That 13-hour Jonathan-ASUU parley

It was hoped that that meeting would pave the way for immediate call off of the strike but for the unfortunate death of Prof Iyayi. To those who believe in the doctrine of the end-justifies-the-means, there is nothing wrong with the President’s very direct participation in that meeting and with what to me, was an […]

It was hoped that that meeting would pave the way for immediate call off of the strike but for the unfortunate death of Prof Iyayi. To those who believe in the doctrine of the end-justifies-the-means, there is nothing wrong with the President’s very direct participation in that meeting and with what to me, was an unreasonable and unacceptable amount of time spent in it.
In fact, the wide publicity given by the President’s image-makers emphasising the considerable length of time spent by the President with the ASUU people was meant to boost the President’s image by showing that his personal participation in the negotiation underlines the importance he attaches to education and the high regard in which he holds the ASUU leadership. Rather than earn my liking for the President, the whole transaction has left me seriously outraged.
And my displeasure arises from my concern about the principle of the right way of doing things, the propriety of an action, in this case, the lack of wisdom in the President of a country like Nigeria sitting in a marathon meeting with a group of people who have shown beyond reasonable doubts that they are unrea-sonable, recalcitrant and obtuse; a people absolutely not worth reasoning with. In fact, over a week after that meeting I still feel seriously outraged that the president of Nigeria, the man who embodies the hopes and aspirations of the Black race, could spend a whopping 13-hour with any group of people for whatever reason. Was Nigeria facing the threat of a massive external aggression? Even if that was the case, how can a president spend so much time in meetings rather than some decisive actions to ward off the threat?
For sure, it was not a conti-nuous, unbroken 13-hour meeting; there must have been breaks in between. But for Jonathan to have spent a cumulative 13 hours with anybody or group is beyond the acceptance of any reasonable people. For what it means is that very important appointments that would have better served the national cause in many areas and ways were cancelled; important security reports were left unaddressed, important meetings with diplomats and potential investors were ignored, all just because there was a problem with workers in a segment of the nation’s education system. Many other vital things that required presidential attention and influence were left unattended to.
In fact I identify many things seriously wrong with the meeting:
Setting a bad precedence: a President should rarely be directly engaged in some negotiations such as the ones involving labour unions and disputes which by nature tend to be very rancorous and protracted. Where and when he must come in, he should do so for a short length of time and only as a last ditch effort to save what would be a very bad consequence for the nation.  A president brings to a negotiation the dignity and weight of his office and person to lend credibility to an agreement already entered into with his chief operating officers who are better suited to employ all the strategies and tactics of negotiation. But Jonathan participated actively in person in that negotiation, leaving him no room for present or future manoeuvre. Moreover, he consented to enter into the negotiation more or less a blackmailed man. He did not want it said that he, a former lecturer and the first Nigerian leader to have a university degree, appeared not to be doing anything when many of the nation’s universities have been closed for four months.
Knowing that he had such a handicap he should not have entered into the negotiation in the first place. Like a judge, he should have disqualified himself, pleading that he will not be fair or seen to be fair to all Nigerians involved in other sectors of the nation’s social and economic life. It is the duty of Mr President to show that all sectors matter to him and to Nigeria. Now that Jonathan has set the bad precedence for himself and future presidents, see what is likely to happen.
This is by no means the last strike ASUU will embark upon. Sooner or later something will go wrong again and they will be back to the trenches doing what they know best how to do: go on strike. They will insist that before they can return to the classroom, they must meet with the President and nothing less than that will do. That is not all. When other unions such as ASUP, SSANU, NUPENG, PENGASSAN and other dangerous unions we have aplenty have any issue with the Federal Government they will all insist that unless they meet with the President they cannot seal any deal with any other lesser government officials. What is good for ASUU gander must be good for other geese. We are in for strike trouble.
Wasting of precious Execu-tive Time:  President Jonathan may be a humble, formerly shoeless boy from Otuoke in the backwaters of Bayelsa State, the least state of the federation; but today he is the most important and powerful Black man on the surface of planet Earth. And please do not forget: Presidents, especially those of very important countries like Nigeria, are some of the most expensive property on earth. That is why we have over 7 billion humans on earth but we have less than 300 presidents to look after their affairs. If you value the house Jonathan lives in; the bed he sleeps on; the type of food he eats and those who are trained and paid to cook them; the salary and allowances he is paid; the medical facilities at his disposal to attend to every of his aches and pains; the men and women charged to ensure his safety and security and just about everything associated with him, he is worth billions of money in any currency of the world. If such a man spends one hour, two hours, and a maximum three hours with anyone or group of persons and the issue at stake cannot be resolved, then he should have the good sense to realise that the issue requires no longer words but some other alternative courses of action. I love quoting late American President Truman who said that some issues cannot be debated. They can only be DECIDED!  Even me, the president of my humble household, i cannot see myself in a meeting with members of my household for more than three hours to resolve a misunderstanding even if any one of them holds my soul as a ransom.