Lecturers in Nigerian tertiary institutions have embarked on no fewer than 719 days of strike since the inception of the Buhari-led administration in May 2015.
Currently, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is on strike in protest against members’ poor welfare and lack of proper funding for universities among others.
Meanwhile, members of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) and the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) are also on strike for similar reasons.
Analysis reveals that in January 2017, ASUP, under the then National President, Usman Dutse, embarked on a seven-day warning strike from January 30, 2017, to February 5, 2017.
Also, ASUU declared an indefinite strike on August 17, 2017, over unresolved and contentious issues with the Federal Government. The strike was called off on September 17, 2017.
A few days after the suspension of the strike by ASUU, lecturers in polytechnics on November 11, 2017, announced another strike that lasted for 15 days. The strike was called off on November 29, 2017.
In 2018, lecturers in Colleges of Education took the lead when COEASU embarked on strike on October 9, 2018.
The strike was called off on December 5, 2018.
ASUU embarked on a three-month nationwide strike on November 4, 2018, due to the Federal Government’s alleged inaction.
The strike was suspended on February 7, 2019.
Similarly, ASUP went on strike again on December 12, 2018. The strike was called off on February 13, 2019.
The strike lasted over nine months due to the pandemic and the unresponsiveness of the government to the academic body, making it one of the longest ever.
It was called off in December 2020.
While other academic unions did not go on strike in 2021, ASUP embarked on a 65-day strike. The strike, which commenced on April 6, 2021, was called off on June 9, 2021.
So far in 2022, while COEASU just announced the commencement of a four-week strike, ASUP went on strike for two weeks, while ASUU has been on strike for close to 122 days, leading to a collapse in the tertiary education sector.
Meanwhile, the National Coordinator of the Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, Emmanuel Onwubiko, in an interview, said the inability of the government to solve the crises in public institutions is a war on youths.
“The government’s inability to resolve the industrial crisis in the public universities whereby over 70% of youths attend because they are from poor backgrounds is a direct declaration of war on the youths,” he said.
The Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed, says the ongoing strike by ASUU and three other unions is not as simple as most Nigerians think.
Speaking with State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Wednesday, the minister said, “I wish that the ASUU issue is as simple as many of us think it is. I don’t think it’s that simple. But I want to assure you that a lot is going on behind the scenes.”
He noted that the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, is better positioned to give the details.
Analysis Credit: The Punch
