ASUU
Fred Esumeh, a professor of micro-biology, is the current ASUU chairman of the Edo State-owned Ambrose Alli University, Ekpoma-Edo State. In this interview, he spoke on the essence of the on-going ASUU strike, benefits derivable by state universities among other issues. Excerpts;
What benefit is derivable by state universities in the on-going national ASUU strike?
University is university worldwide; whether it is government or privately funded. The difference amongst universities is source of funding. Presently, we are talking about implementation of the 2009 agreement reached between our union-ASUU, and both federal and state governments. This is because state government participated in the negotiation that took place between 2006 and 2009. So states were also part of it.
Talking about what state universities would gain, the issues on why we are currently on strike have to do with; funding to revitalise the university system; federal government assistance to state universities as agreed; progressive budgetary increase to education to 26 per cent, by 2020. On the area of the federal government assistance to state universities, they have recognised that state universities also contribute manpower to the development of the country, and to the workforce of the country. So they agreed for the first time that there is need for the federal government to assist state universities to upgrade facilities in those institutions.
Secondly, progressive increase in budgetary allocation to education is not only for the federal. They are enjoining state government to do same, to be able to meet the 26 per cent by 2020. So you find that if there is increased allocation to education, it will not only affect universities, it will affect the entire education sector. Schools would now have higher budgetary provision, and so you will be able to improve facilities in primary schools, secondary schools and in the universities.
That portion of the agreement was arrived at; such that the quality of candidates that you get from primary school, will be high enough to attend secondary, and then the quality of students that will finish from secondary school, would also be high enough to enter the university. That is the whole essence. So if the agreement is faithfully implemented, it would revitalise the education sector in Nigeria, not just universities.
We found that products coming into the university sector are from the primary and secondary schools. If you already have a bad product, there is not much you can do. That is the sorry state we are. You probably were aware when post-UTME was introduced; where people who had 250 in JAMB could not spell even their names at post UTME, because universities at that time adopted dictation as a form of examination. They could not even write down the question not to talk of answering them. That tells you that the quality of input from secondary school was very poor. All these were factored into the 2009 agreement between our union-ASUU, and the federal government.
Comparing the present federal government with the trend in the past, would you say there is improvement in funding of Education?
I will say no, but at a point yes. The percentage of allocation to education increased, but it has dropped again, below eight per cent now; although government has come out to explain that in accordance with the MOU we signed in 2012, they are approaching the problem of the education sector with both budgetary and non budgetary sources of funds. That was where they indicated that they were going to release N100 billion in the first trench in 2012, and then subsequently, they would release N400 billion within three years, to inject massive fund into the sector, and see the level of improvement that would be attained. So, I'll say in terms of budgetary provision; they have not fared better. They have also not done even a single thing about the non budgetary sources. That is why the union has gone back to the trenches.
So where are you now in terms of negotiations?
You know government has all its antics. They will want to make the public believe that they are doing quite enough to solve the problem. But this time around, we are not talking about reaching agreement. We have since reached agreement since 2009. Towards the implementation of that agreement, there was an MOU signed in 2012. Then government realising, said "okay, we are going to inject about N500 billion into the education sector, over a period of four years. To do that, we would determine the level of facilities in the universities, so that we will be able to prioritise the kind of intervention we would do in the university". So government set up what you call the Needs Assessment Committee, and went round all Nigerian universities to determine the state of affairs.
They inspected physical structures, the libraries, the laboratories, the student hostels, and the general environment in the universities and found out that the university system is in a very precarious state; a state of decay. In fact, you can just liken it to a place you are not suppose to train graduates. There are instances when you see students standing in overcrowded lecture theatre, writing on the back of another student; the people outside are probably the size of those inside; the laboratories are empty and you see students using kerosene stove instead of Bunsen Burners to conduct experiments. In some cases these happen on the open field or under a tree. There are cases where you find our engineering workshop under a tree, not to talk about student hostel that are without convenience. Having seen the sorry state of universities, they arrived at that MOU to inject some massive fund into the universities.
So right now it's not issue of agreement, we are talking about the implementation. The union believes that the country has enough resources to provide these things. Why do we say so? If you consider the jamboree that goes on in Abuja, and then the reckless expenditure by various governments, the bureaucratic and over bloated nature of our government, obviously, you will feel that Nigeria has really a lot to inject into the education sector. Why is it good to inject funds into the education sector? In those days, when we were growing up, we had lecturers who came from outside, who were lecturing us. We had students as course mates, who were from different parts of the world. We had Indians, Pakistanis, Cameroonians, and Ugandans sitting with us in the same class. That is the universality of the university system. But today, those things are completely lacking; because our universities are not in the state they used to be.
I will call on the Nigerians to join hands with us in the struggle to revitalise and save education in this country because the quality of education you give to your citizenry determines the level and status of that country. Even in terms of development, if you don't educate your citizenry, obviously, you are inviting outsiders to take charge of your economy. That would be very bad even for the sovereignty in terms of security of the country. I think government should realise this, and Nigerians should join the union to ensure that government lives up to its responsibility. So the whole issues are about implementation. If they have the political will, they should implement that agreement.
Aside the national strike, are you in negotiations with state governments so that we do not have another strike at the state level when the national strike is called off?
The implementation monitoring committee has both federal government and state government. So is the Needs Assessment Committee. If you watch the other day, federal government said they inaugurated the Needs Assessment Implementation Committee chaired by the governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam. So you find that both states and federal are carried along. If you release funds, assisting state universities, obviously, I do not see any state governor that is going to reject such funds. Mind you, the way these funds are to be released according to the MOU signed, is that government will assess all the needs of universities at both state and federal; would prioritize the projects, send to the project implementation monitoring committee; who would assess it, value it along with what has been present, and say okay, x amount of fund is available. Then through an agency, that project will be delivered directly to the university.
They are not giving vice-chancellors the money to spend. They are not giving state government the money to spend. So through that process, I think there would be transparency, there would be accountability. As soon as that project is over, the next in line of the priority, will now be forwarded. Based on availability of funds, we are hoping that within the shortest possible time, Nigerian universities should be able to compete with their counterparts elsewhere.
Some people have argued that the quality of teachers and not funding is the major problem of education in Nigeria. They further allege that those colonial masters trained under the tree were better than the ones trained under formal school environment today. What do you say about that?
Yes. Part of the funding is also to be able to upgrade those who are also staffers that are imparting knowledge. Because, you cannot impart what you do not have. The Needs Assessment report I mentioned earlier, also found out that over 50 per cent of lecturers do not have PhDs. This is so because, it is difficult for a Nigerian to train himself to the level of Ph.D. Judging from the fact that you will have to purchase, what you will require to conduct the practical, if you are in sciences, rather than being provided by the university. Abroad you have funding bodies that would cater for that. Some of us were opportuned to have done some degrees abroad. If I'm working in the laboratory, and I need something, all I'll do is to look at the catalogue, put an order via phone and in a day or two, I have the chemical I needed just on my desk; delivered through the chief technologist. That is how things work. Do you know that there is no place where you can find an electro-microscope in this country? So tell me, how do you conduct research, where you cannot find some of these latest equipments?
Yes. Part of it would have to go into training of some of our staffs that are already in the system, to upgrade them to a level where they can impart high level of skill and knowledge. You find too that you also have high qualified people and the facilities are not there, so you cannot also do the much level knowledge you even aspire to impart. I give you an example, I'm molecular biologist. I read genetic engineering. Right here, we cannot boast of even a gel, what we call agarose electrophoresis to separate DNA and visualise them; not to talk of migrating to the protein because, the sequence of the DNA would determine the amino sequence in a protein. So these facilities are all lacking. Even to conduct a simple DNA test in Nigeria, you will go round everywhere. There are few universities and research centres that you can get it. Just for the simplest form of extracting DNA, you take your blood, and you want to get a simple DNA from it, you would have to go round before you can do that. So, yes, some persons need to be trained but, we can also train these people up to the level we want them to be, if such facilities are provided in our universities.
So what would be your general advice?
My general advice is first, Nigeria as a whole should protect the education system. This is because, if you do not educate your citizenry, you are inviting anarchy to that country. Federal government and indeed state government should as a matter of urgency respect the 2009 agreement, implement it, and follow up with good funding of the university system. A country that is focused on education will also be able to export manpower to other countries.
The German economy is based on research. I'm wondering what the Nigerian economy is on, apart from the sales of crude oil. Our refineries are redundant. They said there has been turn around maintenance that they can refine crude now, but government is giving them crude at the same rate they are exporting crude. Obviously they cannot make even with that. It is so because, some government officials are more interested in importing refined products. That is why there are no jobs. So if education is improved, you will find that the health sector will improve.
Before I conclude, let me draw this analogy. If our education system is that good, why are these big men leading us, sending their children to Europe and America, Ghana, Ivory Coast, to study? And if our health sector is good, why at the slightest headache, they fly themselves to Europe, Indian, America and Saudi Arabia to get treatment? I will like to give a poser to our leaders, let them as form of sacrifice make a law that those in leadership, at federal, state and local government levels, educate their wards in Nigerian schools; and should treat themselves in Nigerian hospitals.
Mandela has been ill. He is not in any hospital outside his country. He is not in a hospital in Germany, in US, he is not in Saudi. He is in a South African Hospital. That is because, they have improved their health sector to a point that they are confident that they can look after their citizens. It's the same thing we are talking about in education. We want our education sector to improve to a point that the citizenry will feel comfortable sending their wards to any school in Nigeria.
So the main issue is that we want government to fund education adequately. The government should have the political will, because it is the only way out for national growth and development.
shibatm 14 Aug, 2013
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Source: http://www.nigeriaschoolsblog.com/interviews/esumeh-aau-asuu-chairman-highlights-strike-benefits/
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