#EndASUUStrike: Economic, Man-hours Losses and Guarantee Bleak Future

 #EndASUUStrike: Economic, Man-hours Losses and Guarantee Bleak Future

By

Prof. MK Othman

As a multifaceted stakeholder: a parent, teacher, researcher, employee, employer, senator (being a member of a university governing council and senate), member of many professional bodies, and concerned Nigerian, I am one of the worst affected stakeholders of ASUU-FGN imbroglio. I am in great pain as I am writing this piece because of several reasons. First, the issue is a straightforward one, which government, with its wherewithal and capability can address in no time if education is considered a top priority. Second, education serves as a solid foundation for building society and provides the necessary ingredients for lubricating other sectors to function effectively. Third, university education is the most critical part of education that produces the society’s leaders, technocrats, administrators, and all cadres of personnel who can lift the society to a greater height without a ceiling. Destroying society is simply done by lowering the standard of its university education. In addition to all these, many prominent Nigerians and friends of Nigeria have eloquently spoken, written, appealed and even visited the powers-that-be in Abuja with insignificant results to show for all these efforts. However, the fire burning in me cannot allow me to rest without voicing out, perhaps, the issues I am raising may touch on our sensitivity to make us responsible and finally, permanently address the matters propelling the ASUU strike. And indeed, the strikes of other unions in the education sector. The issues are germane concerning the economic and man-hour losses while creating a bleak future for our youths, and indeed the nation

Before looking at these issues, let us understand that the university system constitutes the critical ingredient for national development. Production of highly skilled manpower in science, technology, innovation, and administration as the bedrock for societal development. The nation’s economic, political, and developmental vibrancy depends on the intellectual capacity of its citizens, particularly the leadership. This intellectual capacity is acquired as a product of a university system. With the falling standard of the university system occasioned by gross inadequate teaching and research facilities resulting from poor funding, it ultimately produces half bake graduates. Engineers who do not know engineering, lawyers who are ignorant of the laws, accountants who neither understand checks nor balances and medical practitioners whose services often send their patients to the graves rather than healing

The shut cut to the national development is acquired through the development of human capacity, which depends on education, especially at the university level. The system is designed to provide manpower development capable of solving the developmental challenges of a nation. Now, what is the economic implication of the ASUU strike?

The strike started on the 14th of February to date (2nd week of June), public universities have been closed for 17 weeks, 119 days equivalent to one semester.  According to Statista (https://www.statista.com/statistics), in the year 2019, there were a total number of 1,854,261 undergraduate students in Nigerian universities out of which 102,500 students (5.53%) were in the private universities. ASUU strike affects government (state and federal) owned universities, which have 94% of the student population (1,751,761 students). In the same year, 121,000 and 17,600 postgraduate students were studying for master's and PhD, respectively. Out of the total number of 138,600 postgraduate students, only 2,641 were students at private universities. Thus, a total number of 1,870,220 undergraduate and postgraduate students are being affected by the strike. The losses to the ASUU strike are both tangible and intangible. Tangibly, assuming each student expends N1,500 per day on average, a total of 28 billion Naira is being lost by the business entrepreneurs at the university premises who provide products and services to the students. In 100 days, 2.8 trillion Naira is lost.  The category of people losing this staggering income in trillions is small and medium enterprises that include shop owners, caterers, motorcyclists, landlords, and several others. What of losses to the lecturers whose salaries and allowances were stopped? The lecturers, their families and dependents are not insulated from the shock and discomfiture of the withheld salaries without moral justification. On intangible losses, students may lose between one and two years for a 4 or 5-year programme. Frustration and a loss of a year or two years’ salary as income if such students are to graduate and be employed timely without losing a year or more to the ASUU strike. On man-hour loss, there were 74,600 lecturers in public universities in 2019. If lecturers and their students are to work for 8 hours per day during the academic session, then a total of 15.6 million man-hours are being lost daily during the strike. These figures are very conservative as the number of students has bypassed 2 million in 2021 and if a detailed microeconomic analysis is done the figures may well be double. The losses continue as the strike becomes endless. The other serious implication is the unknowing creation of a bleak future for our youths, nay to our country.

 Over the last two decades, we have seen the near-total collapse of primary and secondary education, across the country, a situation that has made many people send their children to private schools home and abroad. The public university system is yet to collapse, thanks to the persistent and dogged struggle of ASUU over the years. ASUU is the last man standing and when you are done with this last man, then we shall see the final collapse of the university system. Then, we may fail to provide the required education to our youths, and then, the country’s future will gloomy be bleak with anarchy and insecurity reigning supreme. Now, what do we do?

Some people have been appealing to ASUU to call off the strike. This is akin to allowing damage to the system to continue unabated. Just like what the current Minister of education, Malam Adamu Adamu said during his hay days as a respectable newspaper columnist and social critic "If ASUU decides today not to embark on any strike again ever, this will not solve any of the problems of the education sector; rather, it will compound them...This nation owes a debt of gratitude to ASUU and the strike should not be called off until the government accepts to do - and does - what is required.... So, instead of hectoring ASUU to call off its strike, the nation should be praying for more of its kind in other sectors of the economy."   Now that Adamu Adamu is the supervisor-in-chief of the Education sector and can still play a key role in addressing the issues raised by ASUU. If government demonstrate seriousness in resolving the matter with honest commitment, ASUU will promptly call off the strike. With normalcy returning, Adamu may likely regain his reputation and confidence among the academia, and history may be kind to him. May we see the end of this imbroglio sooner than later as no ASUU member is happy with low productivity being experienced now.