Education

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Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities turn their  back on lecture room in compliance with an indefinite strike ordered by their union

|  By Anayo Ezugwu and Chinwe Okafor  |  Jul. 15, 2013 @ 01:00 GMT

THE indefinite strike embarked by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has paralysed academic activities in most public universities across the country.  The union embarked on the strike following the failure of the federal government to fully implement the 2009 agreement reached by the two parties. The union also wants the government to review the retirement age for professors from 65 to 70 and adequate funding to revitalise the university system.

Nasir Isa Fagge, ASUU president, said they went on strike because of a number of issues affecting the country’s education system and the Nigerian nation as a whole. The issues, according to him, include progressive increase of budgetary allocations to the education sector by 26 percent, transfer of federal government property to universities, setting up of research and development units by companies, payment of earned allowances and renegotiation of the signed agreement.

Others are the parlous state of the economy, and government’s disregard for its agreements with the union. He expressed satisfaction with the action, saying that members had complied with the strike order. He appealed to the federal government to address the demands of the teachers and save the sector from another crisis.

Realnews learnt that that the union is also protesting over the lingering crisis at the Rivers State University of Science and Technology, the continued violation of the rights of the re-engaged 49 academic staff at the University of Ilorin, and the non-release of the white paper on special visitation to the University of Abuja.

Lecturers and students have expressed worries over the way and manner government is handling issues that concerns education in the country. They called on the federal government to meet the demands of the union to enable a quick return to classrooms. Levi Nwodu, a lecturer at the Anambra State University, Uli, said he is in support of what ASUU is doing. He noted that it is the constitutional right of the union to embark on a strike in order to press home its demands. “There is no other way the union can get the government to attend to its needs apart from embarking on strike. The issue here is not just about our salary, but the state of facilities with which we work. They should make the environment very conducive for us to work,” he said.

Steven Alumona, a lecturer at the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, said they joined the strike on July 3. He explained that what the union is asking would improve the standard of education in Nigeria. “Many of the lecturers in the school have joined the strike because the union branch in the school instructed them to join the nationwide strike and warned that any form of academic activities in the institution would be sanctioned,” he said.

Karo Ogbinaka, a lecturer at the University of Lagos, said the government has lost interest in issues that concern education in Nigeria and that is why the education system is on the decline. “This is not an issue of paucity in the nation’s treasury; it is about somebody lacking the political will to place education in its rightful place; is it not the same government that is paying militants and Boko Haram members? You embark on strike; they will implement item one, and then another strike for them to implement item number two. We requested for specific things and we are not seeing evidence that government is serious with us, so we have to compel them to do the right thing,” he said.

Obishakin Anu, a student of the University of Lagos, has pleaded with the government to stop playing politics with education, warning that the consequences of their neglect of the sector will greatly endanger the future of the country. But Ruqqayatu Rufai, minister of education, said that the federal government had made an offer to the union and that the government was waiting for their response. The minister stated that the government was constantly in touch with ASUU and assured that the cordial relationship would continue. “In fact, you know they are our colleagues, we discussed with them, we had a meeting, we made an offer as a government and we are expecting to hear from them,” she said.

The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, has expressed concern over the on-going nation-wide strike action by the ASUU, saying the strike “is completely avoidable, but made inevitable by the federal government’s insensitivity, and a penchant for observing agreements in the breach.” Abdulwaheed Omar, national president, said the issues articulated by the ASUU are not self-serving but tenable, valid and germane to the sustenance of a qualitatively viable education system, the hope of any serious nation.

“In a nutshell, these issues include the lingering crisis at the Rivers State University of Technology, RSUST, the continued violation of the rights of the re-engaged 49 academics at the University of Ilorin, the non-release of the White Paper on Special Visitation to the University of Abuja, the parlous state of the economy and government’s disregard for its agreements. Universities are citadels of learning with rights, privileges and obligations and not extensions of political parties or militia groups where impunity and convenience seem to be the rule of the thumb,” he said.

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