Why Academic Staff Union of Universities are always on Strike

 Biodun Ogunyemi: ASUU President

Look at the pyramid of education. The base is the largest.  Some do not make it there.

That is the primary school. It thins into

secondary school.

It thins further into tertiary school.

At the tertiary level is where Academic Staff Union of Universities operate.

The question is why is ASUU difficult?

Remember that the base was the most populous. By selection the pinnacle is the least populated and therefore the thinnest.

ASUU members know members of the political class. They remember them as also rans.  Those who managed to pass. Those who failed.

Recall that to become a President you do not need to have passed Secondary School Examination. An attempt is OK.

ASUU know all this and more. Is it the same abroad? Yes. It is the same everywhere.

The difference is that abroad, the governments know that tertiary education is expensive. Here, we know but pretend not to know and so try to use blackmail.

Abroad, countries revere their tertiary schools because of what is deposited there in terms of human capital.

For that reason, governments, private sector and rich individuals are involved in funding education.

Those who go to Universities abroad go for a purpose and not as a matter of course. They go there not just with a job in mind but for a life changing achievement and not just money.

It is not uncommon to see billionaires who dropped out of school. University education is so expensive abroad that you have to go with a mission and not just because you are of age.

For funding, loans are sought and got. As you borrow to study, you gird your loins with repayment in mind.

Those who study abroad know how they pay to do so. Having paid much, the lecturers too are well remunerated and have no cause to go on incessant strikes.

We too can achieve it here with careful planning. For a start a study should be commissioned with ASUU heavily involved on funding of Universities. Until then no amount of blackmail will work.