“Discretion is the perfection of reason, and a guide to us in all the duties of life.” —Anonymous
By Omoniyi Salaudeen
A fresh crisis is looming again in the nation’s ivory tower for the same old reason. No thanks to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for whispering the possibility of another round of strikes over sundry issues bordering on the constitution of the governing councils of the various institutions, none payment of academic earned allowance, renegotiation of the 2009 agreement, revitalization of the university system, among others.
Over the years, strike has become a fashionable option for resolving issues that could ordinarily be resolved at a round table in Nigeria because of the obstinacy and the hardline stance of the parties involved. This has led to avoidable loss of academic sessions and exacerbated brain drain syndrome, leaving the university system with a huge dearth of human capital. In the worst scenario, countless deaths have been recorded from both sides of the students and academic members alike.
Under the leadership of its current President, Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, ASUU has fought and lost so many battles with the Federal Government. Not necessarily for lack of capacity, but insensitivity of those in government. The last in the series of industrial actions that have paralysed public universities was the nationwide strike between February and October 2022.
This week, while recounting the sad experience his members had passed through during the eight months of “No work, No pay” policy of the last administration at a press briefing held in Abuja to intimate the nation of another looming face-off with the Federal Government, Osodeke lamented thus: “Reports available to NEC indicate that an increasing number of Nigerian academics died while thousands of others are nursing life-threatening ailments occasioned by work-related stress, absolute pauperization, and multidimensional insecurity.”
Can ASUU afford another round of crisis? The answer is no. It is no because other than the aberration of not constituting the Governing Councils of the various institutions for 11 months which, according to him, has created room for all manners of infractions, the issues raised in the current agitation are still the same.
These are the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS), academic earned allowance, non-release of Owed Salaries, renegotiation of FG/ASUU agreement, funding and revitalization of the university system, among other things.
So, what the ASUU has done in its renewed agitation is to dress the old demands in a new guise, declaring that “ASUU shall do all within its powers to ensure that the dignity of the academia is fully restored in line with practices obtainable in forward-looking climes. So, Nigerians should hold the Federal and State Governments responsible if the matter of Governing Councils is allowed to snowball into an avoidable industrial crisis.”
Whereas, beneath all that is the lingering disagreement over the IPPIS platform as well as unpaid arrears of salaries of its members.
The statement issued by the union read: “The platform, with all its encumbrances, is used to pay our members under the disguise of the ‘New IPPIS’ contrary to the understanding reached at the 11th January 2024 stakeholders’ meeting held at the National Universities Commission (NUC).
“ASUU’s position remains unchanged: Government should revert to quarterly releases of university funds to enable the institutions to design and implement their salary payment plans under the supervision of their Governing Councils. This is the touchstone of a truly autonomous university system as experienced in Nigerian universities of the 1960s and 1970s.
“In the interest of industrial harmony, government should direct the immediate release of all outstanding deductions, unpaid promotion arrears and salaries of university academics which were unjustly withheld by the corruption-ridden IPPIS regime.”
The body of academics also faulted the 35 per cent salary increment for professors and the 25 per cent salary increment for other academics in the university system. Rather, it saw the increment as a wage award that could be withdrawn by the government anytime it deems fit.
While there is nothing wrong with a strike, everything is wrong doing the same thing in the same old way. You cannot do the same thing in the same old way and expect a different result.
For the new adventure, Osodeke is about to embark upon, the answer the union will get is predictable. Should they insist on calling out the Federal Government for a slugfest, the strike will be prolonged as before and nothing positive will come out of it.
At this point, the NEC needs to tread with caution and do a thorough introspection of its past activities before plunging the institutions into another round of crisis. This is bearing in mind that the current administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is an extension of the same old cabal that held the nation by the scruff of the neck for eight years. Nothing has changed.
The difference is that former President Muhammadu Buhari is obstinate, rigid, and taciturn, while his successor is crafty, cunning, and brutally shrewd.
He may choose to negotiate, but no one can undermine his propaganda machinery. Knowing the sentiments of the parents and the general public, they will paint ASUU blue and black for any industrial action.
Watching him speak on Channels Television, one can read the pain Osodeke is passing through, leading the union under an administration that has demonstrated scant regard for an honest and sincere engagement with organized labour.
“When a new government comes in, we give them enough time to resolve issues. In the past 11 months, we have not had any formal meeting with any of the organs of government where issues are taken and recorded for future implementation.
“We have written a letter and we have the evidence, we have not had a meeting with any of the organs of government. That is why we took the action we took at the last NEC, having used all avenues that these things are done and nothing was done,” Osodeke lamented
Intriguing! According to Prof Osodeke, the Tinubu administration has paid four months out of seven and a half months arrears of salaries the previous government owed ASUU due to the No-Work, No-Pay policy invoked to halt the prolonged strike.
The rest has entered ‘voice mail.’ With his antecedents in Lagos on labour matters, the Federal Government under Tinubu will not hesitate to add salt to the injury should ASUU insist on another round of strikes.
It must be appreciated that the administration has more troubles than it can handle. And the renewed agitation is the least of all.
Discretion is, therefore, advised. Erudite Prof Osodeke should tread softly and allow the National University Commission (NUC) to take its time to reconstitute the Governing Councils of the various institutions if that is the primary concern of the union for threatening to embark on a fresh strike.
