ASUU Strike: The Brunt Is Upon Us Students -By Promise Eze

The sky is too small to contain the anger and rage in our hearts. Yes, us! The students who are forced to stay back at home for months because of the fight between our lecturers and the government.

We miss the smell of books. We miss our friends. We miss the early morning rush for class. We miss the anxiety we feel few minutes before exam.

We miss campus life in general.

ASUU strike has become an annual national festival. In 1988, 10 years after its birth, ASUU organized a national strike to obtain fair wages and university autonomy. Ever since then it’s been strike after strike, year after year. The reasons for the numerous strike never gets exhausted.

In 2001, ASUU declared strike over the sack of 49 lecturers by the University of Ilorin.

In 2002, varsity teachers left the classrooms for two weeks because the Obasanjo adminstration failed to implement the agreement of the previous year.

In 2003, Nigerian university students were forced to stay at home for six months.

In 2005, university lecturers went on another industrial action which lasted two weeks.

In 2006, the strike lasted for 3 weeks.

In 2008, schools were shut for one week.

In 2009, lecturers in public universities across the country embarked on an industrial action that lasted four months.

In 2010, ASUU embarked on another indefinite strike that lasted over five months.

In 2011, the strike lasted 59 days and was called off in 2012.

In 2013, It lasted for five months, 15 days.

2017 saw the birth of another strike.

2018 didn’t end without another strike action.

It’s 2020 and Nigerian students have been struck by ASUU strike.

Granted, ASUU’s reasons for embarking on numerous strikes are legit. No, seriously they are. But on the flip side, does ASUU ever think about the young Nigerians bearing the heat of all the strikes? Like what is point of all these strikes when the main characters in the story are the only ones badly hit?

How does these strikes affect the government directly or in anyway? When lecturers withdraw their services who suffers? Federal government? Does the “federal government” get to miss lectures? Does it get to sit at home for months?

This “federal government” ASUU claims it is fighting, are the children of its principals not being schooled outside the shores of Nigeria? Even most of the lecturers have their children being groomed abroad or at private institutions within. So, who suffers the consequences of these strikes if not the children of the poor masses.

The union says it is fighting for students’ rights but deny them the chance to enjoy their rights? What kind of retrogressive fight is this?

ASUU claims that the strike is meant to draw the attention of the government to its plights. Since 1988 it has been “drawing” the attention of the government? I mean for the past 32 years it has been sketching the attention of the government on cardboard or what? If “drawing” can’t work shouldn’t ASUU learn how to “paint” better ideas? How about engaging in meaningful negotiations with the government? How about putting it concerns plainly without requesting lecturers to ignore the classrooms? Why build our education system by destroying it?

It is us the poor students who are out of school that have everything to loose. We are losing time. We are losing patience. A saying goes thus: when two elephants fight, the grass suffers. That’s our situation right now.

Same strike since 1988 and the attention of the government is still being “drawn”. Please, don’t tell me ASUU is a trade union for artists.

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