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ASUU: Time To Show Academic Excellence By Abdullah Musa If there is one achievement I would credit ASUU with over the years is its unchallengeable ability to keep the gates of Nigeria's universities shut. they are currently savoring the delight of their favorite meal. Nigeria as I wrote elsewhere is a sabotuer's delight. with ease, one can form an association to bring the country down. luckily for those who always want to toy with the destiny of the nation, the masses have similarly one grouse or another with the government that is in power. today, the chain of illegitimacy is hung around the neck of Yar'Adua, as such it is everybody's right to ask him to pack out within one month or else.... It is only in Nigeria where a Government that is in the process of being formed (there is no cabinet on the ground) that is given ultimatum to do one thing or another, or to reverse a decision without even getting the chance to go through the reasons leading to such decisions. Our focus however is not with the political problems of Yar'Adua: he wanted to be President, and as such he should be ready for Nigeria's peculiar challenges. we learnt from ASUU over its numerous strikes that its grouse is the funding of Nigeria's universities. they believe it is inadequate. Is the funding of primary schools adequate? Is that of the secondary Schools' adquate? Logically ASUU would say that its mandate is not with the aforementioned but with its own area of jurisdiction. But we know that if funding below the ladder is inadequate, funding of the higher wrungs would not give the desired results. Let us grant ASUU the right to be funded to the hilt. The question that I would ask is: by how much? They may seek recourse to a prescribed percentage as given out by one of the UN bodies. When I captioned my discourse that ASUU should show academic excellence, I mean that they should us Nigerians, where and how is the Federal Government supposed to fund the universities. How much do they receive now? how much do they generate internally? How much can they generate additionally if support is given to such and such units of the universities. Having Faculties that churn out graduates in Accounting, Finance etc, they should show us how the the funds can be sourced. If they want the Federal Government to divert funds from certain unproductive sectors, they should say so. What we want is a real thorough assessment of Nigeria's Universities' needs so that all stakeholders appreciate the challenges and may hopefully chip in their contribution. Should States and local Governments be compelled to contribute acertain qouta to the Master Budget? ASUU should tell us. I may be the only one who feels this way; but the perinniel strikes by ASUU strikes me as highly un-academic. please be more creative ASUU. NLC may always be thugs-driven, but we expecte Dons to be more rational, articulate, and not insist on using the same blunted tools. Ironically ASUU was willing to give a breathing space to Obasanjo who is just discovering the University, but would not want to do same to a Masters holder in analytical chemistry. Abdullah Musa |