THE TOYIN FALOLA INTERVIEWS: A CONVERSATION WITH PROF. OGUNYEMI, PRESIDENT OF ASUU
Toyin Falola
A CONVERSATION WITH PROF. ABIODUN OGUNYEMI, PRESIDENT OF THE ACADEMIC STAFF UNION OF UNIVERSITIES, PART 3
PART 3
The Academic Staff Union of Universities: The Price of Success
Toyin Falola
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is a labor union that emerged from government workers’ interaction to improve Nigeria's educational system. The body came into existence in 1978 to succeed a union of similar philosophical mandates, the Nigerian Association of University Teachers, which aimed to install a viable culture that would effectively transform the country. The conception of the union is traceable to examining the country’s academic condition, which was heading towards a crisis. The Nigerian political system was in its fledgling state and was exposed to every kind of manipulation by those in power, a situation that was threatening the moral and professional career of teachers. The alternating transition between democratic and military government cemented the reason for the initiation of a group that would be saddled to speak out the members' minds and do this without any form of betrayal. In essence, ASUU’s emergence has tackled and addressed the aspirations of professional teachers within its socio-historical timeframe in the country by taking measures that would ensure that a fair working condition is complemented by up-to-date infrastructural facilities in the country’s tertiary academic institutions.
Objectives
Going by the motivations of the eggheads that ushered the group into existence, the fundamental objective of ASUU is to negotiate with the federal government based on the need for the provision of desirable welfare for the Nigerian teachers at the tertiary level, especially the universities. The union’s mission is to ensure that the country does not experience massive brain drain in the intellectual sector, where people in whom the country has invested quality academic resources migrate en masse to areas where they believe have better working conditions. It is the tenacious belief of the union that losing individuals to those places, due to the challenges of lack of access to quality life resulting from the poor welfare package accorded to them by the country, would ultimately retrograde or proportionally regress the nation’s knowledge production and inevitably render academics unfit for international competition. Meanwhile, the provision of good welfare befitting of the individuals working at the tertiary level goes beyond salary increment alone. In situations where there is a significant infrastructural deficit in the education system of the country, meeting up with the emerging trends in the global educational society would be largely impossible, and this would have foreboding consequences on the academic conditions of the country as those within the sector are likely to become frustrated.
Photo: End ASUU Strike Campaign
Achievements
To be candid, the union has recorded several successes to its credit because of some rigorous, persistent, and dedicated efforts put in place by the group’s governing body at different times. In fact, despite some areas of excessive obstinacy of the union resulting in its outright refusal of compromise, the union has made impressive landmarks in the facilitation of better academic working conditions for the members since its inception. Some individuals are usually judgmental of the union because of the information gap between them and the union. Not many outsiders understand that the high reduction in the degree of migration of these lecturers comes from the body’s persistent and continuous assurance of a better working environment that would inevitably fast-track their career development. To convince a people to continue to work for a government, despite continuous deplorable conditions of intellectualism and competence and the unceasing undermining of their social contributions, demands more than a mere verbal innuendo. It requires actively engaging the government as evidence of the commitment to their collective yearnings. Through thick and thin, ASUU has remained steadfast in its pursuit of better work conditions for its members and installing a suitable environment where academic competence is possible.
It remains etched in the public memory and the Nigerian archive of history too that the outstanding efforts of the ASUU as a labor or trade union for the implementation of a functional academic structure, especially during the period of military leadership, cannot be overemphasized. Military governments, by their designs, did not usually consider the investment in the education sector and the system as the primary objective of leadership. Their neophyte disposition about the significance of education to the advancement of a people's collective dreams and goals accounts for their indifference to the system when they found themselves in power. The 1970s and 1980s, in the sociopolitical experience of the country, was largely dominated by military leadership, which invariably meant that the country’s educational sector suffered a callous abandonment from the government. In 1988, when the country was under the siege of military dictatorship, the union had to organize a nationwide industrial action to obtain fair wages for the academic members. As the only language understood by the military leadership is force, the language of persuasion by the union was misconstrued, and this led to its proscription in the same year. After a series of this experience, ASUU was vindicated in 1992 for its achievements. In recent times, ASUU has declined the government’s intrusion in overseeing the running of Nigerian universities.
Photo: ASUU “War”
Criticisms
Fair to say that ASUU has won commendable feats through its successful agitations; it is equally incontestable that it has won fierce criticisms by different groups in the Nigerian society. ASUU has been considered notorious for its uncompromising stance when negotiating with the federal government. It is a built-in operational method for the union to threaten and then implement strike actions whenever the government refuses to accede to its requests. However, when this is done, the resulting consequences are usually overwhelming and unpredictable. A society is considered a working system prone to breaking down when it is not primarily functioning. The country is also more exposed to danger when the academic sector is stagnant and not making significant progress. Therefore, strike actions open the country to several consuming challenges that threaten its stability. When the youths are condemned to their homes without engaging in profitable enterprises, apart from them being prone to temptations of unimaginable standards, they are equally available to be used as instruments of moral degeneration in some extreme situations. As such, by its intransigent dispositions, the union has inadvertently short-circuited the future of many students.
Consequently, the union has different images depending on those evaluating it. Parents, for example, consider ASUU as agents of frustration that impede the growth of their children as they understand that the confinement of their wards to their different homes brings imposing pressure on them, to which they have no absorbing mechanism. On the students’ part, ASUU is conceived as an insanely ambitious group that places its interests above other things, using the innocent students as leverage to get access to its share of the “national cake.” However, for the government, the body is considered a sellout whose masked ambition is to portray successive governments as unwilling to give the necessary financial attention to the country's education system. These various critical appraisals have revealed that a body seeking the welfare of the people would always be confronted by several challenges, especially when they have an information gap about the internal issues they have to contend with. In one of its recent industrial actions, the group protested the deplorable conditions of the country’s education system and expressed their desire for a school environment that is adequately equipped with necessary facilities. The union dragged the government to a protracted negotiation period, during which tertiary education in the country stood still for almost a year. As usual, this attracted ASUU to severe criticisms from stakeholders.
My questions to Mr. President are ready:
Can there be an ASUU that will not use strike actions as a weapon?
Is there a strategy without its risk?
Should internal cleansing not be the sole focus: to fight members who engage in malpractices and corrupt management?
A university must not be an island of privilege without responsibility!
To hear him speak and answer your questions, do please join Professor Abiodun Ogunyemi on:
Sunday, Apr 25, 2021
05:00 PM Nigeria (GMT+1)
11:00AM Austin (CST)
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https://www.tfinterviews.com/post/prof-ogunyemi
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https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87972673618
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https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC2lvX7A2iVndiCq0NfFcb0w/live
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Toyin Falola
A CONVERSATION WITH PROF. ABIODUN OGUNYEMI, PRESIDENT OF THE ACADEMIC STAFF UNION OF UNIVERSITIES, PART 4
PART 4
ASUU Under Professor Abiodun Ogunyemi: The Academic Generalissimo and His Wars
(This is the first report on the interview conducted with Professor Abiodun Ogunyemi on April
25, 2021)
For its entire recording, see
Facebook: https://fb.watch/55x9BZoe7s/
YouTube: https://youtu.be/bVgqJZYyEPg)
Toyin Falola
Professor Abiodun Ogunyemi is an academically published professor of education at Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago-Iwoye. Beyond his academic expertise in education studies, he is the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), one of Nigeria’s strongest trade unions. ASUU is a body concerned about the welfare of its members and the protection of the quality of higher education in the country. Many people have argued that ASUU is only interested in stomach infrastructure; however, Prof. Ogunyemi refuted this allegation, explaining that ASUU’s demands extend beyond agitating for salary matters. Nigeria is a peculiar country where workers hardly earn the worth of their professional output, and even at that, they get owed large arrears of their earned salaries, allowances, and benefits. But despite that, for Prof. Ogunyemi, ASUU has never embarked on prolonged negotiations and strike actions just because of salaries but to advocate for the fair treatment of its members and proper funding and infrastructural developments in the educational sector.
What does it mean to be the Generalissimo of academics fighting for fair treatment and educational transformation? What does it mean to lead trade-union affronts on the federal government? What does it take to lead the struggle for the betterment of your co-workers in the face of a society that believes your union is wicked and selfish? In the latest of the Toyin Falola Interviews, Prof. Ogunyemi speaks about a range of issues put forward by interviewers, students, and academic stakeholders on his life, work, position, roles, and what it means to be the President of ASUU. The National Association of University Teachers (NAUT) was the initial trade union for academics in Nigerian universities; however, this body metamorphosed into ASUU. This transition did not stop at bringing about a change of name; it also brought about a change in ideals and strategies.
Photo: ASUU vs. FG
According to the professor, ASUU is a body that fights to create better teaching-learning environments in our universities. How far has the body gone in its fight for conducive learning spaces, seeing as many of our university campuses are underdeveloped? On ASUU’s fight for conducive learning spaces, Prof. Ogunyemi says that ASUU preoccupies itself with securing the welfare of its members and ensuring that our universities run well. Research, community development, and teaching are the three fundamental roles the average university plays in the nation, and if any university is found wanting in these three areas, then it should not be considered as functional. Prof. Ogunyemi comments that ASUU must keep fighting to ensure that all universities in the country meet these three criteria to a considerable extent.
To Ogunyemi, ASUU identifies with the masses and strives for the emancipation of the poor. To him, education must be accessible. The members, he insists, represent the interests of the people. What is the gown without the town? Of what use are research endeavors and discoveries if they are not to the benefit of society? What is the social relevance of a scholar if their theories and findings do not serve to improve society? Prof. Ogunyemi claims that these are the questions that drive ASUU in its pursuits and advocacies.
Challenges help an organization in its retrospection and forward-thinking endeavors. An organization that does not look back to consider its challenges will have problems surmounting the bigger challenges that await it in the future. ASUU, as a body, has had its challenges—right from the military era up until the post-military and almost pseudo-democratic days. One of such challenges is the continuing disregard for the education sector by the Nigerian governments. Governments are being succeeded, and power is changing hands, yet the attitude towards education has not changed. It has been the same lackadaisical and laissez-fair attitude towards investing in the nation’s education sector. However, no oppressor wants a vocal victim. The moment victims know their rights and stand up to oppression, the oppressor becomes more vicious and tightens the grip the more.
Photo: ASUU protest
Nigeria has witnessed both military and democratic rule, and one of the surviving organizations that witnessed both styles of government in Nigeria is ASUU. ASUU started its confrontation during the military era when dictatorial regimes jeopardized the education sector. And so started the long-term struggles with governments, the most recent being the 2020 struggle with the Buhari administration.
We must then ask ourselves if there are any remarkable differences between the military and democratic dispensations in terms of education and education investment in Nigeria. For Prof. Ogunyemi, there is no marked difference. As far as the universities are concerned, the military and democratic governments are the same. The only difference is that while one threatens forced submission by withholding salaries and banning the association, the other uses less force. A military-era orientation, Ogunyemi argues, continues.
Prof. Ogunyemi maintains that there has not been a paradigm shift in the perception and conduct of Nigerian political leaders since the military era. So, can our universities become autonomous? Should they become autonomous? In the continual autonomy-for-universities debate, Prof. Ogunyemi holds that the government always seeks to impose policies that are not favorable to the system. He cites the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) as one of such policies. This is a policy that ASUU has been fighting against for the past five years, and which has led to the withdrawal of salaries and earned allowances for months as a way of forcing them to agree to the policy. ASUU believes that the IPPIS will cripple the university system.
ASUU has, over time, been condemned for its strategy of last resort: strike actions that rupture academic calendars. Nonetheless, Prof. Ogunyemi strongly believes that all ASUU measures are ultimately for the good of society and the academic system. This means that while the academic calendar may run smoothly if there are no strikes, the consequences will be to accept low-quality education.
To Ogunyemi, strikes work. TETFUND, which is largely the major source of funding for infrastructural projects in Nigerian universities, came into existence due to ASUU’s strike actions. Nonetheless, parents and students are always concerned about the continuous and disruptive nature of these strikes, which have led to the increase in the number of private universities and enrollment in these schools. What is ASUU’s fate in the face of the rise of private schools? Prof. Ogunyemi states that the socioeconomic situation of Nigeria would not allow for the dominance of private universities. Even though there are over 100 private universities in Nigeria, private universities still have less than five percent of the total student population.
Following the Union’s latest strike action, which lasted from March to December 2020 before it was suspended, the federal government released 20 billion naira to the universities. Prof. Ogunyemi discloses that he has gone on monitoring rounds across Nigerian universities to see how well the schools have put the money to use. He expresses his satisfaction in seeing that while some schools have equipped their laboratories, others have erected infrastructure to better the pre-existing conditions.
The Toyin Falola Interview with Prof. Ogunyemi was eye-opening, putting many things into perspective. Beyond that, it brought about the revelation of suggestions and ideas that could help the Academic Staff Union of Universities go about their agitations in a better way. The interview is a compelling four hours’ round of questions, answers, comments, and revelations. If you could not join it live, you can find it on YouTube.
Photo: #EndASUUStrike Protest