ASUU Vs FG: The Game Is “Conditionally” Over: What Next? -By Muhammad Sagir Bauchi

If we could recall, members of the powerful union that accommodates all Nigerian university lecturers embarked on a warning strike on 9th March, 2020 over the breach of the 2009 agreement by the present administration. Later on, the strike turned to an indefinite one that lasted for 9-months!

Students and lecturers were negatively affected by the strike. For the lecturers, some of them courageously gave up their six months salaries as a result of none enrolment into the IPPIS.
And for the students, they waisted a full academic year at home. Some of them that are supposed to graduate in 2020 are now pushed to 2021. But, if carefully analyze from an other perspective, the strike was a blessing in disguise to both the students and lecturers alike.

For the students, some of them engaged themselves in some other skill acquisitions apart from the one they are skilled at. That increased their earnings and experience. While some that were not into any form of business are now good at some, due to the compulsory holiday they were subjected to. Therefore, to those that used the strike to improve the(m)selves and accept the notion of “DEGREE CERTIFICATE IS NO LONGER A MEAL TICKET” had achieved great during the strike days, while it is a loss to those that were overwhelmed by indolence and failed to learn anything that could add a digit to their financial capacity.

For the lecturers, it is a blessing in disguise, due to the fact that throughout their years of struggle, this is the time that most students and the public realized the genuineness of their struggle and supported them entirely.
The lecturers hold firm onto their struggle until when they decided to suspend the strike “CONDITIONALLY”! This tells us that the union is indeed an umbrella that accommodate intellectuals that are willing to see the betterment of Nigerian public universities.

Although, the strike is suspended on some conditions which include; to accept agreement reached, Consciously monitor the implementation of the agreement reached, Ensure no non-IPPIS-complaint suffers because of the strike, ensure the mainstreaming of the EAA, suspend the strike, and embark on another strike without notice if government fail to honour the agreement reached!

But both the union and the Federal government had a great task ahead of them!
For the union, they should try as much as possible to see that their expectations are met in order to bring the end to the possibility of further industrial action.
And the Federal government should match its words with action, thereby fulfilling all the agreement(s) reached in the negotiations with the union. Because, in all their dispute, wards of poor bear the brunt more than anyone else, for they had no means to either be enrolled into private universities. Their last hope is the public university.

But, since that the strike is now over, what await the students? Answering such questions need a lot of time and energy for the fact that most of the students are from poor background and their parents are mostly in one way or the other negatively affected by the Covid-19 lockdown, which they are struggling to cope with!

Some of the students are self-sponsored of their education, but due to this covid-19, their sources of income have been blocked. They are only struggling to feed themselves and their aged parents.
In the cause of this, they have two options: either to resume school and leave their new ways of earning or keep on with their work and drop out.

Therefore, this is where both the society and government should intervene in order to rescue the future of these students that are willing to contribute their quota in the field of medicine, Law and humanity, but destitute is about to deprive them of chasing their dreams.

For the student, if you chose to resume to school, then think about other ways of changing your life, through solving the society’s immediate problem, thereby engaging in a business that will sustain you and will not distract you from your studies.
As for those that would choose to go for the latter, they should also think that; EDUCATION in general is not meant to use in seeking for worldly things alone, rather it is the torch that lights your way to success.
Here, by success, I don’t mean to be RICH or WEALTHY; rather, learn how to live in happiness and bring new idea that could solve the suffering of your society! Therefore, their thinking should be channel into targeting a suitable time to resume back in the future.

On the other side is another drama lay in wait for some students. Landlords are there waiting for the students to resume and renew their rent, for their agreed rent period has elapsed, even though, they had not made use of the accommodations! Therefore, the game is not yet over for the students!

Therefore, the landlords and students need some urgent government financial intervention. However, the landlords should exhibit empathy and compassion to the Nigerian students by waiving them off the rent of the strike period and also to subsidize the coming rent fees in order to mitigate the economic downturn of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Another Question that is begging for an answer is that; how do those students that are not schooling in their hometown could cope with the level of insecurity in the country? Are the roads in the country free from Kidnappers or Boko Haram terrorist? Ho safe aee they for their returning? What plan do the central government had for them?

Finally, I pray that we may not witness such a lengthy disagreement between the government and ASUU.

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