ASUU and the sustainability of public universities in Nigeria

Education is key to gainful development and thoughtful nations invest immensely in it

On Monday, 12th October, 2020, educational institutions in Nigeria (basic and tertiary) opened for academic activities after seven months closure due to COVID-19. Regrettably, federal universities failed to reopen, no thanks to ongoing 27 weeks old strike action embarked by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

The strike has crippled all academic and non- academic activities. It is not the first time and may not be the last going by the nature of the government not to keep to promises. But the humongous damage strikes due to our educational system cannot be quantified. Irrespective of the angle it is viewed, ASUU’S demands must be addressed once and for all.

The sustainability of public universities in Nigeria forms the basis of ASUU’S struggle which many misunderstand. ASUU is asking the federal government to improve facilities on the campuses, improve student’s welfare, revitalise the universities as agreed with the government years back and rescind decisions over the use of IPPIS payment platform and pay the backlog of earned allowances spanning over seven years.

Regrettably, one major language government understands is strike. Truth is ASUU strikes have been yielding good results one of which is the establishment of TETFUND but more needs to be done to keep pace with global realities in the sector. Agreed, students experience unnecessary delays whenever ASUU proceeds on strike. But the lecturers themselves also pay the price which includes subjecting them, their families and dependents to various degrees of torture, pain and discomfort including nonpayment of salaries and allowances. The fact that the education sector is experiencing this level of hitch should unsettle any responsible government.

A visit to many of the public basic and tertiary institutions in Nigeria, reveals sordid tales of decayed infrastructure and absence of teaching tools. In some; students’ seat on the floor and balconies to take lectures; no blackboards. Hostels and buildings are in dilapidated forms. Toilet facilities, well equipped libraries and functional laboratories are nonexistent. The result is that many students who left such schools were seriously deficient in most subjects. Some couldn’t even read and write properly, which wasn’t the fault of the teachers but the inability to teach the young mind without the requisite teaching tools.

The situation has not only affected the quality of education in Nigeria, it has also worsened the plight of public schools as people preferred the packaging of private schools to the quality learning obtainable in public educational institutions. Worst still, those who are in the position of restoring our public schools, namely, government officials, either send their children abroad to study or delved into establishing their own private schools for business purposes. It is this ugly development that ASUU is trying to change. If only the Nigeria Union of Teachers had joined hands with ASUU, it would have been a different scenario.

The least point of the current struggle is the federal government’s insistence that academic staff of federal universities enrol in the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) which according to the government would promote transparency and accountability. With corruption as one of our major undoing as a nation, anything that will promote accountability and transparency is welcomed. However, more important is the workability of the IPPIS in the tertiary education system in Nigeria. Many have accused ASUU of being corrupt, having members do more than one job and many others as the reason for the rejection of IPPIS. But it is important we understand that the universities have a different mode of operation compared to what is operational in the civil service.

In ASUU’S opinion, IPPIS is not designed to accommodate such things as remuneration of lecturers on sabbatical, external examiners and assessors and earned academic allowances.

Hence, forcing IPPIS will mean that the idea behind seasoned academia going on sabbatical to other federal universities is jettisoned. The reason for external examination and assessment which is to uphold the integrity of the University system by attracting experts in certain fields either within or outside the country to assess our lecturers or examine our students with the introduction of IPPIS also will be frustrated and will impact negatively on the ranking of Nigerian universities. In addition, IPPIS does not recognise the retirement age of Academics. All of these make IPPIS a bad idea to the University system.

It is on this premise that ASUU tasked itself to develop the UTAS (University Transparency and Accountability Solution) to make up for the inadequacy of the IPPIS to the Academic sector. One will expect that as partners in progress, the Government should rather be looking at ways to adopt the UTAS for Academic staff since ASUU not only noted the challenge with IPPIS but has come up with a solution. Forcing ASUU at this point to join the IPPIS suggests that rather than promoting accountability and transparency in the University system IPPIS may be out to achieve a hidden agenda.

The fact remains that education is a sure tool for gainful development and nations that understand this invest immensely in their education system.