…says ASUU now well known for strikes than critical functions

By Joseph Erunke, ABUJA

Former Minister of Education, Prof. Tunde Adeniran has attributed the perceived fallen standard and delivery of quality education in public tertiary institutions in Nigeria to incessant strikes by lecturers.

Adeniran particularly carpeted Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU for frequently embarking on strike, saying the former has recently become more known for strike actions than for other critical functions that gave birth rise to its formation.

“Strikes by Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU,have no doubt become one of the defining characteristics and features of Nigeria’s  university system with serious impacts on the state of education in Nigeria,”the former Nigerian Ambassador to Germany, said in page 52, chapter 3 of one of his recently launched books, titled:”Some thoughts on Education in Nigeria.”

According to him,”One of the undeniable facts and reasons for the perceived fallen standard of education and the delivery of quality education is the epileptic nature of the school calendar as a result of too frequent strike actions in the system.

“When students spend a great deal of designated term/ study time at home as a result of teachers’ strike,the eventual time spent on academic work is often insufficient to meet the expected exposure and concentration requirements for quality academic work.

“Academic activities are rushed to cover lost grounds and,in many cases,left uncovered. This adversely affects the quality of products and their ability to deliver on their areas of presumed and assumed competence in open market and on the job.”

To solve the problem of education, especially the enduring challenges in the sector, according to him,the issue of industrial action or strike by ASUU must be resolved.

Going down memory lane,the academic scholar said:”The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU,came into being when the erstwhile Nigerian Association of University Teachers,NAUT, formed in 1965,was re-christened in 1978 with the promulgation of Decree 19 of 1976.”

“The main purpose of ASUU,as a trade union and a pressure group,is to serve as an organisation of academic staff in universities;regulate relations between academic staff and their employers and among members; establish and maintain a high standard of academic performance and professional practice; establish just and proper conditions of service for its members;and protect and advance the socio-economic and cultural interests of the nation.

“From the above,it is evident that the union is required to serve as a formidable front for canvassing increased protection and improvement of members’ welfare,and of advancing the collective interest of the system.

“However,it appears that ASUU has recently become more known for strike actions than for other critical functions that gave rise to its formation,” he insisted.

Noting that an analysis of the desperate state of education in Nigeria “does not require at this stage,a rehash of the debates regarding the correctness, rightness and legitimacy or otherwise of these strikes”,he said well meaning Nigerians were concerned essentially with the implications of the strike actions on such critical areas as quality of education,human capital development and general perception of the education system.

“From whatever angle one considers these,a negative effect has largely attended the incessant strike actions by ASUU,”he emphasized.