ASUU Strike: Can Adamu Adamu be crucified? -By Abdu Abdullahi

When Malam Adamu Adamu, the current Minister of Education, was writing for the Daily Trust newspaper, he wrote a very interesting piece captioned: Why ASUU is always on strike. It was published on Friday, November 15, 2013.

In it, he made a brilliant and expository presentation justifying the ASUU strike then. He was able to draw facts by sharp comparisons between Nigeria’s backwardness on education as against the advancement of some other African countries. It was deliberately intended to attract the attention of the authorities to do the needful and rescue the system from total collapse.

Going through that article diligently, one would be convinced that the available statistics he deployed to drive home his argument was fully articulated to champion ASUU’s struggle. That master- piece is still relevant in the prevailing situation of ASUU strike. You would have the conviction that if given the opportunity to handle the education sector, all the problems of ASUU would be solved and that he would cleanse the Augean stable of the university system, thereby entering the good pages of history.

But as fate would have it, Adamu Adamu was eventually appointed education Minister and by another design of fate, ASUU is on strike again. But surprisingly, Adamu’s sensational writing of those days could not match the present dispensation as he is showcasing blatant aloofness to what he believed as a legitimate cause agitated by ASUU then.

A newspaper vendor was astonished as to why Adamu’s performance was nothing to write home about even during the first tenure of the Buhari regime. The vendor was able to recal how Malam Adamu educated us on educational problems and their solutions in his different writings which depicted him as the Messiah that we were waiting for to redeem the education sector.

As a flashback to what he wrote then, I still remember Adamu’s intellectual discussion. A portion was convincingly captured thus: ” And while the percentage of education expenditure to total expenditure in Nigeria is a paltry 8.4 percent, South Africa spends 20 percent, Morocco spends 26. 4 percent, Botswana 25.6 percent, and French speaking Guinea and Cote d’Ivore spend 25.6 percent and 21.5 percent respectively”

Contextually therefore, it will be highly essential to cite an example with South Africa in terms of better funding and the remarkable results on the ground are overwhelming. Out of the 10 best universities in Africa, South Africa produces the first seven. And we call ourselves the giant of Africa. To measure educational development of universities is surely one way of determining greatness of any nation. However, the story differs in Nigeria.

While many Nigerians are currently condemning ASUU for what is variously described as insensitiveness, uncompromise, ungreatfulness, blah, blah, blah, but Adamu Adamu in that write up strongly supported ASUU strike with this cogent arguement,” This nation owes a debt of gratitude to ASUU and the strke should not be called off until the government accepts to do- and does- what is required. That is why ASUU is always on strike.” It is hoped that Malam Adamu still remembers this pro ASUU writing and may be humbly required to make a fair judgement of himself, crucify himself or other wise because recorded words are never liars! From a successful writer therefore, Adamu could have transformed into a failed administrator for his inability to please ASUU and eventually save the nation passing through the current embarrassment

At another instance, Malam Adamu could not hide his deep feelings and solidarity for ASUU. Hear what he told us, ” The goal of ending the strike should not be to save parents anxiety or to take pity on students or to save lecturers’ jobs or to graduate students; it is to save the university system so that it becomes what it is supposed to be- a system for producing a culturally literate society, and for generating and harnessing ideas and knowledge, inhaling and driving social and economic innovation,and ensuring national competitiveness on the global scene”. But from what has been unfolding so far, Adamu is defined by his bankruptcy in matching words with action and could rightly be described as one who has committed a political or ideological suicide.

To further draw some significant lessons from that written material, he was courageous to tell us this, ” In this, ASUU should see itself as a vanguard- probably the only active one dedicated to making the government begin to tread the path of responsible good governance in the administration of education in Nigeria and not just on university campus.”

To sum up Adamu’s writing, it was a fully pledged solidarity for ASUU. Now that ASUU has been on strike, while the children of our political leaders have successfully graduated from foreign universities, what will be the future of the children of the masses, the future of our university system, and the future of the country in general since Adamu, who is in the position to influence government on ASUU, has remained loyal to the administration and has betrayed his belief that was once defining his vision on the state of university education?

Perhaps, Malam Adamu may not have the political will to align with the lecturers and the ailing system for obvious reasons, but posterity will not be in his favor because the trial he is passing through is anchored on morality between actions and inactions, between justice and injustice, between fairness and unfairness, between national interest and government interest.

Going by this brief analysis, can Adamu Adamu be crucified as a result of this ideological inconsistency which has culminated in forfeiting his hard earned image?