It is a very difficult moment for university education in Nigeria as it is beset by chronic strikes. The Academic Staff Union of Universities declared the most recent one on August 12, disrupting the already fragile system. ASUU’s main grievance is that the Federal Government has not implemented the agreement it reached with the union in 2009. Except in a few institutions, ASUU members have completely halted teaching, research and meetings to press home their demands. In a global economy driven by knowledge, this is costly for the students and the country.
The current crisis dates back to the early days of the Fourth Republic. In 2007, ASUU embarked on a major strike in the twilight of Olusegun Obasanjo’s presidency. It took appeals from his successor, the late Umaru Yar’Adua, who argued that he was new on the job, for the lecturers to sheathe their swords. The government temporarily saved the system by signing an agreement with ASUU in 2009. Its non-implementation led to strikes in 2011 and 2012, before it was re-negotiated in 2013. In the 2013 reviewed agreement, Abuja agreed to fund the system with N1.3 trillion over a six-year period. Government started by paying N200 billion in 2013, but has reneged since then, leaving a shortfall of N825 billion, according to ASUU president, Abiodun Ogunyemi.
ASUU is unimpressed by the government’s inadequate funding of universities, non-payment of earned allowances, lack of government support for university staff schools, refusal to institute the Nigerian Universities Pension Management Company, and delayed/reduced salaries. ASUU is equally bitter that some state governments have stopped subventions to state universities.
While ASUU cannot be faulted in its quest for a well-funded university education in the country, some of its demands cannot stand rigorous examination. True, Nigerian universities are lagging far behind in global rankings, with none of them appearing in the first 1,000 in the January 2017 listing released by Spain-based Webometrics. We agree with ASUU that the federal and state governments have failed woefully in funding university education. A 2012 NEEDS Assessment Report underscored this scandalous conclusion. The report said in part: “Basic municipal facilities like water, electricity, transportation, market are either lacking or highly inadequate. In some universities…female students have their bath in the open because the bathrooms are in very poor condition. The hostels are infested with rodents; laundries and common rooms in many universities have been turned into rooms where students live.”
The union’s complaint over delayed salaries, painful as it is, is a national phenomenon provoked by economic recession, with about 30 states unable to pay salaries regularly. The recession started with the last government, which plundered the treasury at a time of unprecedented oil revenue. ASUU, like the other segments of the society, watched passively. The reward for its docility is that the incumbent government is hard pressed to implement the agreement.
It is perplexing that ASUU wants to create a separate pension system. There is no cogent reason to break up the current pension law to satisfy its members. The existing law and regulations allow for closed pension schemes voluntarily set up by beneficiaries. The war over university staff schools is equally baffling. Normally, the Federal Government ought not to overreach itself on secondary education. Already, the Federal Government is straining under the burden of 102 Unity Schools; why should it take on more than it can chew by funding staff schools?
However, it is instructive that even the funds trickling into the system are being abused. Apart from ongoing trials of some top university administrators, corruption pervades the whole system. Lecturers have to correct a system that allows universities to admit students in excess of their carrying capacities, and play roles in the granting of dubious accreditation of courses. It is time for ASUU to realise that it ought to fight for good governance, as it used to during the heyday of military dictatorship.
Nevertheless, the government has to change its irresponsible ways. It has to fulfil agreements with ASUU to appropriately fund our universities. The erstwhile Goodluck Jonathan government, aiming to score cheap political points, established 12 mushroom universities with a seed fund of N1 billion each. A weird expansionist policy has given rise to 40 federal universities in addition to colleges of education and polytechnics. Yet, the Buhari government is establishing specialised universities for ICT, the Police, the Army, the Air Force, the oil industry and upgrading polytechnics to the status of universities. This is irrational.
To thrive, universities require a sustainable funding plan. Where is the fund to put infrastructure and lecturers in these schools? If it is serious, the government should put a moratorium on new public universities and explore ways of implementing the University Autonomy Law. Autonomy is a characteristic of the decision-making process. According to a UNESCO report on Academic Freedom and University Autonomy, a university should make its own decisions on matters related to knowledge, research, and teaching. Therefore, it is wrong for lecturers to insist on the same remuneration across our universities as Nigeria is supposed to be a federal state. By entrenching a transparent governance code, our universities can attract funding from other sources, including endowments, the private sector and research grants. Ultimately, universities have a singular opportunity and obligation to contribute to the development of society and to play an active role in shaping the societies they serve.
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