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| University students during a convocation ceremony |
The reported recent signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Federal Government last week may be an indication that the over five-month old strike by ASUU may be called off soon.
This was earlier boosted by the confirmation of the payment of the N200bn by the Federal Government into the “Revitalisation of Universities Infrastructure” account with the Central Bank of Nigeria. This much was said by the Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, while briefing journalists in Abuja last week.
All the same, for parents of affected students of public varsities in the country, it has been a long wait for light to shine at the end of the tunnel.
For Mrs. Adeniji Oriola, the strike should have ended months ago. “It is not good for the students to have stayed at home for this long when they were supposed to be in school studying, because the devil finds work for idle hands. This is why I had to enrol my undergraduate children in vocational training classes,” she said.
She also expressed disappointment over the handling of the issue by the FG.
“The people in government are comfortable with this situation (strike) because their children don’t attend universities here in Nigeria and they have the money. So, they think everything is fine and they don’t care what happens to the country’s education system, even if the strike should last for years. Many parents are now taking their children abroad to school. For me, I can’t do that now because I have not made proper arrangement for them and I have to look for money,” she said.
Nowadays, it is common to find Nigerian students furthering their tertiary education in neighbouring African countries such as Ghana and Benin Republic.
And if another parent who identified himself as Shokanbi and who has also endured the strike action with his undergraduate son, has his way, he would prefer to send his children to other African countries to continue their education, because of the incessant strike actions by ASUU.
“Honestly, if I can afford it like I did for my first son, I will send my second son to continue his education in a university abroad, somewhere in an African country where they have better tertiary education, but I have no choice. It is unfair that these students have been forced to stay at home for over five months,” he said.
But not everyone can afford the luxury of having options.
Expectedly, not many parents or their wards in the university had the luxury of choice during the over five-month-old strike.
Many other parents are also counting the financial cost of the strike as students would have to spend extra months after the strike ends and so incur more cost in their quest for a university degree. For many parents, providing for their children’s tertiary education is a huge burden.
“Although ASUU has good reason for embarking on the strike, such as the poor state of facilities and other issues, and insisting that their demands are met by the FG; but at the same time, the union should have also considered the future of the children and long reached a compromise with the FG on this matter. Five months is just too long. This has also extended their academic calendar and also affected me because it would extend the period for my children to finish their studies,” said a parent who did not want to be named.
The saving grace, Shokanbi said, was that his son studies Creative Arts in the university. “So, I told him to go learn a trade such as barbing while at home. He’s also good with his hands and has been designing art works,” he said, adding that as far as he was concerned, the leadership of the union had not been sincere with their motives for prolonging the strike.
He said, “ASUU is not considering the plight of the children at all. But what can we do about it? Everybody has their own opinion. The union claims it is fighting to improve the standard of education system in Nigeria and that if it doesn’t fight for it now, tertiary education system will collapse.
“But, honestly, I don’t believe in the ASUU strike and the cause they claim they are fighting for, especially with the present structure in the country. The FG said N200bn has been deposited into the account. But the union may not use the money judiciously. In the next few years, everyone may be surprised if ASUU should give a breakdown of how it spent the money released. This is my personal opinion, I may be right or wrong,” he said.
For many of the striking lecturers, the necessity of a lengthy strike action was necessary to reverse the decay in the country’s university education.
Mr. Olalekan Fadairo blamed the FG for allowing the strike to have lasted for months.
“I don’t blame ASUU for the length of the strike. When you work, you must eat from your sweat, it is even written in the Bible. The larger problem is from the FG because it failed to honour the 2009 agreement it signed with ASUU. An agreement is an agreement, why is the FG now reneging on it? ASUU is made up of educated people who know their rights. It’s not an easy task to teach children who will help develop the country’s economy. Thus, ASUU shoulders a big responsibility in helping to build the future of our children academically, economically and socially,” he said.
Safeguarding the country’s economic future through the provision of quality education justifies the reason why the FG should take the funding of tertiary education and creating a more conducive learning atmosphere as top priorities, he said.
“The lack of facilities in institutions in the country has seen majority of parents today sending their children to Ghana and even the Republic of Benin for their tertiary education. But once these two things are looked into – providing proper funding and conducive learning environment, then ASUU strike will be a thing of the past and tertiary education will be smooth-sailing in the country. There should be funding in the area of research, remuneration for lecturers and scholarships for students. Once these things are properly done, the quality of education in Nigeria will improve,” he added.
All things being equal, parents can finally heave sighs of relief that the over five-month-old strike may end. Considering the frequencies of strike since 1999, the question now on the lips of parents and students is, for how long will this ‘compromise’ last?
The government should do the right thing and find a permanent solution to strike actions by university lecturers, noted Oriola. “Our children are the present and the future of this country. If they (FG) cannot solve this strike problem, what can they solve? Let these children go back to school,” she said.
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