Editorial
Addressing Varsities’ Non-Academic Staff’ Grievances
For about three months, non-academic activities have remained paralysed in public universities in Nigeria due to the industrial action embarked upon by the three non-academic staff unions in the universities since December 4, 2017.
The Joint Action Committee (JAC) of Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU), Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) and Non-Academic Association of Technologists (NAAT) directed members of the unions to down tools, citing the Federal Government’s inability to resolve issues surrounding their earned allowances.
While the unions allege that the federal authorities violated agreements reached with them, they also accused the Federal Government of lopsided and unfair allocation of funds meant for the universities in favour of their sister union, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
According to the non-academic staff unions, of the N23 billion released by the Federal Government, ASUU alone cornered N18 billion, leaving just N5 billion to the rest of the unions in the federal and State universities.
When confronted with the issue, the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, only said that the Federal Government was sourcing for funds and waiting for presidential response to address all the issues raised by the unions.
The Tide thinks that the Federal Government has not acted in good faith by not attending to this issue with the seriousness it deserves. We recall that a meeting summoned by the National Assembly to find lasting solution to the problem could not hold because of the non-attendance of the minister.
We urge the Federal Government to, without further delay, take urgent steps to address the demands of the striking workers in order to save the country more embarrassment and ensure a proper and conducive learning environment for our children in tertiary institutions.
Even though academic activities have not been disrupted by the strike, it is only a matter of time before the entire system grinds to a halt as other duties and functions outside the purview of the academic staff are currently left undone. Already, such programmes and activities as Post UTME, Senate meetings and even semester examinations are being affected by the absence of the non-academic staff at their duty posts.
It is sad that government at all levels in our country has not shown enough commitment to the development of the education sector. Apart from consistent miserable budgetary provision which contributes to the poor standard of the nation’s education, disruptions in the academic calendar of the universities have not only battered our image in the international community but have also driven many of our young people to go to school outside the country. Of course, this does not only amount to capital flight but also the importation of unwholesome foreign cultures and influences.
While we think that the Federal Government needs to evolve a holistic solution in addressing the myriad of issues plaguing the education sector in the country, we also advise the government to resist the temptation of adopting measures that seem to create divisions, instead of fostering cohesion, amongst its employees.
Giving ASUU preferential treatment over and above other unions in the same system is divisive and therefore, should not have been the way to go. Yet, this is the same method usually adopted by the government in addressing issues in the medical sector between doctors and other health workers.
On its part, ASUU, in our view, should have considered the needs of their sister unions in their negotiations and eventual disbursement of the released funds from the Federal Government in the spirit of live-and let- live. Of course, the university system cannot run with the academic staff alone and that is why the interests of all stakeholders must be taken care at all times.
Finally, while we urge more synergy and solidarity among the staff unions in the universities, we also implore the Federal Government to quickly provide the funds necessary to resolve this crisis and avoid more disruptions in the academic calendar of the nation’s universities.
There are moments in the life of a legislature when plain speaking becomes a public service. Senator Adams Oshiomhole provided such a moment on the floor of the Senate when he accused the Minister of Works, Senator David Umahi, of manifestly neglecting critical federal arteries in Edo and Delta States, and implored his colleagues to prevail on the Minister to adopt a more equitable and genuinely national approach to road infrastructure delivery. It was blunt, it was uncomfortable, and it was necessary.
The specifics of his complaint deserve restating. Drawing attention to the recent approval of some 20 new road projects despite the parlous state of existing ones, the former Edo State governor lamented that Nigerians cannot travel from Benin to Warri, Benin to Asaba, Benin to Auchi, or Auchi to Okene without encountering severe distress. He alleged a deliberate omission of these corridors from the national budget in the last three years, save for palliative interventions directed by President Bola Tinubu through tax credit arrangements. His question — “What have we done wrong?” — resonates far beyond the chambers of the National Assembly.
We lend our full and unequivocal support to that call. The Auchi-Benin Road, for instance, has been in a deplorable and near-impassable condition for several years, turning what should be a two-hour journey into an all-day ordeal of broken axles, extortionate fares, and despondent commuters. The media have, on multiple occasions, chronicled the suffering of motorists, traders, and students who ply that route. To describe it as a federal road today is to stretch the meaning of the term beyond recognition.
This pattern of sidelining is not confined to Edo or Delta. Even here in Rivers State, the disposition of the Federal Ministry of Works has left much to be desired, particularly along the Eleme axis of the East-West Road. That road, which ought to be a flagship of federal presence in the Niger Delta, has remained in a wretched state for long. Those who use it daily — workers at the Eleme Petrochemical Complex, the two refineries, Onne Port, and the countless ancillary industries — can attest to its deterioration. Work has proceeded in fits and starts without the sustained urgency such a strategic road demands.
The Eleme stretch is not a mere intra-state byway. It is the gateway to the nation’s economic jugular. According to the Federal Ministry of Works and Housing’s 2023 Highway Condition Survey, only about 35 per cent of the country’s 36,000 kilometres of federal roads are rated as being in good or fair condition, with the remainder classified as poor or very poor. The East-West Road, conceived in the 1970s to bind the entire Niger Delta, remains unfinished in critical sections more than four decades after. If it had been treated as a priority, the perennial gridlock, carnage, and economic loss on the Eleme-Refinery junction would have long been consigned to history.
The irony is as painful as it is glaring. The Niger Delta remains the goose that lays the golden eggs. Data from the Nigeria Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative [NEITI 2023 Oil and Gas Audit] show that the region still accounts for over 78 per cent of Nigeria’s federally collected export earnings and about 65 per cent of total government revenue. The National Bureau of Statistics [NBS Foreign Trade Report Q4 2024] similarly confirms that crude oil continues to dominate export receipts. By every metric of equity and economic logic, a region that sustains the national purse deserves first-rate consideration in the allocation of infrastructure, not afterthoughts and tokenism.
Road infrastructure is not largesse to be dispensed by favour; it is the skeleton upon which commerce, cohesion, and citizenship hang. When contracts are concentrated in one geopolitical zone while other zones are left to contend with craters, it erodes trust in the federation itself. The World Bank’s Nigeria Development Update [June 2023] estimated that poor transport connectivity inflates the cost of moving goods by up to 40 per cent and costs the Nigerian economy an estimated $1.5 billion annually in lost man-hours and vehicle maintenance. If we profess to be one country, then equity must be the compass that guides key institutions before any project is executed. Development must spread round, not pool in one place as though other regions do not matter.
There is also a grave security dimension that can no longer be ignored. The deplorable condition of federal roads has become a veritable enabler of criminality. The NBS Crime Experience and Security Perception Survey reported over 2.5 million incidents of kidnapping-related occurrences nationally, with transport workers identifying bad road spots as prime ambush points. When vehicles are forced to crawl at 10 kilometres per hour through failed sections at Auchi, Sapele Road, or Eleme, they become sitting ducks for armed gangs. Fixing bad roads, therefore, is not merely about convenience; it is about safeguarding lives.
By his intervention, Senator Oshiomhole has hit the nail on the head and reminded Minister Umahi of a fundamental constitutional truth: public office is held in trust. The Ministry of Works is not a personal estate where contracts are awarded according to whim or political convenience. It is a national institution funded by the collective resources of Nigerians, including the oil and gas rents from the very communities whose roads are now neglected. The Minister must demonstrate balance, transparency, and a pan-Nigerian outlook in the distribution of projects that impact the daily existence of citizens. Selective neglect breeds suspicion, and suspicion is corrosive at a time when the nation is preaching unity, oneness, equity, and justice.
Consequently, the National Assembly must go beyond rhetoric and assert its oversight powers with vigour. Sections 88 and 89 of the 1999 Constitution [as amended] empower the legislature to investigate and expose any maladministration in the execution of federal projects. If an office holder is not acting rightly, it is the duty of the Senate and the House of Representatives to call him to order. Oversight must not be reduced to budget approval ceremonies; it must translate to field verification, public hearings, and insistence that the Federal Character principle, as enshrined in Section 14(3) of the Constitution, reflects in road awards.
Let the Auchi-Okene, Benin-Warri, Benin-Asaba, and Eleme East-West gangways be restored to motorable dignity. Let priority be given to completing existing, economically vital roads before embarking on new ones. If those who, through their resources, sustain the federation are sidelined in the distribution of tangible dividends, it tells poorly of our nationhood. Bad roads must be fixed, and they must be fixed now, with fairness as the guiding standard.
