I yield this space today to readers of this column who felt strongly about my position on the ASUU strike and reacted. Follow their minds.

Dear Sir,

Your article missed out many facts — ETF which later became TETFUND came into being as an outcome of the FGN/ASUU Agreement of 1992. In response to government excuse of ASUU’s demands being huge and not easy to be met, ASUU’s Finance/Fundraising Committee came up with a paper for NEC’s approval. This paper was handed to the ASUU Negotiating Team for presentation at the meeting with the Federal Government Negotiating Team. The recommendation of ASUU was that every registered company in Nigeria should contribute 5% of their revenue as Education Tax, and that a board will be set up to coordinate the accruals. This is the truth about the origin of ETF. So, ASUU has every right to have a say about the operations of that body. Your article missed out the existence of private universities which establishments negatively impact on the required attention that government ought to accord public universities. I doubt if you missed the mention of private universities as an oversight. Rather, I want to believe that it was intentional as your newspaper publishers do not want to step on toes of those who advertise in/make business possible for their newspaper. Some of the benefactors of your newspaper are incumbent or past political office holders.   Many of the private universities are owned by past Heads of State and their associates in business and religious institutions.

The truth is that successive administrations, from Obasanjo’s military era to date have not shown required responsibility to the education of the Nigerian child. Nigeria is a signatory to the UNICEF’s requirement of allocating 12.5% of our GDP to education yet we renege. Our government enters into contract with ASUU and continues to breach the terms of such contracts.

It is discourteous for the public, especially the enlightened public, to crucify ASUU for using the same strategies to obtain a change. Whereas, their employers continue to show irresponsibility as they find it difficult to honour the spirit of a jointly signed contract of agreement, I doubt if the enlightened public consider that the continuing headship of our government by fraudsters and people lacking proven integrity have culminated in the degradation of our collective sense of rationalisation and objective reasoning as to know that we have failed governments in Nigeria. 

If one is dealing with a deaf, blind and dumb person, the only way to get his attention is through application of pain/shock therapy. The ASUU strike is the  most effective therapy for the blind, deaf and dumb leaders we have at the helms of our governments. That’s the truth!

My candid submission as a former ASUU exco member at Ogun State University and member of the Tactical Committee of ASUU-LASU before relocating to the UK, and with my reputation on the line too, is that ASUU means well for Nigeria’s educational system and its survival.

Ayokangun Onatola, Luton, England.

Dear Sir,

No-work-no-pay policy is an International Labour Organisation, ILO-sanctioned labour law. It’s part of our trade union laws. That it’s never been enforced previously doesn’t mean the act’s been repealed or abolished. The failure of the academia from primary to tertiary levels since the Second Republic has seen gradual and systematic production of “unemployable graduates” for Nigeria’s labour market. NUT helped UBEC/SUBEBs to steal N24.13trn local government funds between 1994-2021 in the name of paying primary sch teachers’ salaries. Now ASUU’s battling FG over IPPIS to cover ghost workers. Sad! 

Hon. Ngozika Ihuoma, Abuja.

Dear Sir,

I read your article on Page 18 of the Vanguard Newspaper this morning. Sadly people like you help to fuel government intransigence. As a lecturer I don’t want to be paid for work I have not done BUT I don’t also want to do work that won’t be paid for. Government doesn’t want to pay for the period of the strike BUT insists we must resume and do the work for the period of the strike. Does this make sense? If you go on strike today and resume after one month, will you still have an article published next week in the Vanguard when you resume a month later? Why are journalists so illogical in arguments??? Did we go on strike because of salaries??? Mr Journalist, your government set up TWO separate committees to negotiate with ASUU. Government selected the members of the committees BUT ignored the report presented by the committees they set up. What about that?????

Dr Francis Duru, University of Lagos.