By Emeka Alex Duru
Unless reasons prevail and positive measures taken by the federal government to address the grievances of members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Nigeria’s university system may be headed for another grueling period of shutdown. And that would be quite bad. At the heart of the matter is the 2009 agreement between the government and the lecturers on adequate funding of the system and staff welfare. There are also issues of earned allowances and other complaints by the teachers.
By Thursday, August 28, 2025, tension ran high as the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, claimed that there was no binding agreement between the Federal Government and ASUU. However, faced with public outcry on the comment, he recanted the next day and admitted existence of an agreement between the two parties. Even with the Minister acknowledging the agreement, strike still looms in the system, hence the need for the Federal Government and the Union to find a middle ground to avert another tortuous shutdown of the universities.
On its part, ASUU, has called on stakeholders, including the National Assembly, religious leaders, traditional rulers and students, to caution the Federal Government against pushing the teachers to a nationwide strike. The call came on the heels of protests by members of the Union across the country, especially in Federal Government-owned universities.
From University of Uyo, through University of Jos, University of Abuja to Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike Umuahia, the lecturers filed out in the streets on protest. The protest equally paralysed academic activities at Alex Ekwueme Federal University, Ndufu-Alike Ikwo (AE-FUNAI), Ebonyi State. From University of Ilorin, ASUU chairman, Dr. Alex Akanmu, was quoted as saying; “University workers are not slaves, increase budgetary allocation for education. As peace loving as we are, we can no longer allow the welfare of our members to be subjected to the delay tactics of this government. At the University of Maiduguri, the ASUU chairman, Dr. Abubakar Mshelia, warned on the dangers of treating intellectuals with disdain, stressing that such cannot result to meaningful progress in Nigeria.
ASUU had before now, threatened industrial action, over its dissatisfaction with the way its members’ demands are being handled by the states and federal government. Issues of complaints border on the piteous state of the universities, manifested in inadequate funding, dilapidated infrastructure and disillusioned workforce. The libraries and laboratories in most universities are mere empty halls with outdated books and obsolete equipment. A classroom meant to accommodate 50 students now takes over 150 to 200 students in most federal and state universities.
Faced with frustration and disillusionment, the lecturers are leaving in droves for other countries. Recent media reports indicated that no fewer than 239 First-Class graduates of the University of Lagos, employed as lecturers, left the institution within seven years. Poor remuneration, unconducive working conditions, and low motivation among lecturers, were among the factors that accounted for the mass exodus. This is disturbing and indicative of state and leadership failure. A country without sound university education is like a house erected on quicksand. It is only a matter of for the system to collapse.
It has no doubts, become the norm and sign of arrival for public office holders un the country to send their children abroad for training. In the recent past, social media platforms were lighted with pictures of former Kaduna State governor, Nasir el-Rufai celebrating his son, Ahmad, who bagged a degree from one of the universities in London. El-Rufai was not alone in the callous display. Former President, late Muhammadu Buhari, ex-Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, down to the governors and the lawmakers at the state or federal levels, were equally involved.
In fact, five of Buhari’s children attended prestigious universities in the United Kingdom – Buckingham University, University of Plymouth, University of Leicester and University of Surrey. Osinbajo’s son, Fiyinfunoluwa graduated from Warwick University. Their predecessors, also had their children educated abroad. Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, had in 2016, celebrated the graduation of one of his daughters from a foreign university. Former Senate President, Bukola Saraki, who also served as governor of Kwara State, celebrated the graduation of his son from the London School of Economics. Current office holders are following suit. Works Minister, David Umahi, recently showcased his son graduating from one of the universities abroad.
It is all within their rights to train their children wherever they choose, as long as they have the means. Buhari put it more direct, when in response to a question by a foreign news medium on why his children were schooling in foreign lands and not in Nigerian universities, he said: “Because I can afford it.” But it goes beyond that.
Education is a right and not a privilege. There are millions of Nigerians who do not have the opportunity or resources to send their children to schools abroad. These are the people bearing the brunt of the caricature that the public schools in Nigeria have been reduced to. It is for such Nigerians that any face-off between the government and ASUU, matters a lot. We had argued in this space that Nigeria has become a classic case of where the leaders do something same way repeatedly and expect different results. There could be no better definition of madness. Allowing another strike by university teachers in a tensed situation as the country is presently grappling with, portends serious danger. Apart from the students losing years and interest in their studies, standard is affected, also. Above all, the society suffers.
Each time the teachers go on strike, the academic calendar is affected. Cumulatively, the strikes affect the years the students spend in the universities. Some of the students in the period of idleness, take to various vices and anti-social behaviours or crimes, while the parents bear the pressure of sustaining their children and wards in schools indefinitely. In 2020, the Union went on strike that almost lasted one year. Between February 14, 2022 and October 14, 2022, the universities in the country were shut because of strike by ASUU over funding and other demands. A whole academic session was lost in the process. The strike was the 17th in the series since the commencement of the present civilian dispensation in 1999. Nigeria cannot continue on that ignoble path.
There is need for adequate funding of the universities. It is good that the federal government has assured that it would not allow the agitation by the lecturers degenerate to full-blown strike. Let the assurances be matched with actions. Government should go back to the agreement it entered into with ASUU and honour same. It should listen to the fundamental issues raised by the lecturers and attend to them. University education is important to the development of any nation and should not be toyed with. Nigeria cannot afford another long period of avoidable strike by ASUU.
DURU is the Editor, TheNiche Online Newspapers, Lagos (08054103327, nwaukpala@yahoo.com)