Effect Of This ASUU Strike On Students And Lecturers -

THE GAINS AND THE LOSSES TO COME
( This is an unbiased piece with NO political
undertone, so PLEASE read dispassionately,
Thanks.)
It is no longer news that the Academic Staff
Union of Universities (ASUU) has been on
strike for almost four months now. I have
done an empirical analysis of what Nigerian
students as well as lecturers will gain and
lose as a result of the current struggle.
Read,digest and see if we need to support
them any longer or not.
GAIN OF LECTURERS
1. Increased allowances for project
supervision, call duty, extra hours
worked,hazards, etc.
2. Payment of salaries and entitlements for
the several months in which they didn’t
work!
3. Those schools that did not partake in the
struggle e.g UNILORIN and RSUST will also
benefit from the infrastructure funds and
the earned allowances (needless to say
UNILORIN almost began sharing the almost
one (1) billion they got for earned
allowances last week)
NEGATIVE EFFECT OF THE STRIKE ON
LECTURERS
1. Delay in obtaining Masters and PhD’s for
those still doing their postgraduate studies.
2. I cant fathom out any. Please, help me if
you have been able to think of any other
one.
GAINS OF THE STRUGGLE FOR STUDENTS
1. The funds released for infrastructure will
be used to meet the immediate needs of
our schools. Some will use the funds to
construct more hostels, some will use it to
equip libraries, provide internet
connectivity,build laboratories and furnish
them,amongst others. These are projects
that will aid learning and ultimately benefit
students.
2. Those that will later join the academia
and become Professors among us will also
have the benefit of retiring at 70 years.
3. Those that will join the academia among
us will also enjoy the special allowances
that the current struggle will benefit
lecturers in the years to come.
NEGATIVE EFFECT OF THIS STRUGGLE FOR
STUDENTS.
1. BATTERED ACADEMIC CALENDAR
Our Schools have lost a semester which
cannot be made up for. Most schools were
either in their second semester of the
2012/2013 session or were rounding up
their first semester exams when the strike
began.
This will result in an abridged semester and
most schools will finish their 2012/2013
session in 2014.
What this implies is that those that wrote
the 2013 UTME and will be offered
admission (most schools have not released
their admission list) might not resume until
probably March next year (when another
UTME will be on the way)
This will inadvertently result in late
resumption of the 2013/2014 academic
session which is likely to finish early 2015
(provided ASUU does not embark on
another strike action before then).
Academic calendar is thus in tatters!
2. DELAY IN THE RELEASE OF ADMISSION
LIST .
It is pertinent to note that a lot of
prospective University students do not
know their fate regarding admission as a
result of the strike action.
3. LAW STUDENTS CANNOT GO TO LAW
SCHOOL TILL NEXT YEAR OCTOBER.
2012/2013 Final year Law students must be
cursing down their throats as the strike has
barred them from progressing to the Law
school this year. When the dust of this
strike settles, they will have to wait till next
year October before they can go to the Law
school. This is not the only problem
because Law graduate of next year 2014
might not be able to go to the Law school
till 2015. One year wasted!.
One might say two (2) sets will be merged
but those in the know-how will tell you that
the Law school has a quota for each
school.
Are we seeing the imminent crises?
4. FIERCE COMPETITION FOR 2014 NYSC
BATCH ‘B’.
As a result of this strike action, most public
Universities (except probably UNILORIN)
cannot present Students for November
2013,BATCH ‘C’ service year and with the
look of things, public Universities might not
be able to meet up with February 2014
BATCH ‘A’ Service year thus resulting in a
fierce competition by students to be
mobilised for service next year June BATCH
‘B’. What this means is that some students
who were supposed to go for service in
2013 will be deferred to November, 2014
and some till February 2015. Are you
calculating the time wasted?
5. SOME PROJECT STUDENTS MIGHT HAVE
TO START ALL OVER
2012/2013 Final year students of most
schools who were working on their projects
(Science-related) when the strike action
began might have to start again because
the results obtained then might not be
tenable again. This results in waste of
scarce resources, time and energy.
Having considered the gains and pains of
the current struggle, Nigerian Students can
now decide if they wish to continue
supporting ASUU or reconsider their
support. We can decide if the gain of the
struggle outweighs the sacrifice we are
paying or otherwise.
If strikes could rescue the Nigerian
Education system, then our Institutions
should by now be one of the best in the
world. If ASUU has been on strike for 30
months in the past 10 years and we are still
where we are today, then it means No
weapon of strike fashioned against the
Pharoahs in Abuja can work.
Government has made concessions, we will
only be deceiving ourselves if we think
Jonathan will implement every bit of that
agreement. Its not realistic!..let us be
factual and move forward. When ASUU
started this struggle, they had popular
support not just because it was a Tradition
for them to garner sympathy of Nigerians
but because we felt it was an aberration for
them to still be on an agreement that
Government signed in 2009 after an almost
four months strike action. But if after a
Hundred days of protests, demonstration,
rallies and negotiations, we are still at this
stage, then it doesnt look like its going to
get better. The Truth is ASUU is already
losing public sympathy because the
collateral effect of their strike is so harsh
on students.
Remember, in an industrial dispute, you
dont win 100%, you win some and concede
some ( as corroborated by Bishop Matthew
Hassan Kukah, Archbishop Kaigama, Tolu
Ogunlesi and a host of others).
In my own Opinion, the strike doesnt
makes sense any longer and ASUU should
just call it off to avoid being termed
'stubborn fellows' in the face of the
Nigerian Public.
Compiled by ABIOLA SOLANKE
Department of Veterinary Medicine
Federal University of Agriculture,Abeokuta.
19 Likes
Re: Effect Of This ASUU Strike On
Students And Lecturers
by Saraben( f): 2:05pm On Oct 18
nice one
1 Like
Re: Effect Of This ASUU Strike On
Students And Lecturers
by bymigokeph (f ): 3:10pm On Oct 18
i knw this wont make FP but u made
complete sense ;Di knw this wont make FP
but u made complete sense
Re: Effect Of This ASUU Strike On
Students And Lecturers
by Oko_AGB (m ): 3:37pm On Oct 18
What is d essence of calling off d strike if d
aim for which d strike was embarked on is
not met? Make una de reason jare. If we
can ve d strike for 4months, I say ASUU
shud hold on for 1yr until d FG gets off
their high horse and start taking ASUU
seriously
5 Likes
Re: Effect Of This ASUU Strike On
Students And Lecturers
by xtianh( m ): 3:56pm On Oct 18
Oko_AGB: What is d essence of
calling off d strike if d aim for which
d strike was embarked on is not
met? Make una de reason jare. If we
can ve d strike for 4months, I say
ASUU shud hold on for 1yr until d
FG gets off their high horse and start
taking ASUU seriously
atleast fg has started the implementation
process. Let ASUU gve them benefit of
doubt and and call off ds strike we are
really tired of staying at home.
1 Like
Re: Effect Of This ASUU Strike On
Students And Lecturers
by Fkforyou (m ): 5:05pm On Oct 18
Nice one OP.....indeed the present actions
of ASUU have consequences on us the
student,although I find it wierd that some
students are still in support of ASUU.
1 Like
Re: Effect Of This ASUU Strike On
Students And Lecturers
by Dereformer( m ): 6:52pm On Oct 18
This strike will not disrupt academic
calender significantly.
The scenerio that will play out next year is
that exams will be taken after 2 months or
a month and half lectures.
This way, the gap will be closed. Fees
cannot be collected untill after each
session.
University authorities will not want to loss
any fees.

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