ASUU: One Strike, Too Many 

Recent threats to embark upon a fresh industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) may be a pointer that the industrial peace currently enjoyed in Nigerian universities would soon be disrupted. After the Federal Government failed to implement agreements reached with the union, ASUU warned that its members would soon down tools.
ASUU has been voicing its opposition to unpaid arrears of academic allowances and the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) issues, as well as the selective payment of wages the union calls “government contractors”. The strike might commence after the next National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting. The union noted that the government had only reached one of the nine agreed items.
Other contentious matters are non-payment of members’ salaries for 14 to 16 months in some universities. ASUU also alleges arbitrary wage reductions which it refers to as “amputated wages”, among others. The situation is so deplorable that no lecturer knows what they will earn as salary each month. The resort to strike by university teachers over welfare issues has become a repeating decimal in the nation’s varsity system.
It is quite unfortunate that despite 22 years of democratic rule, no succeeding government has been able to find a lasting solution to the recurrence of strikes by university teachers in Nigeria. There is no doubting the fact that one of the major causes of educational backwardness in this country is the incessant strikes by ASUU, which are always precipitated by controversies between the government and lecturers.
The impending industrial action should be of great concern to every Nigerian. It is regrettable that the federal authorities have not respected the pacts concluded with the union since 2009. We plead with the government to act fast and do everything within its capacity to redeem the agreement it entered with ASUU that led to the suspension of the strike on December 24, 2020. If special consideration is given to education, there will be no place for strikes at public universities.
The federal government should henceforth, in the interest of the lasting stability of the nation, stop renouncing with impunity the strong and mutually beneficial indentures concluded with labour unions. The government’s constant failure to comply with agreements signed with unions which has become a recurring decimal is one of the major causes of the current strike by resident doctors, resulting in the dislocation of the health sector in the country.
There were indications that the Federal Government wanted the doctors’ strike to occur, with no thought given to its consequences for patients. The resident doctors made their demands in January of this year, signed a memorandum of understanding with the Federal Government in March, with an addendum to it in April, following 10-day strike action. Then, they gave the government a four-week ultimatum in June, and finally struck indefinitely on August 2.
It is disturbing that state actors who have access to state funds are not concerned about the parlous state of education and the squalid condition of university teachers in Nigeria because they can easily send their children or wards abroad to receive quality education. Our leaders must realise that what can destroy Nigeria faster than bandits and insurgents is nothing more than the continued relegation of education.
Unending ASUU strikes and despicable treatment of university teachers may soon prompt many of them to leave Nigeria in droves like the medical doctors, and this brain drain is becoming a brain gain for even African countries. All the children of our frugal President and the so-called symbol of integrity have enjoyed the best of education in the United Kingdom where he too has preferred to be treated at their best hospitals.
What the university lecturers are asking for is not new and out of place. Therefore, it seems that slandering them for seemingly rejecting dialogue misses the point because their case is not a demand for talk, but a bargain that must be implemented. Any action at this stage should be well-intentioned and objective.  In this respect, the National Assembly should intervene in the present imbroglio to avert the strike as it did in its laudable efforts to resolve the previous impasse.
Incessant industrial action by lecturers has been a bane of tertiary education in Nigeria. The impact of a lengthy strike on Nigerian students and the education sector as a whole cannot be overstated. Currently, the academic calendars of most public universities have been disrupted, making it impossible to cover course outlines before writing examinations. Many students have lost confidence in education and the education sector because of repeated strikes.
Globally, there is the usual giggling when our universities are mentioned and a quick link to the unstable academic calendar because of frequent strikes. This image denies graduates of our internationally esteemed institutions even when their value has not been proven by employment. In addition, top-performing universities looking to hire staff and exchange students will choose to partner with universities with stable academic calendars in other parts of Africa.
If Nigerian universities are nowhere in the ranking of the top 1,000 universities in the world, it may not be simply because of inadequate funding or infrastructure, but also because for large chunks of the academic year, university academic staff are on strike for legitimate reasons when they could be contributing scholarly growth that would propel our institutions into the list of some of the best in the world.
Time has come for the government to tackle the problems and end the cycle. This time it should not be looking for temporary but permanent solutions. Conversely, ASUU should lessen its hard stance and allow a win-win situation to prevail. The union should make requests based on their particular circumstances and that of the country. Let influential Nigerians and other stakeholders in the education sector intervene to abort the impending strike. The crisis requires a permanent solution.