ASUU STRIKE: THE REASON BEHIND THE ACTION
On the 21st of September 2022, the national industrial court ordered the academic staff union of universities (ASUU) to call off their seven-month-old strike but do we even know the reason for this strike?
All we know is that the federal government of Nigeria defaulted on an agreement they made with ASUU but what exactly is the agreement?
To find out you’ll have to keep reading.
Since the inception of the association, ASUU has declared strike almost every year, embarking on the first in 1988 and there have been sixteen strike actions spanning over twenty-three years since the shift of power to civilian rule in 1999.
The reasons for these strikes have been;
Failure of the government to meet up with their promises to the association in 1999,
The sacking of forty-nine lecturers from the university of Ilorin, Kwara state in 2001,
FG’s failure to meet up with the agreement they made with ASUU in the previous strikes in 2002,
Poor funding of universities, alongside disparities in salaries and retirement ages for lecturers and breach of previous agreements in 2003,
The same reason for previous strikes in 2005-2007,
An improved salary scheme and the reinstatement of the previously sacked forty-nine lecturers from the university of Ilorin, Kwara state in 2008,
Then the strike that forged the agreement which is now the root of every other strike happened in 2009 and the agreement is the FG/ASUU Memorandum of Action.
For the reason stated above, strikes were held in different durations from 2010-2012,
Failure of the government to review retirement ages for lecturers, failure to increase the budget allocation to education by 26%, and failure to approve funding of universities in 2013.
From 2013 till now, all industrial actions stemmed from the federal government’s inability to honor the agreements made in 2013, 2019, and then 2020.
In 2013, an agreement for the funding of universities with 1.3 trillion naira over the space of five months was made and apart from the 200 billion given in 2014, 20 billion in 2019, and promises to pay 40 billion in 2020, and 30 billion in 2021, no other funds have been released by the federal government to meet their agreement with ASUU.
In the 2020 Memorandum of Action, the federal government promised to pay ASUU 30 billion out of the 220 billion naira tranche and organize a special meeting to discuss the payment of the 170 billion balance, and the default of this agreement is the major reason for the 2022 strike.
Although the incumbent president of ASUU; professor Emmanuel Osadeke stated that he’s open to negotiations, he also said that he and the union will not turn their backs on the ” full implementation of the 23rd December 2020 Memorandum of Action for quick restoration of industrial harmony in Nigeria’s public universities.”
To back up the need for the strike, the president of the association further said that if no action is taken soon to salvage the deplorable state of public universities, they would have the same fate as secondary and primary schools in the nearest future.
Series of negotiations have been made since the recent strike action was declared but have all resulted in deadlock because of accusations and counteraccusations that have been thrown by both parties at themselves, and when the association couldn’t take it anymore, they declared an indefinite strike on August 30, 2022.
Fast-forward some days into September and we see FG dragging ASUU to court and another series of negotiations.
This time, the speaker of the house of representatives; Femi Gbajabiamila, is the one who calls for a meeting to find a lasting solution to the strike.
Back to the court issue, the national industrial court who fixed the 21st of September to hear the case between the FG and ASUU ordered that ASUU and its members return to classrooms while other legal actions are carried out.
Although ASUU has not given any official report regarding the court’s judgment, the body has resorted to making an appeal of its own and encouraged its members to remain calm.
Since the judgment of the national industrial court was passed, there has been a mix of opinions concerning the matter.
Presidency-controlled body; NANS is comfortable with the judgment, saying that it is a win-win for both parties in a war where the students are victims.
Also, the national parents and teachers association (NAPTAN) is happy with the judge’s verdict, they also told the government that they shouldn’t treat the case between ASUU with levity because they have been forced to reopen schools and they should see to it that they meet the demands of the association.
Many of the students however are not comfortable with the judgment of the court as they can’t imagine their exam scripts being marked by a person who was forced to work and hasn’t been paid his salary.
As it stands now, there is no evident solution to the crisis our educational sector is facing now and all we can do is hope that things will get better I’m the future.
What is your take on this matter?
Do you want schools to be reopened?
Are Emmanuel Osadeke and his comrades fighting a just cause?
What do you have to say about the FG in this matter?
Let’s hear your thoughts in the comments section.
Remember to like this post and share it so that others can know what’s going on.