Nigerian Universities Remain Closed

Nigerian students demonstrating against the continued closure of schools due to the strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). The march was held in Ado-Ekiti, state capital., a photo by Pan-African News Wire File Photos on Flickr.

OMONIGHO: ASUU, AGREEMENT AND PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

Tuesday, 12 November 2013 00:00
By Stella Omonigho
Nigeria Guardian

I AM often reminded of the music of our great Sunny Okosun of blessed memory “Which way Nigeria”? I am convinced that the late musician envisaged some hiccups in the economy and government of this great Nation, hence he thoughtfully composed the song “Which way Nigeria, which way to go”? The present situation in the economy, education and health sectors brings these questions to mind for all stakeholders of this nation to reflect upon if there must be a way out. All Nigerians even those in the Diaspora should be very concerned about the direction the country is moving. If our leaders are genuinely concerned about the setbacks in the country, we would not be having many problems. It is so disappointing that most of them do not even know what governance is all about.

How could it be said that public universities have been closed down for four good months with students at home and the National Assembly of this great country has not called on the Federal Government (or come together with the Executive) to quickly resolve the issues and adhere to their agreement with the various striking unions?

This is not surprising to us that they do not care about the poor masses because most of them are stakeholders of private universities.

Their children do not attend public universities; they do not have any personal contact with these universities to be able to appreciate the needs and the infrastructural decadence in these campuses. They do not have anything to lose by the prolonged ASUU strike; rather, they have a lot to benefit as most bourgeois parents have withdrawn their children and wards from public universities to patronize their privately owned universities. Decadence in the public sector definitely promotes patronage of private sectors. This is the major reason why some people in government who are supposed to resolve the issues causing strike in the country are non-challant and unperturbed.

Some of them are even fueling it so that the strikes could be prolonged. Come to think of it, an agreement is an agreement. According to the Advanced Oxford Dictionary (1987:25) an agreement means “a promise or a contract made with somebody.”

A proposal on the other hand means “a suggestion, a plan or scheme.” These two words are clear enough for any adult and any intellectual not to mix up, but it is very disturbing that some of those governing (or ruling) our great nation could not distinguish the difference between these words. It is quite troubling to hear some say that they thought the Federal Government 2009 agreement with ASUU was just a “proposal”.

This brings to mind some of our leaders’ utterances in the past concerning the use of telephone where they proclaimed that “telephone is not meant for the poor.”

This shows that even people in leadership are not committed to resolving the crisis in the educational sector in Nigeria. Again, according to the definition of agreement stated above, a promise must be kept and must not be broken at least not from an existing government on whose word citizens are to depend for survival of the future.

Before the 2009 agreement was reached, there were series of meetings and negotiations and at the end both parties (ASUU and Federal Government) came to this gentleman agreement, it is so unfortunate that our leaders who participated in these negotiations are not noble enough to keep the promise and implement the contents of the agreement. People are blaming ASUU for prolonging the strike, it should be known that it is not ASUU who is prolonging the strike but the Federal Government. They know exactly what to do to bring the strike to an end and I must say that the implementation of the 2009 agreement will cost the Federal Government nothing if they really have the interest of public universities at heart.

A university professor with all his degrees and well- written and published papers do not go home with up to N500,000 monthly salary before state governments will tax them by more than 20 per cent including non-taxable allowance. Meanwhile, a political leader with maybe a first degree goes home with more than N10 million monthly. This shows the level of inequality in our country and this also shows the reason they have tagged university lecturers including all professors “Hungry Lecturers”.

I, therefore, call on all stakeholders to appeal to the Federal Government to invest in the public schools so that the poor citizens who cannot afford the exorbitant school fees of private ones benefit from the public universities and learn appropriately under a favourable atmosphere.

It is also a plea to our leaders to reflect on where Nigeria is heading to. Let it not be recorded that this nation crumbled in our time. Let it not also go into History that the public sector went down the drain and all was privatized and those that could not be privatized were now allowed to die in your regime. God, bless our leaders with wisdom. God bless Nigeria!!! Great Nation, Great People!!!!!!

• Dr. Omonigho teaches at the University of Benin.