There was a lawyer in the ancient Greece of over 2000 years ago by the name of Protagoras. A young boy, Euthalos, requested to apprentice under him, but was too poor to pay the fees. The student promised to pay the teacher the day he wins his first case in the court. The boy completed the training and a few years passed on without him paying up. The teacher decided to sue the student in the court of law.
His thought was that, ‘If I win the case, the student will have to pay me, as the case is about non-payment of dues. And if I lose, he will still have to pay me because he would have won his first case. On the other hand, the student also agreed to be sued. He thought to himself, ‘if I win the case, I won’t have to pay my teacher because the case is about non-payment of dues. If I lose, I still won’t pay because I wouldn’t have won my first case yet. Either way, I will not pay the teacher.
The above is what is called the ‘Protagoras Paradox’, where both opposing sides have genuine, convincing points. The same scenario is playing out in the recent face off between the FG and ASUU face off regarding the IPPIS scheme. ASUU has always been at loggerheads with successive governments in Nigeria. However, the present debacle between the two parties is taking a dynamic dimension in the sense that a larger number of academics are unanimously into this struggle against the Federal Government.
The University of Ilorin that has a twenty-something year old record of uninterrupted academic session has had its academic session ruptured in view of the recent face off. In short, most university dons are telling the Federal Government that enough is enough.
To be fair, both the Federal Government and ASUU have genuine points. That is why I tagged the situation at hand a ‘Protagoras Paradox’. The FG is saying that shady and shoddy dealings are ongoing in the academic terrain. There is no doubt about this. However, generalisation might be too unreasonable here as some academic settings, amidst the absence of an enabling environment, are still struggling to uphold academic integrity.
The ASUU is saying that the FG cannot adopt the approach of one cap fits all. They aver that the IPPIS cannot work in the academic setting, and there is a need to review it. I think to this extent, I agree with the ASUU. However well-intentioned the Federal Government is on IPPIS, it needs to review some of its operational dynamics.
The Federal Government is coming up with a good policy but has failed to come with the proverbial clean hands.
If the FG is accusing academics of engaging in shady deals, they pushed them into it by not attending to their welfarism. Though I agree with the good intention of the FG, he who must come to equity must come with clean hands.
Abdullah Abdulganiy,
Sokoto.
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