“If you are building a house and the nail breaks, do you stop the building or do you change the nail?”. African proverb
This newspaper splashed a rare, indignant front page comment two days ago, saying to the federal government and Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), “enough is enough!” It was the kind of intervention that compels you to read it, and you will be forgiven for believing that the comment provides additional sources of worry for both parties, the type that will provide strong incentives to bring another routine waste that both have perfected to a permanent end.
As would be expected from an exhortation deserving front page, there was a sharing of blames all-round, lamentations over untold waste and hardship over matters that are not beyond resolution, appeals to make sacrifices and lower egos in the interests of the nation and all stakeholders in university education and finally a plea to President Buhari to play father to all and bring this strike to an end.
You cannot blame this paper for not breaking new grounds in terms of providing new angles to a very old routine. Enough has never been enough to put an end to the fight-to-death involving the federal government and ASUU on the one hand, and university education on the other for the last four decades. There is nothing to prove beyond screaming evidence that academics make the worst labour unionists, and when you scratch their surface, you see all the negatives that have held back this nation from pursuing a sustained path to growth and development. The federal government has never pretended that higher education is not on its list of priorities, and its lack of respect for Nigerian academics is eminently supported by facts, which prove that they have no moral high ground to give them an advantage over those who make policies on University education.
Left to themselves, ASUU and the federal government will take their time to do exactly what they had done many times before. They will go through the motions of negotiating, wait for public sentiment to demand an end to young people sitting idly at home and upbraiding a government that does not care, knock together an agreement that puts a little more money into pockets, record promises to honour past promises, secure a commitment to improving funding everyone knows will not be honoured, and then resume, knowing very well that in a year or two, the circle will be started all over again. They should not be left to themselves any longer. If events in the last few weeks in the country have taught us anything, it must be that we have given too much room to leaders and governments to run the country aground. It should not be a matter of choice or convenience for the federal government to ensure that universities stay open, funds are made available for teaching and research, and ASUU is treated as a partner and not an adversary in the development of university education. ASUU itself needs to understand that it occupies the lower rungs of the social hierarchy of respect, and is barely distinguishable from looters of the future of our young, as well as the faith of students that their teachers at least will be redeeming elements in a country where aged generations have been condemned to permanent odium by history. Both parties need to submit to the third party, neutral mediators to advise them on freeing themselves and the nation from being increasingly enslaved by a past.
There are good grounds to consider the value of agreeing to mediators to look at the issues that have kept universities closed in the short term, and clean up a cluttered past that keeps coming back to haunt the present and future. First, though, a number of major issues need to be agreed to. The federal government cannot both continue to fund its universities and settle arrears it may have agreed to pay just to get classes open. Government finances are in dire straits, and it will make more sense to negotiate on what can be secured and move on. This means some commitments that could not be honoured should be written off, and those that are central to the management of academic activities in the future should be accepted and built into funding processes henceforth. The arguments over IPPIS and UTAS are at best silly, and at worst a demeaning comment on the competences, which the federal government deploys in dealing with its universities. It also says something about the arrogance of ASUU, the same mindset that deceives it into thinking that it is the exclusive custodian of university education in the country. What is at stake is not payment systems and processes. It is deep distrust founded on strong evidence that corruption is rampant in both systems. Both sides need to submit their systems to experts and neutral people who understand the peculiarities and basic requirements of university systems and designing systems that have higher levels of integrity.
It is vital to appreciate that this nation needs to do things differently in many facets of its existence. The federal government, in particular, must change an ingrained attitude that the way it runs the government is good enough for every Nigerian, unless they are sworn opponents or unrepentant subversives. Too many good, decent citizens are frightened away by the rapid collapse of governance standards, particularly in the light of mounting challenges around security, the economy, alarming levels of alienation and anger of the young and opportunists who benefit from these to question the value of our survival as one country. Our politics is now our biggest liability. Our politicians think digging while they are in a ditch and throwing the earth into opponents’ faces earns them some benefits. Those who think President Buhari is doing a good job lie to him, and worse, they do a great disservice to a nation in deep trouble. Others who think they should make things worse to spite him are worse than him, for, between them, they are creating a nation whose future is fearful and depressing for all.
In the hope that we are willing to explore alternatives to our national regression, could we try utilising mechanisms of mediation, a process that involves neutral, informed and honest citizens to advise on resolutions of some of our disputes? Starting with the ASUU-FG dispute, the suggestion is for both parties to agree on the process, agree on a small team of mediators, deploy trust in the process, submit their cases to them and commit to considering their advice with open minds? There are Nigerians out there who have integrity, knowledge of university systems, challenges of management of public finance, payment systems and public policy who will be willing to take a few weeks to vindicate our fading hopes that the nation can solve its problems.
It is important to remind both the federal government and ASUU that they do not own our universities. The education of our young is too important to leave to these two who know each other the way very old couples know each other: they quarrel like hell, but stay together because no one gets involved. It is time to try something new.
