A friend of mine was undergoing a rigorous research with the help of a Nigerian University, preparatory to his Ph.D programme and was persuaded by his former supervisor, a white man, to pay him (the white man) a visit in Sweden but my friend declined on the basis that there was too much work to be done on the field and in the lab. His former supervisor then said “don’t worry; I believe very soon ASUU will be on strike again perhaps then you will have plenty time to visit”. No sooner had he finished predicting a strike in December 2012 than its actual occurrence in July 2013. My friend’s supervisor who had spent not more than a decade in Nigeria before going back had become accustomed to the almost biennial necromancy of the ASUU strike.

A friend of mine was undergoing a rigorous research with the help of a Nigerian University, preparatory to his Ph.D programme and was persuaded by his former supervisor, a white man, to pay him (the white man) a visit in Sweden but my friend declined on the basis that there was too much work to be done on the field and in the lab. His former supervisor then said “don’t worry; I believe very soon ASUU will be on strike again perhaps then you will have plenty time to visit”. No sooner had he finished predicting a strike in December 2012 than its actual occurrence in July 2013. My friend’s supervisor who had spent not more than a decade in Nigeria before going back had become accustomed to the almost biennial necromancy of the ASUU strike.

Most often when discussions hold on the ASUU strike, the Federal Government takes the blame. I suppose Goodluck Jonathan has had more striking blows of ASUU than any other past president, yet ironically, he seems to have met their demands more than other past governments; establishing 12 new universities is no mean feat especially in a country like Nigeria; Construction of facilities appears to be taking place in almost all Federal Universities, more postgraduate scholarships are awarded lecturers even to study abroad in an effort to salvage our educational system.

In return for the ‘good intent’ of the Federal Government, ASUU turns out half baked graduates, capital projects at university sites are abandoned, funds meant for research are diverted and used to build elaborate personal houses, cultism is on the increase and the university system continues to sink in a slough of despondency. In the midst of all these who do we blame?

From a spectator’s viewpoint, one can broadly categorize ASUU into two groups; the Passive ASUU which constitute the docile majority and the Active ASUU which are the minority but wield greater power and influence. This scenario is a typical replica of the Nigerian political situation where a few power maniacs maneuver most of the general passive populace to assent their interests which are coated in fanciful guises. The Passive ASUU members do their work diligently without anticipating salary raise or comparing their pay cheques with other institutions, whereas, the typical ASUU activist raises many demands that end up spelling one word-MONEY. No doubts about that, it has always been about the money and even the Passive ASUU member wont mind on upward review of his pay cheque.

The biggest losers in this feud are the students. The time, resources and energy they have lost in the course of the strike can hardly ever be regained. But as it is many of them are unaware of the cause of the strike rather they heap blames of the Federal Government and say ‘they just want to resume school and graduate’. Maybe they assume ASUU is always right and government is always wrong.

The children of most of the henchmen involved on both sides are either schooling abroad or in private universities within so it appears that they are not directly affected. To make matters worse, parallel governments of student representatives in the name of National Association of Nigerian students (NANS) keep mute over such salient issues as the ASUU Strike continues, but are very vocal when it comes to power sharing and money matters.

While Government is known for not fulfilling her promises, ASUU should also take the blame for not striving to end the strike permanently, thus making it biennial obligation. Of the nine demands posed by ASUU, the Federal Government has met eight of them, that bold effort is very laudable and commendable. So before the whole blame falls on federal Government let’s have a rethink and point accusing fingers at two places.

By Bizum Yadok

Bizum is a political analyst and social affairs commentator who writes for ViewPointNigeria from Jos, he can be reached at bizuumyadok@gmail.com

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ASUU strike: Before we lump the entire blame on the Federal Government by Bizum Yadok