By Attahiru Muhammadu Jega (OFR)
Outline of Presentation:
Introduction 2
Looking Back… 3
Looking Around… 5
Looking ahead to the Future… 7
Concluding remarks… 9
Introduction
Since its formation in 1978, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been known to have been actively engaged in struggles to protect and defend the interests of its members in the Nigerian university system. In addition, however, it has in general, also been in struggles to protect and defend the interest of Nigerian citizens, especially the poor working peoples. These struggles are intertwined with, and inseparable from the popular struggles for nation-building. For to successfully build a nation, requires, among other things, an educated, patriotic and intellectually vibrant and cable citizenry, as well as an enlightened, visionary, competent and patriotic citizens in leadership and governance positions that could competently deploy and use societal resources appropriately to address the fundamental needs and aspirations of citizens.
When we speak of ‘nation-building’, most people assume that it is only in reference to partisan politics and politicians who, in the context of countries, such as Nigeria, created by colonialists, with diverse composition, not only struggled for independence but have striven after independence, in the post-colonial period, to bring about ‘unity in diversity’, peaceful coexistence, harmony, and a sense of belonging by all in the newly created ‘nation-state’. While this is certainly an important notion of nation-building, it is a very narrow and limited conceptualization of the concept of nation-building. There is certainly more to ‘nation-building’, than the mere striving to by politicians through partisan politics to create a ‘nation-state’ out of disparate, and historically incongruent ethnolinguistic groups.
Properly and broadly conceptualized, ‘Nation-building’, is a complex and multifaceted process that involves, yes, creating and shaping a nation’s identity, but also its institutions, its social fabric, and addressing its citizens’ fundamental rights and aspirations. In this sense, the fundamental elements, or building blocks and constituent parts, of ‘nation-building’ consist of: developing a shared sense of national identity, values and purpose; building and strengthening institutions; promoting unity, reconciliation; fostering social cohesion and inclusivity; and catalysing economic growth and socioeconomic development, which is beneficial to the citizens.
In all of these facets of nation-building, broadly conceptualized, ASUU has in one way or another been involved, and actively so, in nation-building in Nigeria in the past almost half a century.
ASUU’s prominent and visible role has been in the context of building institutions. Education is no doubt one of the key institutions in / of any nation. Struggles to improve education, to protect and, expand educational opportunities, provide quality education, and protect as well as defend the interest of workers in academic institutions, are in many fundamental respects, struggles for nation-building. In these struggles ASUU has made many sacrifices; its members have suffered harassment, intimidation, deprivation of rights and freedoms; it has been abused, pilloried, accused of subversion, branded ‘too radical’, even as an ‘extremist organization’; but it has remained undeterred and focused, regardless of how it is being perceived, in making substantive contributions to education and its institutional foundations, and hence contributing to nation-building in Nigeria.
Looking Back…
The Nigerian Association of University Teachers (NAUT), which was established in 1965, which represented academic staff in the few universities in existence at that time, and which was ASUU’s predecessor, was basically an elitist, petti-bourgeois, confraternity of ‘ivory tower’ resident academic staff, primarily preoccupied with the advancement of the welfare and recreation of its members (for example, creating staff clubs, organizing packaged summer flights and holidays for members abroad, etc.). It was so preoccupied with its members and hardly ever took a position on national issues. Ideologically, its worldview was consistent with that of the reigning middle class superintending the post-colonial state.
By the mid-1970s, the Nigerian terrain was changing rapidly, creating new dynamics, with attendant consequences. The military had replaced civilians in governance. Awash with ‘Oil wealth’, they embarked upon programmes of rapid socioeconomic ‘development’, which included expanding the scope of tertiary education in the country. More universities were established. Authoritarian disposition of the military began to manifest themselves on campuses, whether in dealing with students’ or staff welfare matters, exemplified by the Udoji Awards and it’s fallout, as it affected the fortunes of academic staff vis-à-vis civil servants, other public officers. In other ways, it manifested in attempts to centralize and control trade unions, interfere in university governance; and in the phenomenon of ‘increasing poverty amidst plenty’, among the rest of the citizens, especially the poor masses and the working classes.
It was in this context of rapidly changing political economy and national dynamics that ASUU was formed. By the 1980’s with decline in oil revenues, the increasing inability of the state to discharge its obligations to the citizens, massive squandering of national resources through corruption and misplacement of priorities, declining funding to education, amidst almost unplanned exponential growth of tertiary education, the context was set for the transformation of ASUU from a mere petti-bourgeois middle class association of university academic staff, preoccupied with its welfare and conditions of service, to broader issues of institution building, academic freedom and university autonomy, governance, and the role of the state in addressing the fundamental needs and aspirations of citizens generally.
The transformed role of ASUU, under the presidency of Prof. Biodun Jeyifo, began to manifest in its forging of close relationships with the trade union movements, and other identified progressive forces, and its agitations against obnoxious policies of the Shagari government under the presidency of late Dr. Mahmud Modibbo Tukur. By the mid-1980s, with return of military rule and especially the acceptance of IMF/World Bank SAP by the Babangida regime, and the devastating impact that has had on the Nigerian university system, ASUU, under Dr. Festus Iyayi and my humble self, and subsequently under Drs. Asissi Asobie and Dipo Fashina, became more of a ‘popular tribune’ for the Nigerian working class, rather than a mere trade union of university lecturers, only preoccupied with welfare and conditions of service of its members. It joined and became active in the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), forged stronger links with the students associations at both national and branch levels, as well as human rights and pro-democracy movements. ASUU came to the realization that it is not a mere trade union in the traditional sense, it is a union of intellectuals, and it has to bring to bear its knowledge base to support overall struggles for national socioeconomic development in a post-colonial state. Hence, for example, it institutionalized “State of the Nation” as a permanent feature on the Agenda of its NEC meetings, considering and passing resolutions on broader national issues of concern. ASUU also recognized that success of its struggles in protecting and defending the welfare and well-being of its members, has to be conditional on linking them with the broader issues of building educational institutions as national assets and making a range of stakeholders recognize this and become involved and supportive. There is a lot to say in this regard, but no time to say it. It suffices to say that, in spite of harassment and intimidation of academic staff, even arrest and detention of some union leaders, and proscription of the union, under the Babangida military regime, the 1992 Agreement between the federal government and the Academic Staff of Nigerian Universities was signed, with the same officials and representatives of the proscribed union. And it has remained the initial, substantive point of reference on addressing the crisis in the Nigerian university system. Of course, in the nature of authoritarian regimes, few months after the agreement was signed, notwithstanding that its implementation has commenced, it was declared by a minister of education, a so-called legal luminary, as an “Agreement of Imperfect Obligation”, and summarily truncated. This singular act, has since pushed the Nigerian university system into a deep and profound crisis, accompanied by a vicious cycle of strikes and instability in knowledge production and reproduction.
Looking around…
When we look around, contemporarily, what is evident, and starkly confronts us, is the changed or changing context of collective bargaining, and not necessarily for the better! While the military may have retired to the barracks and civilians, supposedly more tolerant, inclusive and accommodative, have been back in power and in supposedly ‘democratic’ governance for over 25 years, the democratic space has not expanded sufficiently to nurture and nourish collective bargaining and/or give serious recognition to the primacy of building the nation, in all respects, but especially with regards to building sustainable institutions. It can be argued that the democratic space has been narrowing and constricting. Indeed, not only has governance and management of national resources worsened, given humongous corruption and personalization of public office and common resources, poverty and inequality have widened, and ethical and moral considerations in managing common affairs has significantly deteriorated. Hence, while it took four years of intense struggles to bring a suppressive military regime using draconian measures, to the collective bargaining table and extract concessions in the form of substantive agreement (1988-1992), it took 10 years to get to begin to revisit and review that agreement the 1999 with substantive outcomes (in 1999); and another six years to sign another substantive agreement (2009). Since then, successive civilian governments have somehow dodged signing substantive collective bargaining agreements, in spite of concerted efforts by the union, including series of strikes with devastating consequences on the university system. Since 2013, the politicians in governance have been literally compelling the union to accept signed ‘resolutions’ issued by a government ministry, or since 2017, what came to be referred to as “Memorandum of Action” (MOA), rather than Agreements, arise from, and as products of, collective bargaining, also, ironically, after impactful strikes.
Why has this been so? Could it be because, most politicians, members of the ruling and governing classes do not seem to, as yet, comprehend the true value of education for human progress and for nation-building and national development? Either for lack of education or due to ignorance, or both, they seem to perceive education as undeserving of priority, and, especially educators in the universities, as idealistic, unrealistic ideologues, or worse, as radical, extremist opponents, if not enemies, of the state, or those in government. Being educationally insecure, they seem to become, literally, anti-intellectual and therefore obstructive of the requirement of building excellent, well-funded educational institutions for nation-building and socioeconomic development. In this sense, there isn’t just a hang-over, but indeed a carry-over, of how successive Nigerian military regimes have underrated and underfunded education as if it were not a significant national priority.
May be it is also because, under neoliberal ideology entrenched by the World Bank and the IMF, collective bargaining is no longer seen to be fashionable, and therefore no longer taken with the seriousness it deserves in addressing employer – employee relations in both the public and private sectors of the global political economy. If so, this is a terrible misconception that needs to be corrected, through education, enlightenment and, of course, resilient struggles by workers, the employees, under their unions. It needs to be recognized and accepted by all that industrial harmony is necessary for peaceful and stable development of all sectors of the political economy. Workers are necessary for any kind of productive activity; adequate and humane compensation is required to motivate workers for improved productivity and efficiency; hence conditions of service and of work need to be periodically reviewed, revised and enhanced, for progress and development, whether in the private profit making ventures, or in the public sectors. And, the most tested and proven method for improved remunerations, conditions of service and of work, and smooth industrial relations, is through collective bargaining.
Looking Ahead to the Future…
As we look around, given the context and conditions under which we find ourselves in Nigeria contemporarily, Unions, such as ASUU, need to reflect, revitalize and reposition themselves in primarily addressing the needs and aspirations of their members; and generally, improve their strategies and tactics for successful, positively impactful, engagements and struggles in nation-building, and national socioeconomic development, which address the collective needs and aspirations of our citizens. Regrettably, most members of unions of middle class background would rather focus on matters that specifically affect them, and even in these, they wouldn’t want to make too many personal and collective sacrifices to ensure success. But, the bottom line is that, preoccupation with struggles that are too narrow-minded and self-centered, isolate and distances a union from the imperative of collective solidarity and sympathetic support.
If we were to dispassionately review the state of things, with regards to the major issues that ASUU has struggled for since its formation in the late 1970s, it is clear that in spite of strenuous efforts and indeed successful struggles with positive outcomes for members, and value additions to nation-building, a lot still needs to be done, even more strenuously and diligently. Whether it is with regards to funding education in general and universities in particular, or conditions of service and of work, or infrastructure and facilities, the challenges are profound. Inadequate funding limits resources and impacts quality of education delivery. Poor infrastructure and overcrowding hinder effective learning environments. Training qualified manpower and addressing teacher shortages positively affects imparting quality education. Deployment of technology in teaching and research is necessary, and requires appropriate investment in software and hardware and in training and retraining of necessary staff.
Nigerian Government’s response to the persistent education crisis has consistently been, it cannot alone fund education, private sector must come in, costs must be shared with students, their parents or guardians. Meanwhile, the private sector that has come in, has done so opportunistically; it is not being effectively regulated, its charges are extortionate, not at all commensurate with the services offered, and are mostly essentially profit-driven. For public universities, government increasingly speaks about academic and financial autonomy, meanwhile, it has lacked the political will to reintroduce fees, but is dipping its hands into the revenues internally generated by the universities. A lot of contradictory policies and other obnoxious political dynamics are at play, which only undermine the viability of public universities as institutions capable of driving good quality teaching, research, innovation, and nation-building, manpower development and national development objectives for which they were originally established.
Thus, how to peacefully, and sensibly engage stakeholders, especially government, to pay attention to these outstanding matters, as a matter of national priority, in a profoundly impactful way, still remains a major challenge in our national context. But, we must never give up hope in the quest for ways and means to address the challenge, no matter how profound it may seem. We must continue to look for and deploy appropriate tactics and strategies in addressing this challenge.
As we look to the future, we have to be prepared to confront it, with appropriate tactics and strategies, that take into account the dynamics of the changing or changed context. Our universities must continue to strive for excellence, for quality teaching, research, innovation and community service, in the context of being competitive globally in the knowledge production and reproduction enterprise or industry. And ASUU, the union of academics, must continue to be relevant, to contribute to the appropriate revitalization and repositioning of the Nigerian university and tertiary education system. Indeed, it must perceive itself to be among those key actors and stakeholders to champion, lead and drive this undertaking. In this regard, ASUU must continue to create, nurture, and sustain appropriate partnerships, collaborations, and engagements. The context may continue to be rapidly changing, murky, and obnoxiously challenging, but there must not be loss of hope, giving up, or slacking in the task of looking for and contributing to the solutions.
Whatever tactics and strategies the union adopts for the struggles, which lie ahead, the experience and lessons of the past are worthy of contemplation and consideration. Clearly, there are good lessons to be drawn from the past, when we look back. The following are certainly key among the derivable lessons worthy of serious consideration:
Unity is strength. United we stand and divided we fall. A united, focused and disciplined union could be formidable enough to stand its grounds and succeed in its struggles on good causes, with the support of allies in the wider society.
Organize, do not agonies! Devoting time and energy to organization, paying attention to the minutest details in this regard, and to mobilization as well as enlightenment and sensitization, rather than merely agonizing over perceived challenges, is one of the strongest variables in bringing about success.
Resilience. Toughness, moderated by sensible flexibility, paves the way for success in negotiation and collective bargaining.
Perseverance. Doggedness and tenacity in the pursuit of set objectives and goals on good causes, more often than not, lead to successful outcomes.
Integrity and selflessness. Eschewing personal comfort, embracing self- discipline, while refusing to be compromised, goes a long way to ensure respect and bring about success in the pursuit of defined objectives through collective bargaining.
ASUU as a ‘popular tribune’. Given its pedigree, and accomplishments since the late 1970s, ASUU’s reputation and standing as a ‘popular tribune’, as a union that champions not only the welfare and well-being of its members, but also generally of citizens, especially all working classes, must be maintained and enhanced.
Transparent and disciplined deployment and utilization of available resources. This is an absolute necessity if success of struggles is to be guaranteed.
Smooth and effective leadership recruitment processes, at both the branch and national levels. This must be given priority to nurture and sustain the required democratic, inclusive and participatory governance model that has served the union very well.
Concluding Remarks…
Within the next few years, indeed as soon as possible, Nigeria needs to be decisive as to, in general what kind of education system it desires, and in particular what kind of tertiary and university education system it requires. The current situation, which is characterized by neglect, indifference and ‘anything – goes’ mentality, is undesirable and unsustainable. For example:
- There is the need for a clear framework of how public universities would be funded, with the political will to back it; in order to address chronic underfunding and its accompanying consequences;
- What would ‘autonomy’ entail in public universities;
- what obligations of proprietors of private, fee-paying universities should be, given the proliferation of these universities and the extortionate charges students are made to pay in many of these, without serious efforts at regulation and enforcement of standards;
- what the enormous deposits accumulated under the Tetfund (Hundreds of trillions of naira?) would/should be used for; beyond current levels of ‘interventions’, while public universities have remained chronically underfunded;
- Whether public universities sitting on massive landholdings, e.g. ‘second generation’ universities with new campuses, could/should use these assets to generate sustainable income for stable funding;
- Whether FG intends to set up the recommended National Research and Innovation Fund/Foundation and how soon;
Of course, in addressing the question of what kind of education system Nigeria desires, we cannot be unmindful of the fact that a long established principle globally, has been that education is a fundamental right, not privilege; that no child should be left behind; and that there should be equality of opportunity in educational provisioning; and that there should be widened access to quality education.
In any case, Nigeria must stop muddling through challenges and crises, especially in the education sector, which is key to nation-building and national development; and our leaders must stop acting like the proverbial Ostrich that buries it head in the sand, oblivious of what is happening all around it. ASUU has a responsibility to keep up the struggle sensible policies and programs of action, by supposedly democratically elected civilian leaders, to become more responsible ad responsive to the needs and aspirations of citizens, in general terms, and with specific reference to tertiary education.
The author, a former ASUU President (1988 to 1994), is of the Department of Political Science, Bayero University, Kano from where he delivered this presentation at the 23rd Delegates Conference of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, at the University of Benin, Benin City on Friday May 9th, 2025 as the Guest Speaker.
 in Nation-Building in Nigeria: Looking Back, Looking Around, and Confronting the Future){kind=link}