Keeping the varsities open

FOR years now, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government have been embroiled in a dispute over the non-implementation of mutually signed agreements. On August 26, ASUU members embarked on a one-day nationwide protest to press home their demands. ASUU’s demands include the conclusion of the renegotiation of the 2009 FGN/ASUU Agreement based on the Nimi Briggs Committee’s Draft Agreement of 2021; the release of withheld three and a half months’ salaries on account of the 2022 strike; the release of unpaid salaries of staff on sabbatical, and issues around part-time and adjunct appointments. The demands also include the release of outstanding third-party deductions such as check-off dues and cooperative contributions; funding for revitalisation of public universities; and a stoppage to the proliferation of universities by federal and state governments and others. The union said it had entered into a renegotiation of the 2009 agreement between it and the Federal Government and that this was concluded in December 2024, but not approved and implemented. Following ASUU’s lead, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP) also declared an intention to embark on strikes.

The Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, had stirred the hornet’s nest when he denied claims that the government had signed agreements with ASUU, insisting that the documents being referenced were merely proposals. According to him, both the 2009 and 2011 documents often cited by ASUU as binding agreements were only proposals presented during negotiations. He said the administration of President Bola Tinubu was, however, committed to resolving the lingering issues with the union. Subsequently, however, the minister backtracked on his claim, acknowledging that the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement remained valid. Speaking through the Education ministry’s Director of Press and Public Relations,Folasade Boriowo, the minister  explained that efforts to review the deal began in 2017 when the then Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, inaugurated a renegotiation committee.

Meanwhile, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) threatened to shut down critical infrastructure nationwide if the Federal Government failed to meet ASUU’s demands. NANS Assistant General Secretary, Emmanuel Adejuwon, expressed deep concern over ASUU’s latest threat, vowing that the union would “mobilise Nigerian students for massive nationwide protests that will shut down roads, airports, government offices, and critical infrastructure.” He added that if the impending strike was not aborted, the students’ body would bring the country to a standstill until the future of Nigerian students was secured. Hear him: “It is obvious that strike actions only inflict pain and suffering on the children of ordinary Nigerians, the masses who struggle day and night to keep their children in school. The politicians and government officials whose failures created this crisis are not affected; their children are comfortably schooling abroad or in expensive private universities. If the children of these politicians were in our public institutions, this issue would have been resolved immediately.” Adejuwon also called on ASUU to rethink its tactics, saying:  “Every strike destroys our academic calendar, elongates our years in school, and diminishes the quality of our education. The lecturers must understand that their struggle, no matter how just, should not become a weapon against the same students they claim to fight for.”

Last week, the education minister indicated that everything necessary was being done to keep tertiary institutions running. According to him, a holistic negotiation with various unions was ongoing and it would be pointless to go on strike during the talks. He urged the unions that had served strike notice to shelve their plan. Dr. Alausa said  the government was making concerted efforts to meet the demands of the unions to prevent the disruption of academic activities. He was keen to point out, however, that the government would not rush into any agreement it had not properly negotiated.

It is, indeed, troubling that issues of agreements and negotiations between the government and the academic unions have hobbled the universities and other higher institutions for decades. The situation raises the central question of integrity and flexibility. On countless occasions, we have had to pillory the government for its failure to implement valid agreements. We have, however, also had to question some contents of the said agreements as well as ASUU’s rather inflexible stance and seeming obsession with strikes. As NANS has indicated, Nigerians students are given a short-shrift every time ASUU goes on strike, and cannot regain the time lost even when ASUU members have the opportunity of being paid for the period they were on strike. When these qualifications have been made, however, it is difficult not to conclude that the government carries most of the blame. Even if, for certain reasons, it cannot immediately implement agreements, there is nothing stopping it from communicating its limitations to the union and others. Waiting for ASUU to declare an intention to embark on a strike, or to embark on a strike outright before paying any attention to its demands is decidedly perverse. What the government is simply saying is that it has no interest in advancing the cause of education in the country. It is a knee-jerk reaction underlined by disinterest in education as a tool of national development.

We urge the government and ASUU, as well as the other unions, to embrace the spirit of negotiation and effective communication. Agreements should be faithfully implemented and renegotiated when the need arises without either party adopting a war posture as if they are cast in iron. The government must shelve its accustomed lethargy and irresponsibility and be always ready to implement agreements it willingly endorsed. It should stop pretending that all is well when the universities can be shut down at any time and students and their parents thrown into a tailspin.

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