ASUU strike: The Necessary Evil -By Nafeesa Bako Zango

Over the years, the seasonal, perennial, academic calendar-altering industrial actions (strike) occasionally embarked upon by The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been debated by a huge chunk of the Nigerian populace, amongst individuals with direct or indirect stakes in the Nigerian university education.

The debates cycles around whether or not, the lingering strike(s) had been fruitful so far or not, with some, even opining that it had achieved nothing, other than crippling the university calendar and subsequently; the prospects of early graduation for existing university students and those aspiring to be (The jambitos).

Now having said that, and with careful consideration and may be appreciation to a number of ‘may-be better’ options, offered by many, aside the usual embarkment on strike every time there’s a disagreement between the ASUU and FG, I move to state, in my candid opinion, that the industrial action has been an age-long, effective, prompt and direct way of speaking to the govt, in addressing grievances by group of individuals, bodies, agencies, associations, unions and whatnot.

It has over time, proven to be a powerful and direct tool of communication between aggrieved parties and govts. Understandably, govts care about optics and are overly protective of their goodwill that will be tainted, once the media carries breaking news that a certain govt had failed to meet up the demands of its country’s universities and/or it’s staffs, the global embarrassment that that poses is a price, calculative govts find too costly to afford.

Therefore, in times like this, Unions such as ASUU, with legitimate grievances that govt refuses to listen to let alone address, when approached through dialogues, capitalizes on strikes as last resort, to force the govt’s hands into listening to them and eventually, succumbing to negotiate some of the demands and meet the union halfway and in most cases, the unions too would have to make certain compromises so that schools can be reopened and academic activities, back in full swing.

Finally, like many others, I may not also agree with all ASUU’s demands, as some of them are seen to be utopian, impractical and even unachievable, but take that away, I am 100% and solidly behind ASUU, for ASUU, and with ASUU, against the FG over the ongoing industrial strike and any other one before this.

The Nigerian university – and by a stretch, academic sector, and its staffs, had suffered too much neglect and gross under funding for far too long and both the past and serving govts, had contributed immensely to the current decay in the sector, as a matter of fact, I can’t imagine a future for the Nigerian university sector, without an indomitable union like the ASUU.

Nafeesa Bako Zango is a student of Mass Communication, at the Kaduna State University (KASU).