In this post we will be looking at History of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), History of ASUU Strikes, Post-Military ASUU and ASUU Strike from 1999-2022.
INTRODUCTION
Many controversies have been generated over the need for the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to create another strategy or policy that will coerce the federal government to harken to their clamor without necessarily embarking on a long-term strike, thereby delaying students who already have their lives planned, even before their admission into higher learning. While ASUU has continued to strike from 1999 to date, university students have started to see education as irrelevant in the Nigerian system, and they are beginning to ask if the government is interested in investing in education. Researchers and public affairs analysts have revealed that one of the factors contributing to cybercrime and other forms of criminal activity is the lack of good leadership and quality of education, of which the ASUU strike is an instance. Thus, Nigerian youths are forced to sit at home for months waiting for the government to grant the request of ASSU.
History of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
In Nigeria, academic employees at universities are represented by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), which was established in 1978. ASUU is a branch of the 1965- founded Nigerian Association of University Teachers (NAUT). The University of Ibadan, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, University of Ife, and the University of Lagos were the only five universities that made up NAUT at the time. However, on May 30, 2021, Professor Victor Emmanuel Osodeke became the organization’s president. ASUU was established to represent the interests of all academic staff in federal and state universities in Nigeria. Virtually all tertiary institutions in Nigeria, except private institutions, are under ASUU. However, conflicts between ASUU and the Federal Government of Nigeria frequently arise over issues like better working conditions and funding for universities in Nigeria. Thus, it is evident that every time the two sides (ASUU and the Federal Government) get together to discuss their differences, it usually ends with the government promising the union that the demands will be satisfied shortly, which without warning strikes from ASUU, the government is often accused of not fulfilling their side of the bargain. This, however, often leads to constant strikes and delays on the part of the students. Summarily, since its creation in 1978, the primary cause of ASUU’s strikes, virtually annually since 1999, has been the government’s failure to concede to the union’s demands.
History of ASUU Strikes.
In the 1980s, during the military administration, the union actively participated in movements against the military government. History has it that, as a result, the union orchestrated a national strike in 1988 in an effort to win fair pay and autonomy for universities. Consequently, the ASUU was declared prohibited on August 7, 1988, and all of its assets were taken. After another strike, it was permitted to continue in 1990, but on August 23, 1992, it was once more outlawed. On September 3, 1992, a deal was finally negotiated that addressed several of the union’s objectives, including the right of employees to engage in collective bargaining. In 1994 and 1996, the ASUU conducted additional strikes to protest the military government of Sani Abacha’s firing of employees. On September 3, 1992, a deal was finally negotiated that addressed several of the union’s objectives, including the right of employees to engage in collective bargaining. In 1994 and 1996, the ASUU conducted additional strikes to protest the military government of Sani Abacha’s firing of employees. On December 17, 2013, ASUU declared a strike that lasted six months over the non-implementation of a 2009 agreement between it and the federal government, which was eventually called off after the latter agreed to some of its demands. Yet a year later, the union still embarked on a one-week warning strike over the failure of the government to implement the 2009 agreement and a 2013 MoU. According to the union: “Many aspects of the 2013 MoU and the 2009 agreement with the federal government have either been unimplemented or despairingly handled”. The agreements are payments of staff entitlements since December 2015, funding of universities for revitalization, pension, TSA and university autonomy and renegotiation of the 2009 agreement. There are also serious implications of the government’s policy of “no work, no pay” for the community. Perhaps, statisticians, criminologists and psychologists may look at the numbers – in terms of the rise and fall – of crime during ASUU strikes and when schools are in full swing. This is because even during holidays, you find students in school unlike when there is a strike. Most likely, the government’s minders do not look at strikes, especially those to do with tertiary institutions, from this perspective. But the government needs to look at the security implications of whatever it does.
Post-Military ASUU
In spite of resistance from President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration, the union persisted in demanding the rights of university employees after democracy was restored in Nigeria in 1999 with the establishment of the Fourth Republic. Dr Oladipo Fashina, the union’s national president at the time, petitioned Justice Mustapha Akanbi of the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission in July 2002 to look into allegations of financial mismanagement and corruption against the University of Ilorin’s administration. History has it that the ASUU went on a three-month strike in 2007. To pursue a number of demands, including an improved compensation structure and the reinstatement of 49 academics who had been fired many years before, it held two one-week “warning strikes” in May 2008. ASUU instructed its members to go on an indefinite strike in June 2009 at federal and state colleges across the country due to issues with the federal government over an agreement it had made with the union around two and a half years earlier. Research revealed that after three months of strikes, the union and other employee unions agreed to an agreement with the government in October 2009, ending the industrial action. On July 1, 2013, ASUU began a new strike, which lasted five months and fifteen days before ending on December 16 of the same year. Thus, ASUU’s arguments about the strike are mostly focused on the funding and resuscitation of Nigeria’s public universities as well as a specific earned allowance that it asserts is 92 billion Naira in arrears. Before the ASUU strike was called, some Nigerian students claimed the strike was a curse, while others claimed it was a godsend. While the association continues to insist that it is fighting for Nigerian tertiary education and, by extension, Nigerian students, many Nigerians believe that this so-called fight, which has been characterized by constant strike activities, is malevolent and self-serving. ASUU, which continues to struggle with efficient communication with the Nigerian people without appearing haughty and condescending, hasn’t helped their image.
ASUU Strike from 1999-2022
According to the ASUU, these strikes are in retaliation for the Nigerian government’s disregard for the negotiated deal. Thus, the union is attempting to pressure the government into taking action, but this has only had detrimental effects on the students.
- 1999 – 5 months
- 2001 – 3 months
- 2002 – 2 weeks
- 2003 – 6 months
- 2005 – 2 weeks
- 2006 – 3 days
- 2007 – 3 months
- 2008 – 1 week
- 2009 – 4 months
- 2010 – 5 months
- 2011 – 59 days
- 2013 – 5 months
- 2017 – 1 months
- 2018 – 3 months
- 2020 – 9 months
Impact of strikes on students and stakeholders
While the association continues to claim that it is involved in a struggle for Nigerian tertiary education and Nigerian students by extension, many Nigerians perceive the supposed struggle, marked by incessant strike actions, to be malicious and self-serving. This image has not been helped by ASUU, who still cannot communicate effectively with the Nigerian populace without sounding arrogant and condescending.