The accident that killed a former president of ASUU dashed the hope of students, lecturers and parents who were expecting an end to the four-month-old strike
By ANAYOCHUKWU AGBO
Hopes were raised, and not a few university students now on forced holidays had packed their bags ready to return to school. But the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, appears not to be in a haste to call off their four-month-old strike. That was not the plan of the union when it called a meeting of its general assembly for Kano to consider the new offer made by the federal government on ASUU’s demand for the development of university in the country. The development was as a result of the death of Festus Iyayi, a professor at the University of Benin, Benin City, Edo State, following an accident involving the convoy of Governor Idris Wada of Kogi State. Iyayi and his colleagues were on their way to the ASUU meeting in Kano.
The Kano meeting had to be shifted till next year as Nasir Fagge, ASSU president, told media men that they were mourning Iyayi who he described as a ‘strong pillar’ of the union. Members of ASUU who were at the hospital last week when Governor Wada visited were so pained by the death of a former president of the union that they were openly hostile to the governor.
Though none of the parties disclosed details of their agreement, it was gathered that the government increased their commitment to tertiary education in the next three years to close to one trillion naira. This means a shortfall of about N530 billion from the N1.5 trillion agreed by both parties in the 2009 agreement but a remarkable improvement on the N130 billion previously offered by the government. The government, pleading lack of funds, had offered N100 billion out of the N500 billion due for the improvement of tertiary education in 2013, and another N30 billion out of earned allowances of N97 billion, leaving a shortfall of N467 billion. They were also supposed to have committed another N500 billion in 2014 and the final N500 billion in 2015.
However, government explained the agreement was not implementable because the money to fund it is not there, giving other competing needs. On the other hand, ASUU argued that it was all a matter of priority as government was spending much more money on what it considered important. The group urged the government to upgrade education to a priority status in its scale of preference. So a stalemate ensued and took the strike to over four months, which has alarmed students, parents and concerned Nigerians.
If the general assembly of ASUU accepts what is seen as a review of the 2009 agreement, government will cough out N220 billion this year, up from the rejected N130 it previously offered, N350 billion in 2014 and N400 billion in 2015. Both parties have not confirmed these figures yet.
It was the longest negotiation between Labour and the federal government in recent times. It lasted over 13 hours with brief breaks for each party to hold consultations. And to underscore the seriousness that the government attaches to the resolution of the trade dispute between it and ASUU, President Goodluck Jonathan led the government delegation that included Vice President Nnamdi Sambo, secretary to the government of the federation, SGF, minister of finance as well as labour minister. This convinced the ASUU delegation that this time the government cannot claim an agreement was made in error as it has consistently argued about the 2009 agreement. The ASUU nine-man delegation was led by its national chairman, Nasir Fagge, and included Dipo Fashuna, the chairman, when the agreement was signed in 2009.
In his opening remarks before the meeting went into a closed-door session, Jonathan joked that a solution must be found before the end of the meeting. As a former ASUU member, he referred to Fagge as “my president” and bantered with the president of the Nigeria Labour Congress, which had threatened to join the strike in solidarity with ASUU, an affiliate.
It has been a pitched battle and all the parties are scorched. But Fagge described the strike as “a necessary sacrifice. We are not just lecturers, we are also parents and students, so the strike is also affecting us negatively,” he told State House correspondents after the meeting.
Before meeting with the President and his team, the delegation had met with David Mark, Senate president, on how to bring the crisis to an end. The hope that the strike may end this week was dashed by that fatal accident. It also incensed the anger of people against the recklessness of people in authority at the expense of the masses. They are sad that a patriot and bright scholar was also killed while on national service.