THE ASUU FESTIVAL By GREG IGHODARO

It is bad enough that the Nigerian educational system is buried deep in the murky water of ignoble failure with no hope of redemption, also it is something more than a stigma for an academic circle of school administration to drag on a snail pace which has been recycled too much for comfort, while those steering the wheel of power close up their heart and lock their ears from the right which is meant to be disbursed without hesitation.
One day, this strike craze will stop! I can’t help but juggle the indecision between the Federal Government and Academic Staff Union of Universities. The strike has become something close to an annual ceremony year in year out. Are both parties being indecisive? Or OUR government cannot simply meet their demands? The answers to those questions are strategically embedded in the problems that are seen.

ASUU has clearly rejected Federal Government’s offers and strike still continues. The disagreement is not hidden, ASUU is fighting for what is right and it is better now than never. The strike has become a frequent dose dished to the Federal Government which is taken for granted. In the year 2009, the union insisted that based on the 2009 ASUU/FGN agreement and the January 2012 Memorandum of Understanding, MOU, signed by both parties, what was due for 2012 and 2013 was N500 billion, not N100 billion. Clearly the matter has not been handled seriously and only the substantial provision of this amount will meet the needs and demands of the universities all over. ASUU has been toyed with for 4 years due to the fact that the FG have not been able to implement this. The Nigerian Universities are in a bad shape lacking basic infrastructures, facilities and the likes, what went amiss? The future of Nigeria and the Nigerian youths are not put into consideration. I am not in support of the wasted time but it is high time the government did what should have been done. If this indefinite strike is to seek for that paradigm change, something worth the wait should be done with immediate effect.

This concerns us all, Nigeria as a whole because nothing positive as emanated out of this, only if the Federal Government meets the need and stop the blockage of funds. The ongoing indefinite strike is starting to emerge as the longest of all. How long will this wait hold? Will it be a continued ASUU Festival year in year out? Deeper crisis might be drilled into the system and if this battle for right rather than plea for submission is not held firmly, the educational system should be ready to withstand the ASUU festival without prior notice. What the Union fights for is for the benefit of the future Nigerians and what better way than to keep the Federal Government attention on hold! Will this craze stop? Or we begin to anticipate for the 2014 ASUU festival? Whatever the decision is, we would know if/when it is called off. However gloomy the decision may be, it is disheartening that many lives have been affected negatively without prior notice that can be traced to the Federal Government and societal fault which reflects under poor decisions. ASUU wants to change that and there is a greater price to pay for change. Every once a while we need motivation to level up our lives, openly it is vivid that ASUU is on that journey.

Itunu A.

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GREG IGHODARO