As the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, begins another round of industrial action to press home their demands for payment of earned academic allowances, and promotion arrears, among others, some Nigerians who spoke to our correspondents weighed in on how ASUU strikes are gradually killing Nigerian universities. Excerpts:
COLLINS CHUKWU: It is unfortunate that in Nigeria, successive governments continue to do the same things and expect different results. We know that the agitations of the ASUU have been there even during the military era and now we have been able to sustain democracy for up to 23 years without the requisite impact in our education sector, especially the tertiary institutions.
I think it is high time ASUU takes the federal government to court for breach of contract, which they entered without duress and ensure that they play their part in making university education in Nigeria worthwhile. We should be able to upgrade our institutions to meet international standards so that Nigerians who spend so much to take their children outside the country for education would reduce.
These series of strikes give rise to the high level of insecurity in the country because when those who are being trained are not allowed to get their full capacity before letting them out for too long, it gives some the unhealthy alternative of crime and other social vices. Now we hear of very young people going into ritual killings because they want to be rich; we would not have gotten to this ugly path if our education sector was right.
I think we should engage those aspiring to become presidents to ensure they fulfil this yearning of ASUU and other academic inclined institutions to avoid a reoccurrence.
EZINNE AGNES EGBO: It is not right for government to always allow ASUU to go on strike because students would forget most of what they had learnt before the strike. It is important for universities to generate their own resources to fund some of their projects. It has been a long time we started hearing of ASUU strike and it looks like it is not coming to an end any time soon.
Government should also keep their part of every agreement entered into, especially in the health and education sectors which are very critical to the development of human capacity and societal good. It is wrong for any government to compromise these very important sectors of the economy because without them, the economy will be driven by people who do not have the requisite capacity to drive the process.
We call on well-meaning Nigerians of all works of life to ensure that we prepare a good structure that our children and their children can benefit from and be proud of enjoying what their fathers worked hard to keep for them even in difficult time. It is important to get feed backs from the students of these institutions to know if they get what the authorities have promised they are getting for them.
The truth is that when these students come back home because of strike, their classroom productivity which should be growing and progressive, would now be diminishing because they have not connected to the right source of learning; instead, they do whatever they think is right to them, engaging in social vices which might end them up in jail.
JERRY TYOSASE: ASUU should find an alternative way of resolving its issues with the federal government because the way our children are suffering is beyond imagination. It is better to find a way out without necessarily resorting to industrial actions.
Enough of those strike actions because somebody who is supposed to graduate within four years spends six to seven years. It is too much. I really sympathize with these students and I want to appeal to the federal government to quickly do something so that they will go back to classes to continue with their studies.
JOSEPH WANTU: The strike action is not a good thing. I expect that our children should be treated like their counterparts in private schools and schools in other countries. They should be in school and graduate on time like their counterparts elsewhere. Strike is not helping our children.
ASUU is right to demand for its entitlements. But it is not right to keep the children at home all the time. It is not good for the educational system in our country. This attitude can frustrate the students and lead them to engage in criminal activities.
So, I advise parents to watch their children as they return home and ensure they are properly engaged in things that will better their lives so that they don’t mix up with the bad eggs. The federal government should liaise with ASUU and resolve this issue once and for all so that the children will concentrate on their education.
CEPHAS IORHEMEN: ASSU’s incessant strike is not healthy for the educational development of this country because it affects the students negatively. Some have just been given admission and have just started lectures. We are going to end up producing half-baked graduates in this country. It is not good.
The federal government should look into the demands of ASUU so that this issue will be put to rest once and for all. We have Nigerians who are stealing lots of money in this country and nothing is being done to them but ASUU demands are not met. If you investigate, you would discover that one Nigerian has the money ASUU is asking for in his kitty.
So, the best thing is for the federal government to rise up to this challenge and resolve it. Parents also have a duty to monitor their children this period to ensure they don’t mingle with the bad eggs, but continue to read their books so that by the time they return to school, they would be able to write their exams well.
EMILIA PAUL: ASUU strike has become incessant, yet, unresolved. It is high time both government and ASUU put an end to these strikes as they are affecting students and the university academic calendar.
ASUU has pointed out that the industrial actions were for the benefit of the students and the public university system in general. But too many strikes are affecting learning and definitely would affect students’ output.
Continuous strikes could lead to more criminalities, idleness and youth restiveness. As the saying goes: “An idle mind is the devil’s workshop.” Parents should now focus more on their children, get them engaged in one skill or the other while at home. It is a way to keep them off crime.
SOPURU CHIKODI: I understand that parts of the Academic Staff Union of Universities demands are increased funding for the revitalisation of public universities, university autonomy and payment of earned academic allowances and promotion arrears.
These demands are not out of place. They are earned and I see no reason why the Government is still playing lip service to things such as this. Continuous strikes have impact on both students and academics.
How will Nigeria improve on her educational system if she keeps going on strikes? This is really not fair to even parents who have paid school fees and hoping that their children should be out of school at a certain time but still in school.
