ASUU Continues Strike

[Muhsin]

From Aminu Muhammad, Sokoto and Hir Joseph
Daily Trust,Tuesday, March 27, 2007/Rabiul Awwal 08 , 1428 A. H

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), yesterday began an indefinite nationwide strike with a view to forcing back the government to the negotiation table.
The strike which began at exactly 12.01 am Monday, was called at the instance of the national body which met last Saturday at Makurdi to discuss the way forward on the federal government's lukewarm attitude towards the union's demands.
In a telephone interview with national chairman of the union, Dr. Sule Kano, he told Daily Trust that the indefinite strike has become imperative because, "it seems the government is not ready to listen to us and the last option we have is to down tools."
According to him, the nonchalant attitude exhibited by government's team has exposed the hypocrisy of the federal government in its so-called economic reforms which according to ASUU, cannot be successful without a sound education system.
He said the government does not have the future of Nigerian universities at heart and by extension, the future of the people of Nigeria. ASUU maintained that the action of the government was tantamount to an abrogation of the principles of collective bargaining as established in the ASUU/Government, 1981 Agreement and in line with International Labour Organization.
He further stressed that the reform programme in education means nothing and it was a way to further destroy the education system in the country, citing example with the recent outcry over the sale of unity schools.
ASUU also condemned government's action not to negotiate with it on funding of universities and autonomy as a calculated attempt to further destroy all the gains in the education sector and called on the government, to in the interest of Nigerian children, open up talks on the above issues.
ASUU said in January 2006, it presented a 127- page negotiation document to the government's team whereas ASUU did not receive anything in return, stressing that the unilateral repudiation of the negotiated UASS by the government's team in its persistent reiteration of the consolidated salary structure which government had already offered as a general increase in salary in the public service has exposed that government was not ready to open up  negotiations  with the union.
He therefore warned that ASUU cannot fold its arms in the face of blatant disregard for collective bargaining and a mockery of an effort to save Nigeria through an enhanced and internationally competitive university system and called on Nigerians to blame the government for the action ASUU taken.
Meanwhile, normal academic activities at the Usman Danfodiyo University (UDUS), Sokoto, were carried out yesterday without disruption as examinations went on as scheduled. However, a cross section of students interviewed expressed fears that their examination timetable may be disrupted and called on the warring parties to resolve their differences to enable students pass out successfully.

[Muhsin]

Inna lillahi wa innaa ilaihi raaji'uun!

I don't know what these two warring parties (should they be called factions) mean to us. We, also here at BUK, are doing exam. Such is what is constituting problems to our universities in Nigeria; eratic strike! God forbid. Allah help us to call this off-Ameen.

Alhamdu lillah, there I read that the srike has had no effect so far at UDU yersterday. So I hope it'll be as it already seems because we come to school and from all indications lecturers and other staff have come almost duly as usual. What we are afriad of is we don't know what tomorrow will turn like.

Allah ya kiyaye-Ameen

[Dan-Borno]

Rabu da wadannan malaman, they teach nothing
and small time, they threaten to embark on a strike.
When you talk, they will refer you to see how their
collegues in America and other countries are being
paid their allowances and other things:
My question to ASUU is: are they thesame with
their collegues in other developed countries?

When you talk of sexual harassment: Nigerian University Lecturers top the chat
When you talk of exam malpractices: ,,             ,,              ,,                ,,
When you talk of extortion of money from students:   ,,             ,,             ,,
When you talk of sponsoring cult       ,,              ,,               ,,                  ,,
When you talk of laziness                 ,,             ,,                ,,                    ,,
When you talk of going on strike        ,,,,,                ,,                ,,        ,,,,

How for Allah's sake can you compare yourself with
someone who has a good background in teaching and
has dedicated his whole life to his career?

Rabu dasu, yahudawa ne ke sponsoring din su.

[HUSNAA]

Dan Borno, right now you have kids that are in kindergarten or primary sch. You probably have them enrolled in private schs, which is fine at the moment. So u are disdainful of all that ASUU is trying to do and most of you think it has to do with salary increments. Well it is not. It has to do with trying to bring back the university education in Nigeria back on track to what it formally was.. a world class educational system, respected all over the world, where its students do not have to retake exams simply because they want to enroll in a postgraduate program  in a foreign institution that was probably even non existent when OAU and ABU were in their primes.

I wish you will have the foresight to realize that your children will be the beneficiaries of an improved educational system in the next fifteen yrs if the reforms that ASUU are fighting for are allowed to materialize, otherwise it would have to be a foreign universitfor them if u can afford it or a half baked education here.

As to all the things said about lecturers good and bad, lecturers' behaviors are just a reflection of what the society at a macro level is. There is sexual harrasment in all institutions of government. If it is not harrassment, it is sexual discrimination.

Exam malpractices are more rampant at WAEC and JAMB levels than they are at university level. Besides, it is the same ppl/students whose teachers at secondary sch turn a blind eye to exam malpractices that do the same once they enter the universities. So in other words, exam malpractice wasnt started in universities, it was imported from the secondary schs into universities by students who have become pros at it.

Extortion of money from students, that one I cant argue about with the sales of compulsory handouts etc. So I wont say anything on that, although worse happens elsewhere.

Lecturers are not responsible for student cult activities. They are  the victims of them and one gets students threatening to harm lecturers if they dont score them high. Cults are usually sponsored by external godfathers who are themselves members of infamous secret societies. The frightening thing is that these godfathers are the 'respected' members of society who have money and power.

One cannot call a lecturer lazy when you have 1000 students to teach in class, or you have to mark exam 1000 exam scripts and each script has 4 long essay answers and most of the time students write rubbish.

Anyway, Dan Borno, as u are a politician, I would like to know what you and yr clique of politicians have done with the billions that OBJ gives to states every blessed month? What is there in terms of infrastructure and the like to show that you politicians have served yr ppl? Believe me, what ever anyone will tell me about road infrastructures and hospitals and dam constructions that so many politicians are fond of mouthing off as what they did for their ppl, they still dont justify how the billions were spent.
Its very easy mutum ya take laifin sa ya hango na wani.

If only OBJ had invested all that loot on solar energy, instead of disbursing it every month, to  state govts maybe the returns on the investment would have started trickling in by now.
Imagine, all Kano can show for all the billions squandered is a dai dai ta sahu...tir!  :(

[Dan-Borno]

Its very easy mutum ya take laifin sa ya hango na wani.

There you are, you have said it all
in one sentence Madam ASUU PRO.

What is the reform that ASUU are trying
very hard to instill that will affect the
development of education in Nigeria?
They destroy it in the first instance.

Let me ask you a question Madam PRO!
When you studied at the University what was it like
compared to the present situation (in relation to
qualified lecturers please)?

[alkanawi]

da farko dai Danbarno na ji ka yi rashin lafia,to ina maka Allah ya sawwake,Allah kara lafia.
But the issue of ASUU and government seems to be an intractable one principally because the government doesn't want to keep its promises.All the problems of members of ASUU that you mentioned above are a reality,and as Hajia pointed out ,we cannot look at ASUU in isolation of their operating environment.
However inasmuch as lectures have their faults,i would squarely lay over 80% of the blame on govt and its agents.Most of those universities could barely pay salaries and they have to go and lobby before they are given their so-called budgeted grant.

[Dan-Borno]

With due respect Boss,
I am not saying that government
should not be blamed for the current
problem.  Definitely, government will be
held responsible for anything that went
wrong in this country.

Years ago, students use to go on riot in
defence of their lecturers and the university
policies against the government of the day.
Nowadays, students see the lecturer as
an enemy to his progress, because the
lecturer doesnt care about the feeling of
his student.

If the government is insensible, should ASUU
follow suit? 

Think of the average Nigerian (who are the majority)
who doesnt know anything about Who or what
is government policies is all about or done.

Let me answer my Aunty:

Anyway, Dan Borno, as u are a politician, I would like to know what you and yr clique of politicians have done with the billions that OBJ gives to states every blessed month?.

Paying workers salary which gulp almost 50%
of the monthly allocations.  Providing portable
drinking water to talakawas. Maintaining Securities.
Roads, Drainages, hospitals and lots more than
I cant just mention - you know them.

??? However, the rest of the money!! we put them
in our pockets and also sponsor our future campaigns. ;D

Have we justified the billions we are spending?

Now tell me what ASUU are doing to uplift the
level of education in this country.

[gogannaka]

I think ASUU has taken the strike issue too far. As Muhsin rightly called it 'erratic'.
Danborno is right, students used to go on riaots to defend their lecturers.I remember a rally in BUK(against IMF/WORLD BANK policies) organised by ASUU years back.The rally was attended by almost all students of the institution in support of the then struggling union.But look at it now,no student will ever tell you he/she is supporting ASUU.
Strikes are supposed to be embarked upon as the last and painful means not as a hobby like ASUU has turned it.
Unfortunately when one sees the demand of the Union(at least myself),the first demand i see is research allowance,personal computer allowance,---allowance ETC. I was just praising the govt over the new manner with which they have been treating university lecturers nowadays.In BUK for instance,the last 2 years have been good to the lecturers.Almost all their offices are equipped with personal computers,an optic fibre internet backbone has laid in both campuses, a handsome number of lecturers have been sponsored abroad to further their studies and the most noticeable, most lecturers have bought beautiful cars. So it will be difficult to convince the confused student who was writing his/her second semester exams when the strike news broke,that the strike is in his own interest  ::)

What should even bother the students is the word 'indefinate' attached to the strike. In this age where employers limit the age of fresh graduates to 27 or 28 i wonder if this generation will get employed  ???
Seems like ASUU is on a mission to set a graduation age of 30yrs.

God help us.

[NewEte]

Interesting topic indeed. I do not know too much about the strike situation, but I know it is quite frequent and it disrupts any meaningful learning experience for the students. You cannot have a respectable education system when half the time, the college professors are on strike over working conditions, salaries, etc. It becomes apparent that the system is just non functional.

I believe however that the Federal government should hands off all Universities and colleges in the country. The Federal government should not be in the business of owning or operating colleges. They should turn over all Federal schools to the states and let it be a state problem. The current set up is part of the reason why nothing works efficiently in Nigeria. Think about it for a second, just about everybody, states, local governments, councils, etc all depend 100% on the Federal government monthly for allocations, funding, aid, etc. Because the responsibilities are so humongous, the Feds have never been efficient in the discharge of their duties.

If the state government were to take over education, they would become responsible for making sure a standard exist because if not, it will be an apparent failure on their part. So yes, the states should take over education because there can be better attention paid to it. I also think the operational cost of running these colleges/universities should be reviewed so that even though partial funding is provided by the state, the students should pay tuition fees. Education at the post secondary level cannot be totally free. Universities have obligations and they also have expenses. They have an academic staff body that must be paid to do the job they were hired to do. They have labs to equip, there are equipments and facilities to purchase and maintain, students must live in very decent hotels, the classrooms or auditorium must have some quality to it, and the list goes on. All these require funding, and it cannot all come from the government. This is why University/college Presidents in America are usually very business savy people that understand how and where to source for funding and grants.

In Nigeria, the entire system needs to be reformed. We need to rethink everything because it has collapsed and even if ASUU gets everything they ask for, it still fixes nothing because the structure has already decayed and the government meeting their demand suddenly will only temporarily soothe a festering problem that would soon take a different dimension. 

In all, the Universities need to step up and find better ways function effectively. Yes the government needs to meet its obligation towards education advancement. The alumni body needs to do its part in helping provide supplemental funding so colleges can build research facilities, training centers, etc. But there has to be a direction, and someone needs to know how to stir the institution in that direction because all these repeat strikes is getting old fast.

[Muhsin]

What a terrible and hard time we are going through. Look at me, who, since I secured admission into BUK, I think, had never been absent from this Site for morethan a week now took almost ten days without a single sign in. I, including other student are compelled to be absent. I heard that even boarding/campus student were at the end chased out of the university building. I don't know what mess ASUU and FG mean to us. I think they should atleast allow us to fishing doing exam before this goddamned strike.

What do you think is the solution to this kind of problem. Howsoever, university senate, expecially of BUK should be blame. Why couldn't they follow how ABU, Ilorin and host more, deal with the situation? All these universities said to their student that they wouldn't let them go untill they finish exam. And so they did. But here, we started and have done two exams so far but.....why? Some have not even yet started while others have finished. What a ****am afraid to say it because there is also.......here.

And to you Ete. I don't really think FG should transfer responsibilities of all universities to states. Do you know any country practising such? States also have theirs universities.Hence, I think the burden is too heavy for them. Don't you think that? Or do expect FG to increase its allocations to them so they can handle it?

[NewEte]

Muhsin, yes, America does exactly that. One of the reasons why the Nigerian Federal government is grossly inefficient is because it has its hands in every sector of the economy. These involvement often mean they must provide funding in all the ventures they are involved in. This makes the gross majority of entities lazy because they sit their asses down and depend of the Federal government for every penny. Much like the states that produce nothing sit back and depend on the Federal government for allocation each month. Where is the incentive in that for the states or local governments to become productive by developing self sustaining initiatives. There is none. They all sit back and wait for allocation from oil windfall.

Education in the United States is a combination of public and private entities. Public education is the responsibility of state and local governments, rather than the federal government. You can do any search in google or US Encyclopedia on line and you'll see this for yourself. 

[Muhsin]

Dan Allah who knows inda aka kwana? Wallahi we are deadly tired with such an uncertainty?
Prof. Abdallah, I'll appreciate some words from you per se.

Thanks

[jewel(abdulgee22)]

Rabu da wadannan malaman, they teach nothing
and small time, they threaten to embark on a strike.
When you talk, they will refer you to see how their
collegues in America and other countries are being
paid their allowances and other things:
My question to ASUU is: are they thesame with
their collegues in other developed countries?

When you talk of sexual harassment: Nigerian University Lecturers top the chat
When you talk of exam malpractices: ,,             ,,              ,,                ,,
When you talk of extortion of money from students:   ,,             ,,             ,,
When you talk of sponsoring cult       ,,              ,,               ,,                  ,,
When you talk of laziness                 ,,             ,,                ,,                    ,,
When you talk of going on strike        ,,,,,                ,,                ,,        ,,,,

How for Allah's sake can you compare yourself with
someone who has a good background in teaching and
has dedicated his whole life to his career?

Rabu dasu, yahudawa ne ke sponsoring din su.

Son of Brono, 100% with you. And for za oda people i wan to say this to Nigerian Lecturers.

"if u think lecturing is not a job, why d hell r u complaining, go get another job, im sure u will meet those students u suffered last 2 semesters". And by the way get out of our free houses!!!!

[Muhsin]

Well said, jewel(abdulgee22). Though a bit hard and harsh. Need to express your view  more formally in the next.

Thanks

[jewel(abdulgee22)]

Well said, jewel(abdulgee22). Though a bit hard and harsh. Need to express your view  more formally in the next.

Thanks

oga mushin, is not that i am harsh or hard, wato let me tell, those people so called callin themselves lecturers ...wallahi basu da godiyar Allah...bar kuma a kai ga Annabinsa. I beleive as a muslim komai na Allah ne, i wonder how if i am not please with a work i am doing i should continue with it..and keep complaining and infact i will say they whine like small pikins. People are in that country lookin for jobs like theres, after all i dont see any good graduates that these people produce, most of the students do the job by themselves (thumbs ups for Nigerian students). Sai dai selling of Handouts.
Wallahi Oga Mushin, when i was in BUK, i have a lecturer that only and i mean only comes two weeks to exams and do all the course in that 2 weeks (just imagine) and the worst thing is that the Deanery knew about, infact the stupid drives from zaria to come and give lecturers in kano, tell me wht correct teaching can u don after that driving. Haba jamaa , and u still expect us to produce good graduates. I swear to Allah Almighty oga mushin, if i say i will start mentioning incidence with differences i have seen..., i dnt think KANOONLINE will take it. So kawai Allah ya gaira, while ku kuma 9ja students Allah ya saka muku kuma Allah ya kawo mai gaira. Amin

Amma Nigerian Lecturers, i will say this to u people  "you dnt know squad...dakikai kawai" remember any teacher that teachs a student and the student fails , i guess u know where the problems comes from.

We can see how a great teacher (Muhammad Al Muaalim S.A.W) taught the most strong headed people (Arabs) with PATIENCE................learn from our MENTOR and u shall see changes.