Honourable Minister Sir, in an earlier open letter on the ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), my thoughts centred on how best to shorten the duration of the strike, while remaining on the path of constructive dialogue. It is my submission Sir your calm disposition and non-adversarial approach (unlike much of what happened with past education ministers) constitute so far an asset in moving forward in addressing serious issues raised by ASUU in the on-going strike. Elaborating further on the signifi cance of your non-antagonistic posture, there are three historical cases with respect to the postures of past Ministers of Education, whose lessons I believe are very instructive.
First, during the 1988 ASUU strike, Prof. Jibril Aminu’s antagonistic approach aided the proscription of ASUU. He even announced this proscription with passion and invectives. But secondly, during the 1992 strike, Prof. Babs Fafunwa’s non-antagonistic approach provided the good ambience that led to the successful negotiation of the 1992 FG-ASUU landmark agreement – among the lasting benefi ts of which was the establishment of the Education Tax Fund (ETF) now renamed the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
Th irdly in the 1993 strike, Prof. Ben Nwabueze’s hyper antagonistic approach not only led to the repudiation of some of sections of the 1992 landmark agreement, as the minister renounced the separate salary structure for academics, and ultimately sowed the seed of the lingering discord between the academic and non-academic unions in our public universities today. In all of these, a posture of a minister mattered much as it helped either to escalate or de-escalate the confl ict. According to ASUU president, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, a concrete off er has been made by the government to ASUU during the last round of talks. What is required now for moving forward is for you to sustain your rising social capital (i.e. integrity and trust) as demonstrated so far.
Th e expectation now from the rank and fi le of ASUU, is implementation! Implementation!! implementation!!! and nothing more. Th is will also provide the right ambience for the continued renegotiation of the 2009 agreement under the Wale Babalakin-led committee. Coming to some specifi cs, marching words with action on the triple-issues of payment of outstanding earned academic allowances (long overdue), payment of full (rather than percentage) salaries, and the injection of massive funds for the revitalization of the universities, would demonstrate good faith and further enhance the mutual exchange of trust in the collective bargaining spirit of giveand-take. A minister’s legacy in resolving ASUU strike will always be there for posterity.
Th is ongoing strike has already entered its fourth week. Achieving maximum results within a short strike duration therefore is the test case of your managerial ability in ending this strike. Prof. Isaac Obasi, Department of Public Administration, University of Abuja
