From seminar halls and boardrooms where
talks seem to have collapsed, university
teachers have moved their battle for better
education to the streets.
But, the police are stopping them from holding
rallies and marches to convince the public that
their four-month old action is right.
In Calabar, the police yesterday stopped a
planned protest by lecturers of the University of
Calabar (UNICAL) and the Cross River
University.
But the lecturers addressed a rally on the
UNICAL campus.
University of Ibadan (UI) lecturers had a town
hall meeting to sensitise the people to the
strike.
In Ile-Ife, Osun State, Obafemi Awolowo
University lecturers marched on the streets,
getting to the palace of the Ooni of Ife. They
urged him to pravail on the government to
implement the 2009 agreement it signed with
the Academic Staff Union of Universities
(ASUU), without which the strike would
continue.
President Goodluck Jonathan said during last
month’s Presidential Chat that the government
cannot fully implement the agreement,
especially the financial aspect, because doing
so would force a shutdown of other
departments.
The Nigeria Labour Congrees (NLC), also
yesterday, said although it would not call out
workers on a solidarity strike with the lecturers,
it would hold a meeting in Kaduna tomorrow to
take a stand on the way forward.
No fewer than 200 policemen, most of them
heavily armed, stopped ASUU members from
carrying out an enlightenment walk in Calabar.
The walk, which was organised by the UNICAL
and Cross River University of Technology
(CRUTECH) branches of ASUU, was to take off
from the UNICAL gate at 7am and go through
some streets of Calabar, but the policemen
ensured the teachers did not leave the campus
The policemen said they were acting on “orders
from above”.
ASUU Chairman Dr James Okpiliya said: “Our
union is law abiding. We wrote to the police
and other security agencies on our intention of
walking the streets in pursuance of our cause
to put the records straight.
“Many groups have been walking the streets,
giving people the wrong impression about the
situation. We just want to put the records
straight. The police are telling us that they have
orders from above not to let us walk the streets
of Calabar. It is a shame. You can all see the
hypocrisy of government.
“They allowed youth and market women but
they would not let us academics, peace loving
people. We would remain resolute. No amount
of provocation would stop us.”
Okpiliya went on: “We are not on strike
because of our salaries. We are fighting for our
students and the terrible conditions of our
university. Most of our science students do not
know the difference between Bunsen burner
and a stove. They don’t even know the
chemicals.
“The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND)
today has become a main funding source of our
universities, but this is not to be so. TETFUND
is only an intervention agency. Government has
bailed out banks and even Nollywood, but not
our universities.
“The strike would continue as long as the
government remains adamant. The President
said after all, the strike in Ghana lasted two
years, so that means this one can continue
even up to five years.
“It is a shame for the President to say the strike
is political. The strike is not political. We are
fighting for the good of our people. If there is
anything political about this it is by him
Jonathan. Let him implement the agreement
and if the strike continues then he can say it is
political. Any government that does not pay
attention to the education sector is a dead
government.”
The Chairman of ASUU, CRUTECH branch, Dr
Nsing Ogar, said the Federal Government must
honour the agreement.
A former president of ASUU and renowned
author, Prof Festus Iyayi, said a government
that does not respect agreements is calling for
anarchy.
He said: “This is the final struggle. Even if it
takes 10 years, the students should know we
are struggling on their behalf. A day would
come when the police would join us. A day
would come when we would not care whether
the police would stop or not. The state has
failed.”
Another lecturer from UNICAL said: “If the strike
is called off today, everybody will be worse off
for it. People are not looking at the issues; they
are just saying open the school, let the children
graduate. Let them go to school. They are not
bothered about the quality of education they
are getting. In the future, whatever we say the
government will never take us seriously.”
OAU chapter Chairman Prof. Peter Akinola, who
led the protest, urged the Federal Government
to accede to ASUU’s demands to enable the
union suspend the industrial action.
Addressing residents at the palace of the Ooni
of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade, Akinola said the
education sector deserved a better deal.
A member of the union, Prof. Gbolahan
Babalola, said protest was to show the concern
of ASUU for undergraduates who had stayed at
home for months.
He urged traditional rulers and other
stakeholders to resolve the impasse.
The Sarun Oodua, Chief Adekola Adeyeye, who
represented the Ooni, praised ASUU for the
peaceful conduct and show of concern for
students.
Adeyeye said that the Ooni understood that
education was the best legacy that any parent
or government could bequeath to any child.
He promised that the union’s message would
be relayed to the traditional ruler.
The OAU lecturers moved round major streets
of Ile-Ife. Osun State University teachers
staged their rally at the newly built Freedom
Square near Old Garage in Osogbo, the Osun
State capital.
The Ile-Ife rally, which kicked off from the
Oduduwa Hall of the OAU caused a traffic
gridlock for many hours in the ancient town.
Osun State University branch Chairman Dr.
Joseph Abiona was worried over the
misinformation being dished out to Nigerians
by the Federal Government as reason for the
strike.
The NLC said it was in the process of mediating
between the Federal Government and ASUU.
Oyo State NLC Chairman Comrade Bashiru
Olarewaju spoke at a town hall meeting
organised by ASUU to review the strike. The
meeting was held at the Trenchard Hall of the
University of Ibadan (UI).
At the Town Hall meeting were hundreds of
people, including civil society groups’ members,
politicians, the clergy, traders who were
presented with slide of the NEEDS
ASSESSMENT REPORT of 2009 .
The NLC, according to Olarewaju , will meet
tomorrow in Kaduna to take a decisive action
on the ASUU strike.
He said: “The government and some other
people have been trying to undermine the
power, the influence and the ability of each
group that can salvage this nation from
collapse . And let me say this, that NLC has not
been quiet. No, many people will want the NLC
to go on strike. No; we will not go on strike on
ASUU for now. But, anything can happen after
Wednesday. This is because we have more
than 40 affiliates. If an affiliate of NLC is in
crisis and we now bring the entire workforce to
join the strike, the train of the nation will not
move forward. What we do in most cases is to
mediate. ASUU is an affiliate of the NLC. ASUU
is our partner. We will work together ,” the NLC
chair said.
Prof. Remi Raji, Dean, Faculty of Arts, UI, said:
“The way forward is for the government to look
at the NEEDS ASSESSMENT report, which was
presented to the government in November,
2012.
“In the next few days, it will be one year and
nothing has been done of the 189
recommendations and we are saying that it is
very crucial for government to deal with it
squarely for the future of our children and our
nation because a country that does not
develop its own capacity within, to develop its
own education standard to world class quality,
cannot claim to be a giant of Africa, cannot
claim to have a clean bill of economic health .
This is the issue.”
UI chapter Chairman Dr. Olusegun Ajiboye said
the appeal by President Jonathan to be
patriotic is not needed but action and
implementation of the agreement reached with
the union.
He said it was sad that a President who
claimed that corruption is not Nigeria’s problem
can watch a Minister buy bullet proof vehicles
for N255million, yet claiming there is no money
to fund education.
He berated the President for speaking out
publicly on the ongoing strike close to four
months after it began, maintaining that he has
not been patriotic and sensitive enough to the
needs of the majority of Nigerians.
He said: “Will it have been possible for Mr.
President to be quiet if his children are in one of
our public institutions and be at home for four
months? “How many years of appeal will make
Mr. President implement a four year old
agreement? The truth is we are tired of appeal.
We need action. “
The Chairman of ASUU, Niger Delta University
(NDU), Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State, Dr.
Beke Sese, said the strike is to save the
universities from collapse.
He maintained that the strike had no political
undertone and not targeted at Jonathan or his
administration.
Sese told reporters in Port Harcourt, the Rivers
State capital, that the industrial action was to
protest the deplorable condition of public
universities.
“Imputing political motive to the strike is a
calculated attempt by some persons to deploy
propaganda gimmicks to the cause of the
university teachers, in order to divert attention
from the real issues that informed the strike,”
Sese said, adding:
“When the current Chairman of the Independent
National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof.
Attahiru Jega, was ASUU president, the
members did not compromise, when there was
similar strike, during the regime of the late Gen.
Sani Abacha.
“This is the first time that ASUU members have
embarked on a protracted strike, which centres
on funding of the universities and improvement
of the infrastructure. The funds so far released
by the Federal Government are grossly
inadequate. The 2009 agreement must be fully
implemented.”
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