Prof.
A.F. Umar
Department
of Microbiology,
Abubakar
Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi - Nigeria
In
the quiet of my sitting room, I told a friend that ‘I am going to pick a pen’,
and write about the sad and retrogressive burning issue about the imbroglio
between ASUU and FG! And here l am, with a piece of my mind.
Anywhere,
the trending discourse is about ASUU strike! You will hear statements like….
ASUU is very selfish! ….. ASUU have gotten their match in this government! …..
We are waiting for who blink first? ….. the government has nothing to lose! ……
ASUU should or should not be paid their withheld salaries! ….. the strike has
lingered too long and has lost its appeal. And many more!
Amusing,
but not funny! This I consider prying into the conscience of ASUU members for
the wrong reasons. A reminder is that ASUU is on strike for revitalization of
the system, this is to make the students more comfortable in their learning
environment! They are also fighting for better condition of service, for the
system to be attractive for the best brain, thus reducing brain drain and
appeal to international scholars. This will ultimately attract foreign
students, halt capital flight (payment of school fees out of the shores of the
country) and improve competitiveness, amongst other advantages!
To
ASUU members and any well- meaning education stakeholder, this is Patriotism. A
fight to salvage a dying system! ASUU members have taken it upon themselves as
the last bastion safeguarding education in Nigeria. ASUU members are putting
everything on the line!
Primary
and secondary education in Nigeria are gone! Now, every single day private
schools are springing up for money milking purpose. WAEC pronounced 76% PASS
for registered candidates in 2022! Surprisingly, only few can make a coherent
sentence in English, and its usually a nightmare for lecturers when they come
to 100 Level in the university. Whose fault? Now the bandwagon is for
establishing private universities. At my last count, we have 117 private
universities, as against 49 federal and 57 state-owned universities. This is
really unprecedented! Only few of these universities can be called citadel of
learning. They can best be described as money making ventures! Business! If you
will also recall ASUU is fighting proliferation of universities, not because of
anything, but STANDARD maintenance!
The
government usually regard ASUU as very stubborn! And they have to be put in
their place as mere government employees! Wrong! Is this right? the answer is
capital NO! ASUU members are intellects, and will not accept master-slave
relationship. This is where the principle of collective bargaining sprung up!
Their wages have to be discussed in a round-table and agreed according to
international standards, as universities are universal! They are unique set of
professionals. If a Nigerian academic travel abroad, he or she should fit in
automatically and comfortably. Or do you think the managers of our economy to
function as square pegs in advanced countries. They will be dismissed on day
one! Serious countries look up to the academics to solve their problems. They
are regarded as critical thinkers, the life wires and assets of their
countries. If you desire development place premium to your education! USA has
Harvard, MIT and Stanford; UK has Cambridge, Oxford and Imperial college;
Malaysia has UPM and UTM; more examples can be seen in India, South Africa and
others places!
In
Nigeria, we are still at the stage of stopping salaries, just because some
forward-looking sensible individuals have said the right thing has to be done
correctly. This is considered an affront! They have to be taught a lesson!
Parents applauding the government decision of NO WORK, NO PAY! Is ASUU
responsible for all those number of months that they are on strike? They have
listened to various stakeholders and issued pleading letters to the authorities
to avert shutting down! Whose fault? What they forget is that an educated
person is naturally arrogant. He or she will die in silent but will never beg!
The university consist of two categories of people, the teachers and students,
others are support staff. That brings out to light why the non-academics called
off their strike! To me this is cosmetic! The classes are there, let them start
teaching! Oops.
Aspiring
academic staff must have first class or second class upper to be considered a
graduate assistant or a masters degree, with good standing to be admitted into
PhD program or PhD degree to be appointed lecturer I or II, depending on
research output/reputable and relevant publications. And this does not stop
until you become a Professor! An academic staff is always in-training or being
mentored. How do you expect them to accept miserable salaries or an award,
which is synonymous to modern day slavery! Ouch!
Through
this training they are mentored on integrity and sacrifice! Have you ever seen
any problem with leadership succession in ASUU? It is one-for-all; All-for-one!
The patriotism of ASUU has never been in doubt.
Now
breaking the truce!! For ASUU members, the present strike is a make or mar
struggle! For the soul of education! For tertiary education to survive! For the
system to work! For the Nigerian academic to raise their shoulders in
international gathering of academics! For the government, it is a test of
might! It is about ego! It is about blackmail! It is about the control of
funds!
But
now is time for sober reflections! ASUU’s nose has been bloodied, may get
tired, but their conscience will never die. Through this strike, ASUU has
exposed IPPIS irregularities. The battle line has been drawn! Forget about the
six months old strike! Now is when the mother of all strike will start, GOD FORBID!
A
lot of academics have started losing interest in the noble profession of
teaching. The young and intelligent scholars are leaving, signifying brain
drain. Older scholars will hang on and wait for opportunity to exit! This
signifies the beginning of the end of education in Nigeria. SAD!
This
strike has to end for the sake of posterity. Vice Chancellors have to come out
their comfort zone and help proffer solution, as heads of universities! Ego
have to give way! Sense of reasoning has to play role! The government has to
come out clean! They cannot implement no work, no pay, for a strike they
prosecute! They delay and still delaying negotiations. We have to salute ASUU
for coming this far! Compromises have to made to bring back the students to the
classrooms! The consequences of not heeding to these suggestions will have far
reaching effect in years to come.
As
it is being said “when you want to destroy a country, just destroy its
educational system, then it comes crumbling like a pack of cards”! And no nation
can develop beyond its educational standards. That explains where we are in the
comity of nations!
Now
I will drop my pen, Adios!
Prof
A F Umar, ATBU BAUCHI
