Let’s put an end to these strikes

Some days ago, I watched a commercial for a private Nigerian university on TV, the young lady in it while stating the advantages of attending the school mentioned that, from her first day as a student there, she knew exactly when she would graduate. That would seem like a non issue to a person who does not know how the Nigerian public school system works, where, nothing is for sure.

So, while your mates who attend private schools have a definite calendar, as a student in a government owned university in Nigeria you are plagued with uncertainty. Over the years, the faceoff between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government which ends up in avoidable but yet sometimes very prolonged strikes continues to be one of the many setbacks in the development of higher education in Nigeria.

From ASUU’s inception as a trade union in 1978, it has had cause to disagree with the Federal Government on different occasions and over divergent issues bordering on the promotion and protection of the welfare of its members and the state of our universities. The declaration by the Union on Monday 14th August 2017 to embark on an indefinite strike action is one of such. It has consequently forced thousands of Nigerian students to stay at home idle, instead of in classrooms adding much needed values to themselves for the betterment of society.

In 2009 the union entered into an agreement with the Federal government, the terms of the agreement included payment of arrears of earned academic allowances and increased funding for universities among others. Successive administrations since then have failed to live up to the Federal Government’s side of the bargain. Some members of the union have also quite convincingly accused the country’s political elites of consciously and deliberately trying to destroy public education, but if that be the case, is the union not facilitating their efforts with these incessant strikes?

The sad truth however is that as a country we have not been fortunate with governments that are serious about education. As a result of this, our universities are ill equipped, poorly funded with decaying infrastructure. It is the same at the primary and secondary school levels. The United Nations benchmark for funding education is 26% of annual national budget, however, Nigeria has constantly and woefully failed to reach that target. In the 2017 budget for instance, only 7% of it was allocated to education.

Some analysts have argued that there is a distinction between education funding and the budget of the Federal Ministry of Education since other government ministries and agencies have educational institutions funded by them and are allocated for in the same national budget. It is therefore very imperative for the National Bureau of Statistics to look into collating an accurate data of the total percentage of government expenditure which goes into funding education and how they are being spent. Whatever the case, what is absolutely clear is that the system cannot continue as it is.

Looking outside our shores but not going very far away, one can easily draw a very unbalanced comparison with neighbouring Ghana which has gradually become a choice destination for Nigerians seeking university education abroad. In the last couple of years Ghana has allocated not less than 20% of its annual budget to education. It is no wonder that Nigerians spend a whopping $1billion yearly on tuition fees in that country.

Another African example is Rwanda where private schools are being forced to shut down because of poor patronage. Parents in Rwanda prefer to send their wards to public schools as they are much more affordable and the quality of education they provide is better than the private schools. This should not be mistaken as an advocacy for a system that runs private schools out of business, it is one for a system that makes attending private schools or travelling abroad to get an education a matter of choice not necessity.

Back to our bad situation, it begs the question whether strike actions are the best way of making government address ASUU’s demands, especially in these present times. The issue is worse for students in state government owned universities where their local chapters may decide to embark on a different strike immediately after a national one has been called off. This repugnant culture is both unhealthy and unsustainable, it must be permanently remedied. Our youth want to get a degree within a definite timeframe, certainty of time gives good motivation to endure and work hard to achieve ones goals.

Therefore, the leadership of ASUU should evolve from their revolutionary 70s mindsets to modern methods of compelling government to act. The union generates huge revenues from their members annually, some of these funds could be used on PR campaigns aimed at exposing the rot in our universities. Social media is a critical tool in getting government’s attention today, the #Bringbackourgirls and #Notosocialmediabill campaigns are few examples of how effective social media can be in getting government to act appropriately.

Every Nigerian must also get involved in this struggle because it is very clear that there is an emergency in the education sector. The fight is therefore not only for the unions, all Nigerians need to join in demanding that things change in the way education is funded and managed. Our legislators who have sworn to represent the people need to wake up to their responsibilities and make laws by way of appropriation and otherwise that will improve the state of public schools.

Uwais Abdulrahman nmauwais@gmail.com