Don tasks ASUU on change of approach over trade disputes negotiation

The Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) stands to gain more for its members by being flexible and diplomatic in its approach during trade disputes negotiations. An active participant in ASUU struggles, Professor Onovwakponoko Lucky Ovwasa of federal university Lokoja dropped this hints in his valedictory lecture at the weekend in Lokoja. The Don stated […]

The Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU) stands to gain more for its members by being flexible and diplomatic in its approach during trade disputes negotiations.

An active participant in ASUU struggles, Professor Onovwakponoko Lucky Ovwasa of federal university Lokoja dropped this hints in his valedictory lecture at the weekend in Lokoja.

The Don stated that the union better stoop to conquer than fighting endlessly without achieving the goals for the fight .

Professor Ovwasa who claimed to be a key figure in the strike actions of the Union over the years stressed that the militant approach adopted by ASUU since 1978 has not yielded the desired results , rather it had made the members to loose many grounds .

“Anytime there is disagreement with the government, ASUU should handle negotiation with decorum ,instead of using abusive and provocative language on government officials. The hard fact remains that the government is the government.

“In the public domain,ASUU has become more known for strike actions than for other critical functions that birthed its formation.

“Well meaning Nigerians are now concerned essentially with the implication of the strike actions on such critical areas as quality of education ,human capital development and general perception of education system”, he said .

He added that the way forward for ASUU to be successful in the struggles for the survival of public university in Nigeria is to change its confrontational approach

Professor Ovwasa said the current attitude and behaviour of ASUU on insisting that any government in power is an enemy of the Union should be discarded , stressing that the union should develop robust and friendly relationship with government to strike a better bargain in time of trade disputes.

The Don added further that the union all this while has concentrated more on forms rather than substance ,creating impression of anti member welfares by their postures with establishments.

“ASUU first and foremost is a staff welfare union,not a human right Activist organisation.

“This is the time for the union to be more pragmatic in our approach to secure first with held salaries of members whose Morales are at the lowest ebb”, he said.

However, the Don said the fundamental problem with the union approach to the trade disputes is the clash of ideological bent or beliefs .

He said while the government team is applying the capitalist and mixed economy ideas in their negotiation, the union is deeply rooted to Marxist / socialist idea , posing a major ideological differences to resolve issues easily at the negotiation table .

He stressed further that the strikes are caused by the federal government refusal to respect agreed agreement but the prolongation and disruption of academic programmes is caused by the action of the union, for their approach and rigidity during negotiations.

He said the implications had been that the long strike actions affects student performance in examination and makes them engage in examination malpractices, besides destabilising academic programmes and it’s operations which ultimately lead to the production of half baked university graduates;
decrease research and innovation in the universities .

He said the recent 2022 ASUU strike that started on February 14th and ended on October 14th became the most devastating and destructive of the university system in Nigeria.

He said immediately the strike started the federal government ordered stoppage of the striking lecturers salaries, creating hardship to the union members as it last .

The vice chancellor of federal university Lokoja , professor, Professor Olayemi Akinwum eulogized the retiring Don as a complete gentleman who have influenced alot that have bettered the department of political science.