The Academic Staff Union of Nigeria promised to embark on a ‘total, indefinite and comprehensive strike’ on the 14th day of February 2022, the usual old pattern, and they proved this to the last edge of their might. The Federal Government of Nigeria did not fail to dazzle Nigerians and the international community with its negligence to the plight of the masses and its unquenching thirst for power grabbing.
There was no beam of hope as our leaders were caught up in the business and passion of intense political transactions with undivided attention. As expected they were hustling for their food and fame. In the middle of the hustle, Nigerian students were trapped and could only see their dreams and aspirations hanging like castles in the air. They were torn between political hustlers and an uncompromising union of lecturers. The losers were banking on political favours of their chosen affiliations.
The uncompromising union rolled out the strike in three phases – warning strike, extended warning strike and indefinite strike. The federal government, on the other hand, turned deaf ears as they appear to have other important issues to attend to – ‘politricking’. At the earliest phase, for instance, the Minister of Labour and Employment and the Minister of State for Education were chasing dreams of becoming the next president of the federation. The Minister of State for Labour took up a side hustle as the spokesperson for the elected presidential flagbearer of the All Progressives Congress campaign council. The politicians were jostling for power while the academics are wallowing in poverty of minds and pockets.
The government did not hesitate in midst of this national chaos to replay its prerecorded old tune – ‘we do not have the resources to meet ASUU demands,’ yet the suspended Accountant-General allegedly wiped billions of naira into his personal coffers under the watch of Mr president.
On its part, the National Association of Nigerian Students [NANS] cowardly threatened to disrupt the nations’ major political parties from conducting primary elections, this will never happen. The body decided to leverage on it’s numbers and students blocked major roads and airports across the country. But soon, they realised the government was unbothered.
ASUU did not concede defeat till the eighth month. It was a rude reality to live in for we the students that they will watch with our very eyes how political personnel snatch our lives away and hang it far in the sky that is unreaching.
We are the key victims of this entanglement – students – forced to seek for coping mechanisms as we were mentally strained, we were lured with several exhortations to go learn skills – be it Tech skills or Vocational skills. A student in her confusion asked rhetorically, “why will I come to the university if all I needed is to learn vocational skills?“ Skill acquisition was a means to save time as the government is clearly unbothered about our future. The claim ‘school is a scam’ gained more support as students had to chase opportunities outside the qualifications they seek to acquire in school.
Should ASUU review its modus operandi? The hostile work relationship between the Federal Government and the union have so far proven over the years to be a disastrous one as we the students have become disinterested in the educational system that has become unreliable and denigrated. This hostile relationship only leaves us to bear the brunt just as the grass suffers when two elephants fight. ASUU and Federal Government have been at loggerheads over the same set of issues over the past decade such as the approval of a new payment payroll system (UTAS), revitalization of the university system, non-implementation of the 2009 agreement and so on. ASUU’s strike over the years has not seem to coerce the government to fulfil its part of the agreement but only record the success of the Federal Government deploying newer tactics of pacifying the union when they embark on their incessant strikes.
The ASUU strike also extends the length of the study programmes in higher institutions, which is another drawback. The notion and conviction that one should plan for an additional one or two years of study if accepted to a four- or five-year program is widespread among students in federal institutions across the country. This assumption has often proven to be accurate. The longest strike was in 2020, this lasted for nine months and in less than 13 months the union embarked on another eight months strike causing an elongation in the duration of our learning.
How long will we continue to go on strikes? This is the key rhetorical question that gnaws at the minds of the thronging Nigerian students.
