The issue of ASUU hanging on when it is obvious that most members of the union desire a suspension of the action, is worrisome. Some of the backlash of such an action is already playing out in our very presence. They include threat of re-opening by university authorities and also threats by colleagues to out rightly break the strike. I have expressed my fear of a transition from a purely democratic union to a blindly autocratic one. How do you explain the decision of our highly referred leaders who collated reports from branches and took the decision to carry on with their own wisdom even when the majority favors a suspension of the action. The questions begging for answers include: do our leaders realize the need to continue as one indivisible entity? Do they realize that governments of most state owned universities have continued to pay salaries, thereby owing only a month only? Would the Federal Universities hang on after realizing their goals of payment of salary arrears, knowing fully that the state universities will start their own STRUGGLE soon? How would the general public rate our attitudes if for any reason some universities begin to experience disunity.
In all honesty, Nigerians have respected us enough as a union, let us reciprocate by suspending this strike action. There can be no other medal better than GOLD. if that is what we have been fighting for, I pronounce that we have won it.
MAY THE UNION CONTINUE TO MAKE US STRONG AND NOT WEAKEN US.
ATERE, Adewole Akinyemi
Associate Professor of Sociology
Department of Sociology and Criminology
Osun State University
Okuku Campus.
Sent from my iPad
Sent from my iPad
--Permit me to borrow the title of this piece partly from a post forwarded by Toyin on the 25 November on Glastonbury in Europe, to air a few random musings about the ASUU strike.
Prior to the indefinite suspension of the NEC meeting penultimate week, I noticed that members of this forum had virtually exhausted whatever could be said on and about the ASUU impasse. And now that many people agree that the strike has overstayed its welcome, I stand to be corrected, one wonders why the universities are still under lock and key whereas the resolutions taken across the branches of ASUU between Monday and Tuesday 11-12, November show that a 60-40% equation in favour of the suspension of the strike was achieved. ASUU fails to recognise that suspension of the strike is also the same thing as sustaining same since it is not an outright call-off.
One wonders then why the NEC rose from its meeting last weekend and chose to keep MUM over its resolution. Is it a case of a dog with its tail between its hind legs, after being caught unawares? When the President assured of the release of 200bn Naira in 2013 immediately, and subsequently 220bn over the next 5 years, as reported at the Congresses of 11th and 12th instant, why is ASUU still bent on seeing the President append his signature on the 'AGREEMENT', which one can call the 2013 AGREEMENT now, instead of trusting the high ranking public servant that signed the document ?
Now some UNILAG lecturers have chosen to exercise the fundamental human rights of association by giving ASUU an ultimatum, thus breaking the strike. How many more will follow? Methinks the strike is already SUSPENDED and the straw ASUU purportedly hanging on according to the media reports is the payment of four months salary arrears before ASUU re-opens the universities. How ingenious! Some state universities were paying salaries up until last month, so is it everyone that is being owed four months salary as we write? Some universities have not even shared the EAA allocation they got as directed by the government and ASUU is vacillating!!!
Against the backdrop of the plurality of issues, methods and perspectives canvassed over this unfortunate accident of history, it is pertinent to note that a powerful union such as ASUU should not be behaving like the ostrich in terms of information dissemination. Keeping mum gives room for unwarranted conjectures and insinuations. And there you have it. Who knows whether a mole was present in their meeting, to leak the outcome to the ever hungry media. The same method ASUU adopted after the crucial meeting with President Jonathan that had to take the insistence of members at the aforementioned Congress before the outcome of the meeting could be divulged when in fact the whole world was awash with salient information.
The strike has already been broken due to insensitivity on ASUU's part. Let the gates of the schools swing open and let us make hay whiel the sun shines!
Shalom!
'Diran----
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