It appears that university students have been at home for the past six months because their teachers, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), are on a strike.
I disagree with ASUU on a couple of things. But that doesn’t mean that I support the government.
Indeed, ASUU and I are united on the fact that the government is not funding education enough. That the money being budgeted for education is laughable.
I also believe that ASUU members should be better paid. I know for a fact that some secondary school teachers in Abuja private schools are better paid than some professors.
However, I disagree with ASUU on two things. One, no human being or man-made system is right all the time. It’s impossible. But ASUU appears to think that they are right all the time. So that any attempt to disagree with them attracts trenchant torrents of self-righteousness from the members.
Two, flowing from number one above, ASUU thinks that the only tool they can use in negotiations with the government is to strike. I know as a teacher that I wouldn’t be able to sleep at night if my students are kept at home for six months. That may kill me. Especially if my demand is better payment not that I’m not being paid at all.
But what’s the alternative to strike?
The fact that this question is being asked by the brightest people in the land, shows that they are not seriously looking for solutions. One of the reasons for creating universities is so that they can solve societal issues. So it appears to be an indictment if ASUU can’t solve its own problems.
But alternatives have been proposed. Bala Muhammad once wrote on the back of DailyTrust newspaper how they tackled some of these issues on campus without going on strike.
A lawmaker once sponsored a bill to compel all top government functionaries to enrol their children into Nigerian public schools. But instead of unions like ASUU rising to his support, the man was laughed out of the house.
Say whatever you want about that bill, its brilliance stems from the fact that our leaders don’t have their children in public schools. But when it becomes a law to do so, they will all rally together so that our education problems are fixed.
So we must support efforts like this. For example, Governor el-Rufai enrolled his child in a public school. In Niger State, the SUBEB chairman, Dr Isah Adamu, also enrolled his son into a public primary school.
I think ASUU should invest its energy in getting their demands passed into laws so that whichever government denies them their rights, the courts can compel them to fulfil their obligations. Lobby the National Assembly! They have former students in NA they can lobby.
What is ASUU also doing about the desperate presidential candidates? Is it feasible to strike a deal with them before they come in? What campaign promises can they make to ASUU?
In sum, while ASUU’s demands are justified, their methods can’t be right all the time. And there are indeed alternatives to strikes. They should find them. Or are the students going to stay at home for five years if the government refuses to answer ASUU’s call?
You don’t get to solutions with a fixed mindset. ASUU is losing followers. If it continues in this way, one day it would turn its back and would find no one behind them.
