As a young academic, the debate about ASUU being negligent of the welfare of its members and prioritising other things is something I have heard several times. And I find it worrying.
I do not think ASUU has neglected the welfare of its members in its past struggles. In fact, the very first strike (1974) action declared by the then AUT before it became ASUU was all bothered on welfarism. This was the basis of its second strike (1978). Between 1980 and 1996, university teachers’ salaries were adjusted more than two times when each of the military regimes tried to put them on the same salary scale with other civil servants. But ASUU resisted these. It is also seen in all documents of agreement between ASUU and the federal (and state government) both in 2002 and 2009 that salary was a priority. Again in 2013 and subsequently, it has always been a priority for ASUU. All of these documents are publicly accessible to any member of ASUU and should be available in every ASUU branch.
I also think that the revitalisation struggle of ASUU to salvage education is not a favour to the masses or the students. We cannot separate the working conditions of lecturers as ASUU members from the state of education, particularly for the all-round development of society.
Firstly, what I mean by this is that revitalisation means provision of standard classrooms, laboratories and every other amenities needed for the university system to function well. This is not a favour to the public but in fact a need for every academic staff. The productivity of every academic staff depends on the resources (working conditions) available to them. We cannot produce something credible out of nothing. This is why the Nigerian academia (especially those in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM)) are less regarded at the global level, despite the brilliant minds we have there. It is the reason most young Nigerian graduates are regarded as unemployable, the blame for which goes to their lecturers, who are supposed to have not taught them well. But in reality, the lecturer could not have taught better than s/he did with the limited equipment s/he has.
Secondly, most lecturers have their children in these same public universities. Their children are also beneficiaries of the revitalization efforts. I also think the argument raised by some people that the Nigeria Medical Association (NMA) fights only for doctors’ wellbeing, but is not concerned about fighting for a better health system may not be so correct. The record shows that an improved public health system has always been part of their demands.
Life becomes better when we see things as a whole rather than as particles from the social view of it. When the NMA, National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM), Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MHWUN) or Joint Health Sector Unions (JOHESU) fight for improvement in health facilities (and yes they do all the time), we have hope of better access to health for even poor working-class people.
The truth is that under-appreciation of teachers at all levels in Nigeria, from the primary to the tertiary, is not of the lack of ASUU to fight for better salary but that of a neocolonial ruling class that aims to destroy the education system. And denial of good salary to academics is their way of forcing the union to its knees.
Ironically, this is not peculiar to Nigeria. It is a part of the struggle even in the West as long as capitalism prevails. I recently conducted a study on the shortage of teachers in one of Europe’s most advanced countries. This is thus a global phenomenon. What I discovered is that teachers are in short supply not because there are not enough people to teach but because the salaries are not attractive in these countries.
I agree that asking the Union to emphasise salary is crucial, but this should not come at the detriment of fighting for revitalisation. Or else, the Nigerian public university would become a replica of the Nigerian public refineries, where staff are paid bogus salaries without refining anything due to the death of the refineries. I am sure this is not what university teachers want. Hence, we must stand strong by the union until the government fulfils its agreement with the union.
Lekan Abdulazeez SONEYE (LAS)
