‘Students swallow bitter pill in FG, ASUU disagreements’

The continuining strike by university teachers is generating a lot of disquiet among students and parents across the country. The lecturers, under the auspices of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) recently came under intense pressure from the government and parents to return to the lecture rooms. New talks planned to bring the union to […]

The continuining strike by university teachers is generating a lot of disquiet among students and parents across the country.

The lecturers, under the auspices of Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) recently came under intense pressure from the government and parents to return to the lecture rooms. New talks planned to bring the union to the negotiation table didn’t yield results even after government agreed to release billions of naira to the universities to clear backlog of salaries and allowances.

While the bargaining talks have seemingly hit a wall and were expected to  be cranked up once again, many parents and students view the strike as unnecessary and detrimental to learning.

Some students directly affected by the strike are calling on government and ASUU to reach a deal because their academic pursuit was at stake. They said they were eager to return to study.

Many of the students were of the belief that the reason for the strike went beyond improving the standard of education in the country as claimed by the lecturers but was also politically motivated.

A 300 level student in the Department Arabic and Islamic studies at the University of Ibadan, Bello Rahaman Olawale, said he was fed up with the incessant industrial actions by ASUU and had applied for scholarship to study abroad as alternative.

He noted that his 300 level exam results which were requisite for the scholarship, was not ready before ASUU went on strike.

He said though he was willing to learn, his reading skills were declining by the day because there was no challenge and motivation.

Another 300 level student from Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, Moses Adetayo, described the ongoing strike as an unnecessary and unpatriotic action.

Adetayo said government should try to attend to the demands of the union using available resources, rather than toying with the future of the students.

“I agree with ASUU on the need to improving our education standard but they however need to consider our future too. Many of my friends are now learning vocational skills because of the strike.

“To avert such embarrassing industrial actions in future, government should see it a duty to pay our lecturers promptly. Our laboratories and classes should be improved upon. Enough of owing accumulated salaries.”

Sade Lawal, a student of Business Education at the University of Ibadan in her own submission, said the strike has been a bitter pill to swallow.

“The strike has contributed more damage to the lives of many students. It is one of the factors that contribute to brain drain in the Nigerian education sector. When you go on strike for many months, how do you bridge the gap in the academic calendar and performance of students? That is one of the reasons our universities are dropping low in ranking.”

When contacted for reaction, ASUU chairman in the Federal University Dutse (FUD),   Dr. Abdulsalam Balarabe Suleman, said the lecturers resolved to continue the strike action to save the tertiary education system from eminent collapse, even in a situation where the Federal Government decided to stop their salaries.

According to him, the amount of money claimed to have been paid in the list of the union’s demand by the Federal Government hasn’t got to the lecturers and that ‘invariably,’ made the claim untrue.

He also condemned government action, which he said showed lack of concern toward the plight of the lecturers. He claimed that government representatives and some individuals have allegedly attempted to set the student unions’ against the striking lecturers adding that, he was still ‘wondering how a child could be set against his father.’ This reporter could not however, verify the allegation.

Dr. Suleman, argued that if the Federal Government could meet the demands of oil dealers, lecturers’ demands that lingered for long should have also been addressed, saying, the insensitivity of government over the persistent strikes, indicated lack of interest in tackling the decay in tertiary institutions in the country.

He expressed displeasure over the failure of President Muhammadu Buhari to meet in person with ASUU with a view to resolving the differences, instead of his ministers. He said the need for the president to wade into the matter cannot be overemphasised, because there was likelihood that the government’s team at the roundtable with ASUU was not transmitting unadulterated reports to the president.

On their concerns about the development on students and parents, the chairman said most of the lecturers have their children in universities across the country too, adding that they knew how an individual parent feels but that their hands were tied and they didn’t have any other alternative than to down tools.

He said students must sympathise with the lecturers looking at the disruptions in the academic calendar the strikes might have caused, insisting that they were compelled by the government to embark on the action.

A parent, Peter Agbo Ujaa, says two of his children, studying Medicine and Geology at a public university, have been idle at home since the beginning of the strike. He said ASUU strike is a setback to academic activities and “is just too annoying.”

He urged government to find a lasting solution to the problem.

“The government should sit with ASUU and resolve their differences so that the students can return to school,” he urged.

Another, Prince Onalo, said his daughter, a 300 level Mass Communication student in a state university, was unable to write her second semester exam because lecturers were on strike.

He said the demands of the lecturers would to a certain extent brighten the future of education in the country and that of students.

“The government should listen to them so that they can call off the strike.

“If you go close to some of the lecturers you will understand that their demands are genuine. What I think is the problem is that government is insensitive to education, probably because most of the children of the leaders are not schooling in the country,” Onalo said.

Samson Bulus, also a parent, said his daughter studying Estate Management at a federal university was affected by the strike. He stressed that strikes certainly have negative impact on the university system and leave many parents upset.

Bulus pointed out that after struggling hard to pay school fees and provide other educational materials, his daughter “was home doing nothing.”