Trade unionists believe that strike remains the last option to press home demands, but some schools of thought opine there are still alternatives that could resolve industrial disputes without disruption of production. MARTIN PAUL writes.
For over 11 months, spanning from 2013 to July 2014, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) embarked on a nationwide strike over government’s inability to meet its demands.
During this time, the polytechnic education was in total comatose as the teachers held sway to their stand, while thousands of students were sent home to become idle and some taking to social ills as a result of redundancy.
The polytechnic teachers were joined in the struggle by their colleges of education counterparts, who also claimed they were being marginalised by their employers.
Suffice to state that while academic calendar was elongated, those who would have graduated and perhaps convoked to proceed on the one year mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) scheme were left behind in the wonder land.
The strike also affected admissions into the polytechnics, even as the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) was pilling names of qualified candidates, having passed or obtained the requisite cut-off marks at the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examinations (UTME).
Unlike in the case of the university system, polytechnic and colleges of education are not for the affluent children, but for the majority, who could not have access to universities.
Where the affluence parents could send their children to foreign universities, polytechnic or colleges of education students are left on their perils as their parents cannot afford the luxury of foreign education.
During the 2013/2014 ASUP strike, the president of the union, Comrade Chibuzor Asomugha told journalists that the federal government was owning the polytechnic teachers arrears of salaries spanning from 2009 to 2014, which formed parts of the four-point demands that contributed to the strike.
While the arrears of the polytechnic teachers amounted to N20.4 billion, that of their colleges of education counterparts, as at then, stood at N40 billion.
Asomugha could, justifiably, be remembered of saying then that “we are saying pay us and government said okay it would done in two weeks, but it has been up to four months and the issues are still pending.
“Ten months and students are still at home and nobody seems to bother on issues that borders on paper work. It is strange in a society that is serious with the education and future of its youths”.
It would be recalled that while government claimed concerted efforts were being made to meet ASUP’s demands, well-meaning Nigerians, including the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), were on their knees, begging the government and the union to reach a truce for their own interest.
The committee of chairmen of governing councils of colleges of education was not left out in the plea galore for both sides to see reason, but all were falling on deaf ears.
Against this backdrop, the union said they were no longer having confidence on the then minister, stating categorically that “Wike is working at cross purposes with the union and instead of holistically addressing issues, he is busy reducing it to ego fight”.
Definitely, ASUP was getting tired of the prolonged strike, which was why Asemogha wished government had done just a little for them to go back to the schools.
Hear him: “We are willing to compromise more if government is sincere in resolving the issues”, but against this backdrop was former minister of state for education, Barrister Nyesom Wike on the throne of the ministry of education.
The appointment of Malam Ibrahim Shekarau as minister of education, however, put paid to the lingering strike and in two weeks, the unions returned to the classrooms.
What baffles one is that after four months, new issues are added to the unresolved ones to constitute reasons for another strike, while those resolved are no longer mentioned.
It was on this premise that the union threatened another industrial action that would have commenced from Wednesday February 25, but the early intervention of government, at a critical period like now, caused the non-procedure of the strike.
Asemugha had told newsmen that the federal government had not implemented any of the agreements reached with it, even though it suspended the strike last year.
“We are meeting the minister of education and we will be discussing all the issues that have been outstanding, principally the matters involving the Federal Polytechnics, Oko and Ado-Ekiti.
“The issues border on high handedness and arbitrariness by some management and council which purportedly proscribed the union. Their actions are beyond their powers.
“At the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, the school authorities sacked the chairman of ASUP there, queried all the executive members of the union and factionalised the union by sponsoring another union.
“At the Federal, Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, the management banned all unions on campus and selectively tried to witch hunt the union officials and their loyalists. This is high handedness and outside due process.
The purported February 25 strike would have taken-off after the 14-day ultimatum would have elapsed.
The latest strike would also have been based on the suspension of the implementation of CONTISS 15 salary structure in all the polytechnics through a circular by the minister, directing that the special salary scale to be discontinued without explanations.
However, the over four hours meeting, which kept journalists gazing, ended at the National Assembly, matters were presented to the unionists in black and white.
Sequel to this, ASUP withdrew its decision to embark on anther indefinite strike, describing the meetings with the minister and members of the House of Representatives Committee on Education as “fruitful”.
Although Asemugha was, initially, shying away from the media, his National Publicity secretary, Clement Chirman, said “the minister has ordered the immediate withdrawal of the circular suspending CONTISS 15 and the restoration of union activities in the affected institutions”, while other demands would be looked into.
Despite the resolution, many Nigerians did not see the new strike order as necessary in view of the fact that no tangible things were done in the period the students return to classrooms.
Madam Nkechi Nnamdi, a mother of four, whose first son is a student of Yaba College of Technology, Lagos, frowned at incessant strikes in Nigeria’s educational institutions.
To her, strikes are counterproductive to the psyche of parents and students and have contributed to churning out of half-baked graduates in the country.
“Whatever one would say, strike is not good, it draws the hand of clock backward and cannot give to the student what is expected of him or her”, that is the truth”, she said.
She advised government to refrain from entering into agreement it would find it difficult to implement, saying that once the union had succeed in getting a document in their procession, it becomes difficult to do away with it.
“Every union, be it academic or not, has right, their demands are often germane, but to my understanding, although they say strike is the last resort, I think there should be alternative to strike”, Emmanuel Okojie said.
The 40-year old secondary school teacher said he was no party to strike because his work would be piled up if he was not doing it, advised unions to often be careful in pushing demands to government.
“My understanding of demands and agreement in government circle is that those who signed the agreement, are not those who would implement them, so, when dealing with government official, there would be the need to understand the bureaucracy involved”, he said.