Enough of ASUU strike, it is time for the university labour union to change tack and adopt other approaches to deliver the desired objective.
By Michael Onuoha
For as long as I remember, ASUU has been embarking on strike over issues of funding, salaries, etc. The most vivid to me and by my reckoning the longest strike up to that point was in 1982 when I was an undergraduate at the University of Nigeria Nsukka. We had just resumed for a new academic session and to welcome back students (as usual), some business-oriented students had organised a show featuring the US-based musical group, Delegation. Then slam – the strike happened.
For early birds to campus like me, it was a big blow. It was a bigger blow for the organisers of the show who had to contend with their losses, as the Delegation band group was on ground but performed to an empty hall – many students were yet to return before the strike happened and so stayed back home when the strike started. Those of us on campus thought we could wait it out but that strike went on for over two months at a stretch. Ever since, ASUU strike has remained with us.
Currently the university system is in the throes of yet another ASUU strike, with students being left with the short end of the stick, as always. But one wonders how sustainable strike can be in the hands of ASUU. To many observers, ASUU’s strikes have become not only trite but ineffectual. ASUU is getting to the point of being seen as the constant aggressor, even though they keep telling us the fight is for the interest of our children. What is the use of “forcing” government to sign agreements it already knows it has no intention to keep! In the current case, government may bend to the wishes of ASUU for reasons of electoral expediency, as 2023 is around the corner, rather than for any intention to keep to the agreement.
The questions now are: for how long can the federal government and ASUU keep playing cat and mouse to the detriment of the future of Nigerian students? What can be done to ensure this trend does not continue for the university system in Nigeria to live up to its potential as a citadel of excellence? The answer lies at the government taking a hard look at some of the issues that give rise to frequent strike by ASUU.
A critical reason for ASUU strike is funding. Historically, the Nigerian university system was built on the principle of social service. As such little or no fees are charged students. Until private universities came on board, the idea of paying for university education appeared to be an anathema. Unfortunately, the government has not been forthcoming on the issue of proper funding for universities, preferring to treat the matter as secondary.
The poor funding of universities has led to a huge rot in the system whereby quality has significantly dropped, brilliant lecturers are leaving in droves to universities abroad and poor physical development becoming the norm.
The time has come to re-examine the stance on non-payment of appropriate fees for university education. If the government cannot fund the system, then an alternative source of funding has to be put in place. As unpopular as this may sound, it’s high time the universities are allowed to charge commensurate fees from students in order to meet their financial needs and provide the much-needed superior academic service. Social service should not be a synonym for poor and rotten educational system.
To be honest, university education is not for all, as desirable as it is. In this scenario, government should then put in place a loan scheme so that those who want to go to university but don’t have the resources can tap into the loan scheme to go to university and start paying back when they start work after graduation. Payback can take as long as 20 to 30 years, with very friendly interest rate. This is the system that operates in some developed countries like the US. As at 2020, more than 45 million Americans had federal student loans totaling $1.5 trillion. Aside this, the US government provides over 75% of financial aid to students in both public and private universities. Thus, no citizen desirous of university education fails to achieve this objective because of lack of funds.
I believe the notion of university education not being for all and sundry was one of the reasons behind the 6-3-3-4 education system, so that children who could not go to university for reasons of funds or lack of interest can veer off into vocational studies and solidly establish themselves in their desired fields. But the Nigerian factor has not allowed that system to work. The 6-3-3-4 system needs urgent revamping for the desired objectives to be achieved.
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There is also need to take a critical look at the current state of university autonomy in the country. Government’s unwillingness to hands off from interfering in the affairs of universities is hurting the university system. In spite of the agreement reached between ASUU and the Federal Government in January 2009 on university autonomy, the government still pays lip service to this.
As stated by Thomas Estermann, Director of governance, funding and public policy development at the European University Association (EUA), in the April 2017 edition of the Europe-based University World News, “autonomy and academic freedom are crucial to the well-functioning of universities and are essential pillars of the future sustainability of our institutions.
Importantly, they are key to securing the right research conditions that lead to scientific progress, benefiting society at large”. He further posited that “that autonomy is not a goal to be pursued in itself, but a fundamental pre-requisite for universities to be able to develop strategic profiles, operate in a competitive environment and deliver on their very important societal duties”.
If this be so, why then is the story different in our clime? The excuse goes that ‘he who pays the piper dictates the tune.’ But that’s a lie. In the US, public universities are funded by the government but that does not take away autonomy from the institutions. The money used in funding the universities belong not to the individuals in government but to the people.
The benefits of universities that operate in an environment of autonomy are many. Prof. Jo Ritzen, former President of Maastricht University and former Education Minister of The Netherlands hit the nail on the head when he stated in a published paper that “university autonomy, specifically in reference to academic approach, staffing, internal decision-making, and financial practices, in combination with proper funding, is likely to enable universities to produce graduates with better competencies and to enhance both the quality and quantity of research output. In turn, improved graduate competencies and university research output contribute to labor productivity and economic innovation.”
Increasing autonomy for universities should be a high priority for Nigerian policymakers.
I recommend that ASUU changes its approach to issues and recognise that what they need more is university autonomy, which includes financial autonomy. So far, the union has been coming across in public opinion as people catering to the demands of their own stomach because payment of their salaries and allowances, rightly or wrongly always looms large among their demands. As egg heads, they need to recognise the criticality of autonomy to the development of the university system in Nigeria and push for it with single-minded purpose rather than embarking on frequent strikes that at the end of the day yield nothing beyond hollow and unkept agreements. They should start reframing the issue.
Part of reframing the issue is to seek a legislation to grant universities the much-desired autonomy (or whatever is key to turn around the universities). ASUU should move the fight to the National Assembly, for this legislation to happen. As part of this effort, it will be necessary for ASUU to adopt a campaign approach – engage well-heeled marketing communications and public affairs companies to execute well researched public relations and advertising campaigns to influence public opinion and manage the optics. Universally, agreements with governments of the day are subject to change and even abrogation by later governments but when they are backed by law, it becomes difficult to cast aside, except by rascally governments as we have in our country.
Enough of ASUU strike, it is time for the university labour union to change tack and adopt other approaches to deliver the desired objective.
- Mr. Onuoha is a public affairs commentator based in Lagos.