Tinubu: Before ASUU’s Strike, By Tunde Abatan
Since the assumption of office in 2023 by President Bola Tinubu, one of the areas of governance his administration has achieved relative stability is the Education sector where no single strike has occurred.
This writer gave kudos to the President for attaining this goal.
Another area is the absence of petrol queues which has become a normal ritual in the previous administration’s especially during moments of contemplated increase in pump price of fuel . This was before Tinubu seized the initiative, risked his political capital and remove Petroleum subsidy in his first day in office.
But in spite of this feat, one must give kudos to the Academic Union of Universities, ASUU for showing understanding with the federal government.
However, one must also commend the federal government for acceding to the teachers request for the removal of universities from the ‘dubious’ IPPSI payment system which has put more money in the pocket of bureaucrats in the education ministry than the lecturers themselves through dubious and suspect recruitment without regard to University autonomy .
However, since government is a continuum, one must remind the Tinubu government that one sore point he has to solve and remove from attitude of all previous federal governments is its natural penchant for not honoring its own agreements especially with the University lecturers.
This is on account of non implementation of the agreement it wilfully signed with the ASUU in 2009..that is sixteen years ago.
Any brilliant chap born then must be rounding up his secondary school education by now, yet the agreement signed with those who will nurture his or her future attainment in tertiary education is yet to be implemented.
They remain on same salary for sixteen years, while earned allowances accumulated over the years have remained locked up in the bureaucracy.
Yes, it is quite difficult for any government to touch all the areas of governance, it is equally important than there must be demonstrated willingness on the part of those in authority to pay attention to such areas either now or within a reasonable period.
After all, President Tinubu himself declares nobody should pity him for asking for the job.
This is to remind him of his promise.
Why must it become difficult for government to pay University teachers who train politicians, senators, governors, President’s and other professionals who earn humongous salary living wage.
Why must teachers be made to remain on same salary for decades .
There has been a systemic remuneration stagnation over the past sixteen years.
President Tinubu owes it a duty to end the practise of non- implementation of agreements reached between previous administration’s towards improving tertiary education sector both in terms of improvement in living condition of lecturers but also to improve teaching facilities left to decay over the years.
In the past five years billions of Naira are spent on renovating National assembly quarters periodically.
For instance in the 2024 budget, the Federal government approved N37billion to be spent over five years on renovating the NASS complex.
During the same period, the Federal government spent N21billion to renovate the residence of the Vice President while N5billion was spent to fully digitalis the entire state house and Lagos State offices and quarters of the Vice president.
Before the next ASUUs strike which may reverse the relative stability in the education sector, President Tinubu must walk his talk by ensuring that ASUU does not go on strike. A charge he has given to the education minister several times.
He must stand up and tackle the industrial crisis in the education sector with bold moves and decisions with the same energy and determination with which he has tackled issues of fuel subsidy, foreign exchange racketeering, security and allied issues which has combined to make the politicians richer at the expense of the teachers who are becoming poorer.
Though, his policies are long overdue and necessary to effect a change in our economic structures, it should also have human face in education especially those responsible for nurturing our youths who are the future of tomorrow.
The question we should all ask is why is it so easy and simple for elected officials to fix humongous salaries running into millions of Naira per month e.g N24milion for House of Representatives members and princely N30million for Senators while highest paid Professors who have put in average of twenty five years serious scholastic work earn a paltry N633,000.
This is not up to the allowance collected by lawmakers to purchase newspapers.
Why should legislators elected for a four year tenure be entitled to ride a SUV worth N130m even when most of them hardly make any reasonable contribution to debate in the chambers.
Isn’t it ridiculous that at a time University lecturers are crying for implementation of a 16 years old agreement on improving condition of teaching and learning in our tertiary institutions, the Revenue Mobilisation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC’s is planning to increase the salary of legislators and public office holders who patronize same market with the members of the academic community.
Yes, President Tinubu has asked Education Minister, Dr Alausa to ensure ASUU does not go on strike, yet, no known steps have been taken to engage the leaders of ASUU towards preventing what promises to be a prolonged strike.
It is only reasonable that all efforts should be made such that the country will not experience a strike action at a time when Dr Ngosi Okonjo- Iweala and other world institutions have pronounced our economy as have attained relative stability which the needless strike action being contemplated will reverse.
If indeed it is true that the federal government is planning a wholistic review of salaries in the education sector, such should include steps toward a rehabilitation of decaying infrastructures in our institutions of learning to aid the development of our education and uplifting the standard of teaching and learning.
The time for the Tinubu administration to act on addressing the gaps in our educational sector is now moreso when he has told the world in far away Brazil and Japan that there is enough money in the system to develop our economy and rebuild our decaying national infrastructures in all spheres of life of which education is central to all sectors.
A stich in time saves nine.