Boluwatife Akinola
& Omowumi Ojo

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The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has stated that the union has no other means to press for its demands from the government other than  industrial strike, since dialogue  failed several times.

ASUU was responding to several calls by Nigerians that the union must find other means to press home its demands without causing any negative effect on tertiary education in the country.

The union leaders told The Hope that if Nigerians can provide any formidable options, it would be followed.

The leaders noted that several dialogues with government had proved abortive, hence, strike became the only available option.

Speaking with The Hope, the ASUU Chairman of Adekunle Ajasin University, Prof. Simon Ehiabhi noted that strike by the union was due to frustration from the government.

“Strike is out of frustration, the union does not enjoy strike and it is the union that suffers more, not even the students because we have projects that we are doing with our students. We have research grants. We also cannot stay at home without teaching our students.  So, we suffer more.

Ehiabhi insisted that  having a responsible government could be another way of actualising demands.

“If we have a responsible government, it will very difficult for such government to toy with the lives of children and youths of school age. We do not have this and that is why ASUU has always been using strike to appeal to the government to do the needful.”

The scholar, however, said the union had always been obedient to the calls of Nigerians and if Nigerians have alternative effective option rather than strike, the union would follow.

Also speaking, the ASUU Chairman, Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA), Prof Olayinka Awopetu stated that dialogue could have been used as other mean of pressing home their demands from the government.

The don said ASUU was not “strike trigger happy” rather government should meet its demands.

He said, “the only way out is dialogue and now they are back to dialogue. Why must they wait for strike before they start the dialogue? For 10 years, our government repeated those issues.”

 “We have been on this  and we have been telling government, we have been consulting, we have been meeting them since 2012 and I do not think it is fair to ASUU as if we are strike trigger happy. It is our government that failed to listen.”

”We have been sending everybody that could be sent. We have written over 70 letters, every stakeholder on this mission has been approached but government never complied.”

Responding, Dr. Stephen Fatonji said “the first thing to note is that strike is not a bad idea if properly and reasonably handled, by considering all necessary stakeholders”.

He suggested that the union should bring influential stakeholders, such as the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and other civil society organizations in having dialogue with government.

He added that the gap between the universities and national development must be bridged as this would bestow relevance on a body and the universities in general.

He further suggested that other means of funding universities outside government should be employed because “government has failed.

In his contribution, an Education Consultant, Obasanjo Fajemirokun suggested that ASUU should push for enactment and implementation of policies that would ensure education is prioritised and given needed attention.

“These policies might have existed but are definitely not being fully implemented. Aside that, they should have stakeholders groups that can follow up the implementation before it leads to strike.”

Fajemirokun added that part of the policies was to mandate children of public office holders to attend public schools in Nigeria, adding that international bodies and advocacy groups could be used by ASUU to mount pressure on government.