Former Editor of The Guardian Newspaper, Abraham Ogbodo, has urged the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to explore more result-oriented means to achieve their goals instead of strikes.
Ogbodo, who delivered the end-of-tenure lecture in honour of the outgoing Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Petroleum Resources (FUPRE), Effurun, Delta State, Prof. Rim-Rukeh, argued that ASUU agitations failed over the years because of a lack of “character to act” when opportunities presented themselves.
Speaking on the topic, “Gown and Town in Nigeria: The Issues in Between,” Ogbodo said the strike option, which was introduced by Prof. Attahiru Jega, who was ASUU’s Chairman between 1990 and 1994, produced momentary gains that soon fizzled out.
He added: “At best, this has only attracted attention to itself as an indefatigable agitator and negotiator. Interestingly, this is one point on which Prof. Sunny Ahwefeada and I are always having conversations, and so far so good, we have not arrived at convergence as such, even when we appear to be saying the same thing in different ways.”
While he sees the inevitability of strike actions in resolving the great issues of the day, I see a futility that calls for flexibility. I am saying the university is designed for solutions, not suggestions.
“If the suggestion of strike actions to enforce governmental compliance in the matter of university funding has not been solved since 1978, the prospects that a continuation of the suggestion will offset the status quo for a better deal, are, indeed very slim. Results do not change from the application of the same variables.”
Ogbodo maintained that even when former ASUU leaders got into government or close to Presidents, they barely helped ASUU achieve its protracted demands. He urged universities to look inward to find the solution to their funding deficits.
