By Comrade Gbenga Olowoyo fcia fipma JP
“We know they are lying,
they know they are lying,
they Know we know they are lying,
they know we Know they are lying,
we know they know we Know they are lying,
but they are still lying-“
Aleksandr Isayevich Solzhenitaysn
The tractable prolonged and unwarranted ongoing protracted ASUU strike action has generated widespread international attention and condemnation from well meaning countries and international personalities reasons for these condemnation are not far fetched.
Quick fact check reminded us that in 2020 before COVID-19 lockdown set in, ASUU went on strike for nine months without any breakthrough from careless and insensitive government , the same ASUU is on strike now in 2022 since February 14, 2022 on the same issues they went on strike for in 2020.
ASUU established in 1978 has so far embarked on 16 different strikes in 23 years in our Public Universities ; this is a very bad and worsening records in academic citadel of learning.
How do we decipher that we actually have a government duly elected by Nigerians not only to cater for their needs, security, shelter, food , basic needs of life and even affordable steady education but also to provide good Governance, however, the reverse of the aforementioned are the case now in Nigeria presently.
In May this year l wrote an article entitled “conspiracy theory and generation wastage-who is at the receiving end , who is benefiting and who do we blame” also in June 2022 another article was published entitled “ASUU-FGN STRIKE: WHEN SILENCE IS NO MORE GOLDEN” it is unfortunate that upon various agitations, appeals, interventions and concerned from spectrums of all stakeholders the two feuding parties have not bulged to see reason in order to reach a melting point of equilibrium and put the strike to a permanent end.
Nobody should pretend not to know why ASUU is on strike but the remaining cogent and sensitive issues are: the re-negotiaton of the ASUU/FG 2009 agreement and sustainability of the university autonomy by deploying UTAS to replace the government imposed “conduit pipe” IPPIS where former Accountant General of the Federation embezzled over N80 Billion Naira
Other agitations include releasing the reports of visitation panels to Federal universities, distortions in salary payment challenges, funding for revitalisation of Public Universities, earned academic allowances poor funding of State Universities and promotion Arrears.
In the Punch Newspaper Editorial of June 29, 2022 entitled “Federal Government mishandling of lingering ASUU strike” the newspaper expressed its sadness over the lingering problem in the Education Sector.
“That the strike has lingered for so long resulting in lost of semester and possibly an academic year, demonstrates the cavalier attitude of Buhari regime towards education. This is patently unfair to the students, their parents and guardians.That a government in this modern age , could allow its universities to remain shut, paralysing academic activities for so long is manifestly indefensible.”
“The Federal Government should purge itself of its callous indifference and return to the negotiation table with renewed vigour to end the strike immediately at whatever financial cost”
It is disappointing that the only Public response that came from President Buhari was to say that “Enough is Enough” when some APC Governors visited Buhari in Daura, Katsina State during Sallah celebration, it is unfortunate that there was no concrete and committed statement from Mr President himself to show that the end is in sight to this destiny destroyer ASUU strike action.
In recent time, so many stakeholders have appealed seriously to the federal government to bring to an end the strike action; for instance, SERAP has threatened to sue President Buhari for playing dangerously with the future of Nigerian students and youths in a very devastating way.
I must restate at this juncture that Federal Government has mismanaged the ongoing dispute due to the complacency of the Government team and their Principal, it is warrisome that Dr Chris Ngige Minister of Labour and employment as well as Mallam Adamu Adamu Minister of Education have both showed their incompetence in the handling of the crisis because they both speak from both sides of their mouths, indications that they are not reliable with the sensitive task before them.President Buhari has compounded the problem for not showing political will to bring the ASUU strike to an end.
The proposed N1.12 trillion being dangled by the Federal Government is a Newspaper and online news offer; why is it difficult for the Government to have explicit confidence in the Brigg committee set up by the same government? This is mere carrot and stick approach , it is too demeaning to deploy this archaic approach before the acedamia.
The metaphor of Enough is Enough by President Buhari is tantamount to scratching the calabash at the back and treating the sensitive issue of ASUU demands with kid gloves which is not good enough for the future of this country, the future of coming generation which form the nucleus of the present crop of Nigeria tertiary students.
The quietness of the larger number of privileged elites came to fore when majority of the Governors attended graduation ceremony of their children that completed their university education in United State of America, United kingdom among other foreign universities, when millions of Nigeria university students are rotten away due to the insensitive , irresponsible and irresponsive leaders they have in Nigeria, this is a serious smack on our sensibilities.
Democracy is supposed to give us soccur in all facets of our lives but instead it is hardships and disappointments, it is unspeakable to observe that since 1999 when democracy started afresh in Nigeria Public Universities have suffered avoidable brouhaha of about four (4 ) years due to avoidable strike actions. It is a conspiracy tendency for the Public and Political Office holders to deliberately deny children of average Nigerians who can not afford tuition fees in private universities to now sufffer for the incompetence and weakness of the Federal Government- this is unfortunate.
The metaphor of “Enough is Enough”Mr President was further ex rayed by the Chairman ASUU Federal university of Minna Dr Gbolahan Bolarin when he said that ” Mr President was very vocal about ASUU struggle some years back before becoming the President and one would have expected him to.know about the struggle more than some people but unfortunately, his statement suggested otherwise…if the President was properly briefed by ( Chief of staff to Mr President , Ministers and other Aides about the ASUU/Federal Government crisis, General Buhari would not have made that statement”
The President said Enough is Enough, what is actually enough? Was he talking about the attitude of his appointees to direct order, as evident in the directive he gave on February 1,2022 and was not executed for over two months? Was he tired of going through reports on assignment given to different agencies? These are more of his faults and not that of the Union.” The statement submitted
” The President was trying so hard to play psychological game by bringing students( next generation into his speech forgetting that the lecturers like any other common Nigerian have their kids and wards in Public Universities but his and other appointees kids are /were not/ never in Public Universities.”
Mr President needs to check his back, what will he be remembered for by the coming generation after leaving Office in May 2023 : how l wish his children or any of his grand children are in the Public university to enable him feel the heat and frustration like parents and guardians of these affected millions of Nigerian students.
Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and organized Labour to the rescue.
The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Organized Labour and other affiliated unions have given enough rope for the Federal Government to climb but government has refused to apply logic and reasoning to resolve the ASUU strike and attend to other issues raised by resident Unions in the Public Universities and other tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
The National protest that will engulf the entire public space in Nigeria is already scheduled to hold on Tuesday July 26th and Wednesday 27th July 2022 simultaneously across 36 State capitals, major cities , towns and Federal Capital territory Abuja untill ASUU, ASUP, SSANU, NASU NAAT , SSANIP and other unions in tertiary institutions across the country demands are attended to without any delay.
In a letter issued, dated 15th July 2022 and titled “National protest to get our children back to school” and jointly signed by the NLC National President Comrade Ayuba Waba mni and the General Secretary Comrade Emmanuel Ugboaja mni has directed that mobilisation towards the National protest should commence immediately to put an end to the endless ASUU strike in tertiary institutions.
By all indications, the protest will be total and all workers both in the Public and Private sectors will participate including Aviation, electricity, health, oil and gas sectors for two days Wednesday 26th and Thursday 27th July 2022.
The commitment of NLC was further reinforced with the statement issued on Sunday personally signed by the President Nigeria Labour Congress Comrade Ayuba Waba mni titled FEDERAL GOVERNMENT NOT NEGOTIATING IN GOOD FAITH TO RESOLVE THE CRISIS IN NIGERIA PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES where he chided federal government for being deceptive with herself,
The greatest offence to oneself is Self deception which is even beyond deceiving somebody, the recent development is a pointer to the fact that the stock in trade of Nigeria government is deception and blame game when all political will that can assist government to achieve its Policy framework and direction are within their power – it is very unfortunate.
The full text of NLC President Comrade Ayuba Waba mni statement is reproduced below:
FEDERAL GOVERNMENT NOT NEGOTIATING IN GOOD FAITH TO RESOLVE THE CRISIS IN NIGERIA’S PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES
The Nigeria Labour Congress is concerned about reports widely disseminated by the media both online and traditional positing that the Federal Government may have rejected its own Nimi-Briggs Committee on the premise of alleged disparity between the pay rise allocated to university teaching staff and the non-teaching staff.
First, we wish to posit that the purpose for setting up the Nimi Briggs Committee was to conform with the fundamental principles of the rights of trade unions to collective bargaining as guaranteed by ILO Convention Number 98 which Nigeria has ratified.
Second, we wish to point out that one of the cardinal principles of collective bargaining is the Principle of Negotiation in Good Faith. Elements of this principle includes conducting genuine and constructive negotiations, making every effort to reach an agreement, avoiding unjustified delays and complying with the agreements when they are signed by the negotiating parties.
Since the Federal Government decided to set up the Nimi-briggs Committee to make recommendations on the review of the salaries of workers in Nigeria’s university, the negotiating unions and the Nigeria Labour Congress have been kept in the dark on the report of the Committee. It is, therefore, a shocker for us to read from the media snippets of a report of what is strictly the product of a negotiation between the Federal Government Committee and the concerned trade unions.
Our first response is to aver that this development gravely betrays and undermines the principle of negotiation in good faith as it manifests crass disrespect by government for trade unions in Nigeria’s universities. Second, the circumstances surrounding the work of the Ninii-Briggs Committee also portrays the disposition of government as mortally unserious unfortunately in such a grievous matter as the locking up of public universities for nearly five months.
Nigerians would recall that the 2009 Collective Bargaining Agreement between the Federal Government and the union in the tertiary institutions had expired long before now. Given the free fall of Nigeria’s currency, the Naira, and its continuous devaluation, the need for the review of the 2009 Collective Bargaining Agreement is public knowledge. As it stands today, the highest earning university Professor and staff earns less than $800 as take-home pay. This is indeed very ridiculous and is a major factor to the high rate of brain drain in our system making us unable to retain our best brains.
It could be recalled that a tripartite plus meeting was convened by the Federal Government on 12th May 2022 at the instance of the Nigeria Labour Congress and well-meaning Nigerians to resolve the crises in our tertiary institutions. The Federal Government team which consists of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Honourable Minister of Labour and Employment and other top government officials and was led by the Chief of Staff to President Muhammadu Buhari. Also in attendance at the meeting were the leaders of the two major faiths in Nigeria: His Eminence, the Sultan of Sokoto and the Chairman of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN). In attendance also were all the trade unions in the education sector, Nigeria Labour Congress, and the Trade Union Congress.
Negotiations were held and the meeting was adjourned for three weeks to allow the Nimi-Briggs Committee to turn in their report and also to allow NITDA to subject all the proposed payment platforms to integrity test including IPPIS. The committee was asked to conclude its
work and report back to the negotiation meeting.
It was the Federal Government, at the Tripartite Plus negotiation meeting, that requested that the meeting be adjourned for three weeks to enable the Briggs Committee to submit their report and for integrity test to be conducted on the payment platform proposed by
the trade unions. How can government now turn around to blame the unions for the work of a committee they appointed? This was the same way the last committee report on this matter was aborted.
Given the foregoing and in line with the resolutions of the National Executive Council (NEC) of the Nigeria Labour Congress which took place on the 30th of June 2022, we demand the following from the Federal Government:
The Federal Government should immediately conclude the ongoing negotiation with trade unions in Nigeria’s universities and be prepared to commence implementation of whatever Collective Bargaining Agreement arising therefrom so that public universities in Nigeria can resume normal activities; and
The Federal Government should immediately pay the salaries of striking university workers which had been frozen on the premise of the so-called “no work-no pay” policy especially as recommended by the leaders of Nigeria’s two major faiths.
We demand that the Federal Government meets these demands in line with the resolutions of the statutory organs of the Congress.
All the decisions of the NEC have been activated accordingly with a circular to affiliates and state councils of Nigeria Labour Congress.”
It is regrettable and troubling that ASUU has named Dr Chris Ngige Minister of Labour and employment as the worst Labour minister in the history of Nigeria over his failure to resolve the tractable ASUU crisis.
DR M N Mustapha and Mr S A Sadiku Chairman and Secretary ASUU Usmadan Danfidio University Sokoto respectively said Ngige tenure has recorded the highest number of strike actions and asked Buhari to call the minister to order before his lies further plunge this nation into serious crisis.
The attention of the ASUU Usmadan Danfidio University Sokoto branch has been drawn to an interview granted to Arise TV by the minister of Labour and employment, Dr Chris Ngige on July 14, 2022 in the said interview he characteristically as always misinformed and disinformed Nigerians about the actual State of the ASUU-FGN reconciliation efforts.
“This is to categorically and unequivocally inform the public and those concerned that these are all in the imagination of the Minister. This intentional misinformation and treachery against the sensibility of Nigerians, is already known to many as the characteristics of Dr. Ngige. His manner of narrative during the interview depicts his inhumane nature and wanton disregard for truth, honesty and integrity, a character unbefitting of a Federal Minister.
“It should, however, be on record that such dangerous precedence of falsehood without emotion, typical of “Conciliator” Dr. Ngige has made him the worst Minister of Labour ever in the history of Nigerian labour relations. His antics, biasness and wickedness have earned him the highest number of strike actions during his tenure and have surpassed his predecessors with the highest number of unresolved disputes and conflicts. Dr Ngige, by attitude, succeeded in misleading all the critical stakeholders in the current struggle into believing that the issue at stake is unsolvable.
“He has also succeeded in degrading his professional status and the position he occupies, while his colleagues in the medical profession are doing wonderfully well, both in Nigeria and in the diaspora.
“We, therefore, call on the Federal Government of Nigeria to as a matter of urgency, take necessary action and call Ngige to order before his lies further plunge this nation into serious crisis.”
I want to counsell the Nigeria President, General Buhari to look into this ASUU/FGN fundamental issues and solve the problems once and for all reason being that the buck stops at the table if President Buhari : as a father, Grand Father , great Grand Father and great great Grand Father of the nation; especially this present generation of Nigerian students.This is only legacy he can bequeath on the future of the country not political or electoral engineering that comes once in four years compare to everlasting Human Capital development that requires sound Educational foundations.
In conclusion, Federal Government should as a matter of urgency accede to the request of ASUU and other Unions in tertiary institutions to get students back to school so as to prevent rising cases of social vices in the Public space while the present JAMB candidates ( admission seekers) may not get admission untill 2024 if care is not taking.
Enough of blame game from all sides of the divide
Can Federal Government pass the integrity test?
A word is enough for the wise
Comrade Gbenga Olowoyo fcia, fipma, JP
(Trade Unionist and industrial relations practitioner)
gbengaolowoyo3@gmail.com
08033570338