities” presented at the 2016 International Business Information Management Association Conference in Milan, Italy revealed that the appropriation to federal universities rose from N10 billion in 1999 to over N223 billion in 2013. The average allocation per university equally increased from N500 million to over N5 billion in the same period. However, a combination of factors such as inflation and the geometric increase in student population has ensured that these increments amount to little. Between 1990 and 1997, the real value of government allocation for university education declined by 27 per cent even as enrollment grew by 77 per cent. In other words, there’s been a lot of movement without commensurate motion or better still backward motion. What’s more, the pressure and competition for limited public resources from other sectors of the economy; including sub-sectors of education have greatly hindered the ability of successive governments to fulfil its funding obligation to these universities. These and other reasons have been responsible for the incessant ASUU strikes embarked on by lecturers in a bid to force the government to meet its commitments. If we are to go with the Nigeria Universities Commission which put the cost of training an undergraduate to full accreditation at over N1 million per annum, then with about two million enrolled nationwide, funding university education will cost N2 trillion annually. This figure is more than double the total budgetary allocation for the health and education ministries combined. And with the Babalakin led negotiation team standing its ground in the current impasse it has become imperative for us to explore other ways of funding higher education especially now that the demand has moved beyond quantitative to qualitative education. The government is therefore left with no other option than to partner with the private sector if Nigeria is to avoid a total collapse of our already haemorrhaging tertiary institutions. This much Vice President Osinbajo alluded to in a recent workshop when he stated that “while government funding is important and critical, it is not the only source of funding for education — the second source of funding is from non-governmental sources — these include contributions from sources such as school charges, private donations, corporate sponsors, alumni associations, charitable and faith-based associations and among others.’’ Now while some will criticise the idea of the federal government pulling the plug on tertiary education subsidy as being a capitalist proposition, others will question the rationality of implementing such in Nigeria where an average citizen lives on less than $2 a day. However, the more important posers beg; how has the socialist approach improved the standard of education in our tertiary institutions? How has it improved the quality of graduates churned out annually by our universities? Your guess is as good as mine here. The world has been reshaped by the internet and e-Learning is already integrated into education in developed nations. Nigeria cannot continue grappling with the paradox of spiralling cost and the declining standard of education at a time when China is teaching 5-year old pupils coding. It is time for the government and ASUU to agree on a gradual withdrawal of subsidy from our universities. This will free up funds that will be invested in the provision of basic, vocational and technical education. Partnering with the private sector to invest massively in e-learning will help to achieve this. The benefits are too numerous for the scope of this piece but it will be proper to list a few. E-Learning makes higher education more accessible to unique populations such as parents with children, service personnel, students with full-time jobs and those with disabilities. It is also cost saving as it eliminates the often expensive logistics of having the lecturer and students in the same location. I just finished a six-week creative writing course with all the study materials and coursework delivered online. And gone are the days when it

Blog, Opinion Articles

ASUU Strike And How A Word-guessing Game Is Keeping Me Sane

Cmoni / February 28, 2022

Each morning or in the late afternoons, I am staring furiously into my phone screen. A five letter word. What word is it? Come on, come on. Think.

Essays, Writers

FG Vs ASUU: The Conscious Efforts Needed For A Better Nigeria by Folarin Oluwatimilehin.

Cmoni / January 29, 2021

Quintessentially envisioning the necessity for a better education sector in Nigeria, it is now perplexing that the tussle between the Federal Government (FG) and the Academic Union of Universities (ASUU) has caught the attention of all Nigerians – the young, youths, and aged. The search for plausible ideologies to address the recurrent differential quality of education in tertiary institutions, the pursuit for lasting solutions to the observed retardation in the calendar system of government-owned schools, and the quest for effective ways of funding citadels of learning have erupted the urgency of this essay. Although Nigeria as a nation came into being in 1914, it was not until 1934 that the first form of higher education institution, Yaba Higher College, was established. The nation had to wait till 1948 before her first university, University of Ibadan formerly, University College, Ibadan (UCI) came into existence. In the course of ensuring rise in quality of education in the country and to defend the interest of lecturers, Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) which was a subset of the Nigerian Association of university teacher formed in 1965, gained sovereignty in 1978 and began to operate as a union that fights for the right of her members. To ensure the smooth running of the education sector, there have been series of clashes between FG and ASSU. The disputes that have been enumerated for negotiation by ASUU and which shall form the foundation of this preachy and advisory essay are the following: proper funding of tertiary institutions, payment of salaries, conclusion of renegotiation of the 2009 MOU with regard to conditions of service of the running of universities, payment of Earned Academic Allowance to ASUU members, and call for unwavering swimming out of the ocean of conflict to bury the hatchet between FG and the university lecturers. Going forward, the chronicle of tertiary education in Nigeria will be an incomplete chronology and an incomprehensive narration without attributing to series of strike actions after failed attempt to negotiate ASUU demands with FG. From the inception of democracy in the nation in 1999, it is a new normal that every president must encounter the worriment of an industrial strike action demonstrated by trade unions, most especially by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). Nevertheless, industrial strike action was initiated to be a solution to resolve the conflict of interest between the employee and the employer on certain issues such as working condition, remuneration issues or terms and condition of operations, none payment of the earned allowance, inadequate funding of the university system and so on. Sadly, collating data from 1999, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) had embarked on strike for about 4 years and 2 months in all since the return of democracy in 1999. This means that over 4 years have been lost to strike actions in the last two decades as a result of disagreement between FG and ASUU over protracted series of issues. In fact, the recurrent disrupted academic calendar is causing differential educational settings in higher institutions, hence the observed disparity in the quality of education which ought not to be. This has also subjected the students to face many challenges like loss of interest in education, involvement in social vices like robbery, kidnapping, rape etc. On November 4, 2018, ASUU embarked on an industrial action for three months which was due to the same reason as previous years. The most recent industrial action commenced as a two-week warning strike on March 9, 2020, after a disagreement with the Federal Government over Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System and other issues relating to university funding. The ASUU chairman, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi said it was unfortunate that instead of taking the advantage of the two weeks warning strike to show commitment towards the implementation of the 2019 Memorandum of Action, the Federal Government had continued to blackmail the union and engage in misrepresentation of facts aimed at misinforming members of the public on the agreement. A sacrosanct factor associated with the tussle between the university lecturers and FG is perpetual poor student performance and productivity. Having to be on unplanned break for a long period, resuming work will be a little daunting challenge on the part of the student considering the fact that they were not involved in any academic exercise during the strike. This will lead to students failing woefully in their academics. No doubt that all these do not only affect the tertiary educational system but have also soiled the name of the country in mud when place in scale with other universities in various countries of the world. No more time to waste time, FG and ASUU need to take conscious efforts needed for a better Nigeria. WAY FORWARD Without mincing words, pointing out that the Nigerian university system calls for revitalization as it is being vociferously verbalized by ASUU, needs no further contention. To be concise, the infrastructural decay being experienced in schools is monumental. Furthermore, the paucity of unrivaled learning, exceptional research resources, and first-class teaching including those that could have facilitated virtual classes during remotely operated schooling, calls for alarm. The following approach should be adopted by the FG as conscious efforts for the better running of universities and to cater for the demands of ASUU. Increasing Annual Budget on education to a minimum of 10 trillion Naira per annum The government must lead the forefront in demonstrating key interest in education. One of the pressing problems of Nigeria’s higher education system remains the severe underfunding of its institutions. The Federal government, over the past decade, has not significantly increased the share of the government budget dedicated to education, despite exploding the number of students admitted annually. The implementation of a rigid law should be established to mandate the government to allocate 10 trillion naira minimum on education every year. This will help to cater for the smooth running of schools, as well as proper funding of tertiary institutions, payment of

Essays, Writers

Bring An End To ASUU Strikes; Save Education Now by Sunday Ogbaga.

Cmoni / January 29, 2021

“Upon the education of the people of this country, the fate of this country depends.” Benjamin Disraeli, a former British Prime Minister expressed that sentiment as far back as 1882 but till date, it is still a rule of thumb. The importance of education, specifically higher education, transcends being the most effective medium for hedging the spread of illiteracy. A robust and competitive higher education sector offers the society a great opportunity for innovation, industrial growth, job creation, infrastructural development, increased national income, poverty alleviation, crime reduction, health improvement, and much more. Impliedly, anything that affects the smooth running and efficiency of a nation’s higher education is a rusty clog on the wheel of its progress, and thus, deserves to be permanently nipped in the bud. Today, it is crystal clear that Nigerian higher education sector is in dire straits. Top of the endemic problems ravaging the sector is the constant industrial action by members of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU)—national union of all academic staff of public universities in Nigeria—and the Federal government. The face-off normally results in abrupt suspension of academic programmes and complete shutting down of schools. Worst is, majority of the institutions of higher learning in Nigeria are public universities (over 85 percent). So, it affects the system on a scale that is both massive and crippling. Going down the memory lane, ASUU was created in 1978 after the collapse of the then National Association of University Teachers (NAUT), to fight for the welfare of its members and to help salvage and redress critical challenges bedevilling university education in the country. On the refusal of federal government to meet their demands, the union has been resorting to full-blown strike actions as a way of pressing home their requests, no matter the threat and intimidation by the federal government, especially as witnessed during the 1980s industrial actions. In fact, between 1978 and 2020, the union has embarked on a total of 27 strike actions, with some of them leading to the forfeiture of full academic sessions. Indeed, there is no smoke without fire. The causes of the unending rifts between ASUU-FG’s do not always spring forth suddenly like Jack in the box. Its causes are well known. Undue delay in payment of remuneration/entitlements/allowances for lecturers, the deterioration of working conditions, the inadequacy of facilities, ill-fated policies, Federal government’s penchant for breaching or not honouring agreements it had with the union, has always been the bone of contention. By and large, the menace has no doubt, culminated into the perennial malaise troubling Nigeria today. Think of mass exodus of the country’s best talents leading to pervasive brain drain; constant churning out of what has been severally described as unemployable graduates; abysmally poor level of Research and Development (R&D); domination of multi-national firms and foreign expatriates in Nigeria’s key industries, widespread poverty; the poor standard of living…to mention but a few. Against this backdrop, it is imperative to urgently take proactive steps capable of forestalling further face-offs between ASUU and Federal government. Given that, my thoughts are: With all sense of seriousness and goodwill, the federal government should accord more importance and priority to higher education in Nigeria. First and foremost, it should take bold and creative steps to ensure that our tertiary education is rescued from the festering sore of underfunding. Accordance with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) recommendation, the government should progressively increase education budget annually to 26 percent. In fact, given the enormous upgrade needed to be done in Nigerian universities in order for it to compete globally, a state of emergency should be declared on the sector and a reasonable bailout fund given to it. If Rwanda can raise its higher institutions from the ashes of war to its current global-reckoning status, Nigeria, the giant of Africa, can also do it. We have the financial wherewithal. The Federal government should put in the required commitment, sincerity, and stewardship. Adequate funding is crucial to solving most of the human, technical and operational challenges members of the academia and students have been complaining over the years. Furthermore, the flagrant disregard and breach of the agreement by the Federal government must be jettisoned. Each new regime should be committed to upholding every outstanding agreement successive governments had with the union. Where review is needed, appropriate consultation and negotiation should be done. In the same pedestal, the Federal government should grant universities a reasonable level of autonomy, especially on issues patterning to academic policies and programmes. Too much political interference in universities will always result to rancour. Again, and very importantly, the Federal Government needs to see members of the academia as partners in progress rather than rebels. Frankly speaking, public university lecturers in Nigeria are not well taken care of as compared to their counterparts abroad. It is evident that ASUU never decides to abruptly embark on industrial action. Series of formal or informal techniques such as writing of letters, issuing of communiqués, and warning strike is normally explored before resorting to full-blown industrial actions. The federal government and its stakeholders should always be committed to resolving every dispute early. Similarly, efforts should be made to increase the rate of grant-in-aid and other welfare packages for Nigerian university lecturers as that will aid job satisfaction and productivity. Finally, let me reaffirm that a vibrant higher education sector is a prerequisite for Nigeria’s liberation from its current desolate state of mass poverty, socio-economic stagnation and deep-seated underdevelopment. If for anything, ASUU’s constant resort to industrial action is an indication of the federal government’s laissez-faire attitude to higher education. Whilst it is understandable that the government is inundated with a galaxy of responsibilities, it must realize that education is the premise upon which every other progress is sustained. Thus, necessary moral, financial, institutional, and political measure should be urgently taken to put an end to incessant industrial action by ASUU members. Ogbaga Sunday Thomas, a student of Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, is interested in Education, Leadership,

Essays, Writers

When Two Elephants Fight by Oluka Emmanuel.

Cmoni / January 29, 2021

When two elephants fight, they battle it out with their bodies and do the elephant equivalence of arm-wrestling. There is tussle for dominance and they figure this out by fighting. The fight can range from mild, to weird battles. There is much protocols involved with elephants approaching each other and leading to a fight; and when they eventually fight, the grasses will suffer. The above paragraph contains allegory that mirrors the power tussle between two powerful bodies; the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), and the Federal Government of Nigeria (FGN). In this fight, ASUU takes to strike to drive home their demands. In retaliation, the FGN will always invoke the “no work, no pay” legislation as stipulated in “Section 43 of the Trade Disputes Act Cap T8 laws of the federation of Nigeria, 2004”. When this happens, it snowballs into a case of who blinks first. The students then become the proverbial grasses that suffer the consequences. So, what does the prolonged strike mean for these students and the educational system at large? What are the demands by ASUU? Is the government always willing to meet all their demands? What plans does ASUU have following the suspension of the strike? What becomes the way forward for parties involved? These are the burning questions this essay seeks to answer. Demands by ASUU Now, ASUU downed tools on 23rd March, 2020, berating the FGN for reneging on several agreements. The striking lecturers maintain there are five-(5) key outstanding demands that must be met before they call off the strike. These include: i, setting up of visitation panel across all universities, ii, platform to speak with state governments on proliferation of universities, iii, renegotiation of 2009 agreement which addresses the working condition of lecturers, iv, payment of withheld salaries and emoluments, and v, revitalization fund for universities. The Contentious issues… But, of these five-(5) demands, three-(3), seem to be the big elephant in the room. So, breaking them down reveals the contentious issues. First, ASUU want the FGN to discard its Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) as the payment platform for all emoluments. ASUU say the IPPIS fails to recognize the peculiarity of the university system, claiming it undermines the university autonomy and hence, shortchanges the lecturers sometimes. Rather, ASUU pushed for the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) as a replacement for the contentious IPPIS. In a swift reaction however, the FGN posited that ASUU as an employee cannot dictate to its employers how it would be paid. The FGN accused the leadership of the union of deceiving its members and not telling them the truth about IPPIS, citing anomalies and irregularities by the universities’ hierarchy. For the FGN, the country was losing a lot of money through sharp practices in paying lecturers’ salaries. Hence, the need for migrating the lecturers from the previous Government Integrated Financial Management Information System (GIFMIS) platform to the IPPIS. According to Chris Ngige, the minister of labour and employment, the IPPIS will eradicate the issue of paying ghost lecturers, and eradicate the practice of some lecturers teaching in more than two universities as approved in other to earn jumbo pays. To Ngige, IPPIS will also address the shortfall in tax deductions by dubious vice chancellors in connivance with bursars during salary payments. The Second contentious issue is; ASUU wants the N40-billion sum offered by the FGN as earned academic allowances, to be for members of its union alone. But, the FGN maintain that the funds should be shared with other university unions. Thirdly, is the revitalization fund for university education system. The FGN had initially offered N20-billion while ASUU says it will only settle for N110-billion instead of the N220-billion it originally demanded. The FGN later offered N30-billion for the revitalization fund, bringing the total amount to N70-billion. Needless to say, the revitalization fund, does underscore the need to improve Nigeria’s university education system through adequate government funding. For instance, the funds will help to provide a conducive learning environment that is globally competitive through rehabilitating students’ hostels, expanding lecture theatres, providing reagents in the laboratories and putting modern books in the library. Ending the Nine-(9) Month Strike In the series of back-and-forth nine-months negotiations with the FGN’s team comprising the Ministries of Finance, Education, Labour and Employment, alongside the Office of the Accountant General of the Federation, ASUU demanded that its members be exempted from the IPPIS, pending the approval of their proposed UTAS payment system. ASUU also insisted the arrears of its members be paid before they’d end the strike. However, on Tuesday, December 22nd 2020, the minister of labour and employment, Chris Ngige revealed that the government has met ninety-eight percent (98%) of ASUU’s demands. Hence, on 23rd December 2020, ASUU in its official twitter handle finally agreed to end its nine-month strike, stating the body has reached an agreement with the federal government over major contentious issues. To reach this milestone, the Federal Government agreed to exclude members of ASUU from the IPPIS. The government also shifted grounds, as it agreed to pay outstanding salary arrears to the striking lecturers before December 31st 2020, through the old salary payment platform, the GIFMIS, as well as resolve other demands for a lasting industrial harmony in the university system. In the meantime, ending the strike was not an easy decision for ASUU to arrive at because, its zones and branches were divided on the federal government’s offer and had to put the decision to vote. ASUU’s decision may have come on the heels of the senate president’s plea with the warring parties to find a common ground in the interest of the students; urging ASUU to be prepared to meet the government halfway and end the strike so that students can return to classes. Consequences Now, the strike may have come and gone but the aftermaths continues to haunt everyone. The consequence thereof is that many students have lost one academic session while the strike was on. Also,

Essays, Writers

Avoiding An Exacerbation Of The Education Crisis by Victor Okonjo.

Cmoni / January 28, 2021

The popular saying “Education is the bedrock of development” interpret the understanding of education as the pivot for sustainable growth and advancement in any society. In fact, one can best say the level of educational quality in a country determines her level of pace in reforms and development. The importance of education cannot be over emphasized especially in the twenty first century. Taking Nigeria as a case study, we see a contrary nature in the educational sector most especially at the tertiary level. A major contributor to the educational crisis that has bedeviled the academic domain is the regular face off between the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). The rift between the two parties has made major headlines for decades in the news space along with the frequent strike embarked upon by ASUU. This unabated issue rendered the standard and quality of tertiary education in Nigeria in suffering state begging for resue. On several occasions, ASUU has raised various valid concern faced by the universities before the federal government. They laid emphasis on the revitalization of public universities, improved renumeration for staff members, granting autonomy to universities from undue bureaucratic process and other issues. The indifference shown on the part of federal government over the concern of ASUU made them embark on consistent strike grounding academic activities in the public universities. Consequently, the incessant strike by ASUU has come with attendant effects in the educational segment. They include but not limited to disruption of planned academic calendar or program, delay in student graduation, undue prolongation of students years in school and altering the life plan of Students. This educational crisis has made school unattractive to both advanced and incoming students. Now, the youths have drifted their attention from education to the trending get rich syndrome because they have lost confidence in the Nigerian educational system. The sacred mandate of a university is to provide a platform for impacting knowledge, engaging research and provision of academic solutions to immediate problems of local society. However, a good number of our universities have not lived up to this mandate due to poor funding and inadequate learning facilities. Haven acknowledged that the state of education in Nigeria is facing crisis, there is urgent need to make sincere effort in preventing it from exacerbating to a level beyond repair and project a way forward. The truth of the matter is that, the bulk of work lies on the government shoulder to tackle the prevailing causes of diminishing standard of education in Nigeria. The federal government must recognize the educational sector as an important area of necessity and thus, should not be joked with. The federal government should display an honest approach in the implementation of her agreement brookered with the Academic Staff Union of Universities to put an end to their incessant strike. Nigeria continues to witness increase number in out of school children because of numerous challenges in the educational sector. To tackle this, the government should stop paying lip service over the poor state of education in the country by providing adequate funding, formulating and enforcing feasible policies that can may the system better. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) should as a matter of national interest engage alternative means in getting at the government other than strike. This is because, over the years, the use of strike as a force to get government attention has been counterproductive most especially when it is a prolonged strike. ASUU should exercise other strategic means stipulated by the labour laws to vent their agitation. This is with a view to allow the consistent and continuous running of academic activities without obstruction. ASUU, as a major stakeholder, must recognize their role in promoting educational value and therefore, should comform their operations in a way that promote greater good than harm in the academic ecosystem. The federal government should know that it’s persistent neglect over the decadence in the educational sector amounts to misplaced priority and negligence. Education should be treated with all the importance it deserves and the aftermath will be nothing but all round development both in human capacity and infrastructure. The government must empower robustly the universities under her care to live up to its mandate in providing solutions to societal problems through advanced research and transfer of knowledge. Every nation that aspires to attain all round development and growth gets the secret code from her educational space which constitute her body of knowledge. In other words, any society that pays less attention in standardizing its educational system will parade itself as an illiterate society. Nigeria should now begin to appreciate immensely the sensible role of education in her level of development by championing every course that edifices her educational and developmental status. The engagement between ASUU and the federal government should not be like a religious ritual without direction but one that invigorates drastic measures in curbing the exacerbation of educational crisis and lingering strike. All hands must be on deck both on the part of ASUU and federal government to deal decisively with the issues confronting the progress of education in Nigeria. Nigeria needs change to attain steady and gradual development, and that change can only come from a qualitative educational system. This is better emphasized in the words of Nelson Mandela of blessed memory “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world”. Victor Okonjo is a student of Computer Engineering, Federal University of Technology Akure. He has a keen drive in the creative expression of thought and ideas through the Pen. He can be reached at okonjovico@gmail.com

Blog, Essays, Monishots

ASUU Strike: Osinbajo to the rescue?

Cmoni / September 1, 2017

The aim should always be to exceed the UN benchmark of 26 % and not the other way round. It is the proper thing and will go a long way in addressing some of our long-term problems like tribalism, intolerance and poverty.