Nigeria Times

By Abike Adebayo

It is increasingly worrisome the ease with which the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) embarks on strike actions at the slightest chance. Of greater concern is the Union’s nonchalant attitude to the plight of Nigerian students and the impact of incessant industrial action on them, the Education sector and the Nation at large. Facts have emerged that just like Public Service medical doctors who operate private clinics and consultancy services, university lecturers now establish private institutions as side businesses. This could only be the logical explanation for the Union’s indifference to the pain of their actions on students, particularly those who cannot afford the luxury of attending private institutions or foreign studies.

ASUU has become synonymous with strikes with no record of notable accomplishments in promoting the quality of higher education in Nigeria. The Union has made industrial action the easiest and cheapest form of blackmail against the government and without hesitation, deploys this ostensible weapon when it suits its members’ selfish interests. Established with an objective to promote the welfare of its members and the development of the nation’s education sector, the Union has metamorphosed into a bully. Its priority has majorly centered on wellbeing of lecturers. Nothing else matters to it. Predictably, agitations for upgrade in salaries, concerns over IPPIS, delay in payment of remunerations and earned allowances are more pronounced when the Union embarks on industrial actions. 

The Union is never about Nigeria or Nigerians. It is never about the Nigerian students. With interrupted learning and academic calendars that negatively affect their performance, innocent learners continue to bear the brunt of the Union’s insensitivity. It conveniently goes on strike for prolonged periods to push for self-seeking motives with no sense of empathy. Incessant strike actions continue to be beneficial to ASUU members as long as it affords them ample time to run their private Universities and render extracurricular pecuniary services. And despite efforts by the federal government to negotiate and also meet some of their demands, the Union remains callous and wastes no time in exploiting industrial actions to their advantage. 

A case in view is the ongoing industrial action which commenced in February, 2022. Regardless of government’s efforts and current economic realities, the Union has remained adamant and has even gone ahead to extend its strike action by another eight weeks. This is more so that the Minister of State for Education, Mr Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba has asserted that all of the Union’s demands had been met and that all earned allowances and revitalisation funds had been released. It is pitiable and beyond reasoning that ASUU continues to deploy the same pattern over and over again to agitate supposed grievances. This is regardless of the fact that this strategy has produced minimal result, outlived its usefulness and crippled public tertiary institutions. Evidently, aside other things, strike actions enable ASUU members cash out on closure of public Universities to promote their personal investments and run their private Universities. Thus, their actions are deliberate, all-in pursuit of egoistic and opportunistic pecuniary gains. The Union’s style has undoubtedly become counterproductive, yielding no positive results and only inflicting unimaginable agony on Nigerians while impinging development. While this Union still exists and not scrapped beats all imaginations.

It is, however, encouraging that some Universities are starting to see through ASUU’s insanity and hypocrisy. This is the reason Abia and Delta State Universities backed out of the senseless strike, thereby unshackling the leash of ASUU’s destructive agenda against their own students. Other Universities should wake up and follow suit. Unfortunately, calls by student Unions to embark on protests have also fallen on deaf ears. ASUU has become the elephant in the room and could care less if the country is engulfed by demonstrations that ground socioeconomic activities. The Union should remember that one of its core objectives centers on the good of Nigeria and Nigerians. This strike is not good for us. ASUU must be seen to show empathy in its dealings and explore alternative means of conflict resolution. It must stop taking the easy and unethical path of strike actions to channel its grievances and seek the government’s attention. ASUU should grow up! Otherwise, no one will be wrong to term it as a saboteur.

Abike is a public commentator based in Ado Ekiti 

By Solomon Semaka

At the turn of the 16th and 17th centuries, the African continent was gripped with the horrors of the slave trade. The only commodity for this trade was human beings. Care was also taken to make sure these human beings were young and without any physical challenge. The destination was the plantations in North and South America and the West Indies. What that trade did to the African continent is that it uprooted the youth, the lifeblood of any society and transferred them to another continent most brutally and inhumanly anyone can think of. These youths were not just migrants that were to be labourers that would wages and send back remittances. No! They were a lost generation who mostly didn’t come back home and didn’t contribute anything to their society. It is the position of this article that actions like these, taken against the youth to a large extent contributed to drawing Africa back in terms of development. However, not just the slave trade, but so many other social, economic and political policies as well as actions taken by governments around the world have a profound impact on the youth. The centrality of youth in the area of sport, military, agriculture, commerce and trade is such that any country that neglects its youth is doomed to fail. Selling African youth into slavery by fellow Africans was one of the greatest undoings of the 16th and 17th centuries.

Nigerians have a youthful or growing population that has faced more challenges in recent times than any other country on the planet. With an educational system that has failed to accommodate every youth, to rising unemployment and the twin evil of underemployment and exploitation that has characterized Nigeria’s private sector workplace, it is difficult to say when the Nigerian youth will be free. The rise in insecurity all over the country is linked to the inability of the government to adequately address the challenges of the youth and gainfully engage them. Ritual killings have skyrocketed in recent times in a quest to make quick money. So many lives have been wasted by ritualist and body part merchants who believe they can actually make money through occultic sacrifices. The rise of internet scams and criminal impersonations in Nigeria is also alarming. The perpetrators are sadly youth who choose to misdirect their intellectual know-how to swindle others. We cannot isolate kidnappings and ransom demands as well as terrorism from the list of crimes committed by and against Nigerian youths. While we lament on our failure to accommodate the youth and or put up measures to counter these vices and crimes, there is one government agency worthy of commendation and praise for being the flagship for youth-friendly and proactive institution. That agency is the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), headed by one of Nigeria’s most decorated army officers in the person of Major General Ibrahim Shuaibu.

The NYSC has come to be the hope of Nigerian youths in terms of mentorship, leadership training and self- actualization.It is is the largest employer of labour with over 300,000 corps members passing through the scheme annually. Since its inception five decades ago as a post-war reconstruction effort, it has employed more than 60 million Nigerians and has the capacity to do more. There is no family in Nigeria that does not have either an ex corps member, a serving corps member or a prospective corps member. It is an achievement and the highest honour for Nigerian youths to be adorned in NYSC kits.

Perhaps the greatest achievement of Major General Ibrahim Shuaibu as the DG of NYSC is the conception and initiation of the NYSC Trust Fund, the equivalent of what Tetfund is doing in the educational sector.With the bill for the establishment of the Trust Fund already in the National Assembly for deliberation and passage, it is only normal to call on all Nigerians especially members of the national assembly who are all beneficiaries of this noble scheme to expedite action on the passage of the bill. Civil society organisations must solidly support this bill and make the needed inputs that will make the bill effective and relevant in addressing the challenges of the NYSC.

The NYSC Trust Fund is important in addressing the myriad of challenges facing corps members and the scheme generally. While the DG has so far done marvellously well with the limited resources at his disposal, it is important to add that there is still so much to be done. For instance, most states of the federation do not have befitting orientation camps. There is also the need for the NYSC to build state of the art skills acquisition centres in all parts of the country where corps members are deployed. Health services rendered by corps members to indigent members of rural communities can also be another area the NYSC Trust Fund can be channeled into. The list is endless and we can only thank the DG for this laudable initiative. Nigerians must therefore support this noble idea to make this a reality as soon as possible.

One of the objectives of establishing the NYSC scheme was to encourage national unity after the Nigerian Civil War. NYSC has achieved this not only in the area of inter-tribal marriages but also through language skills acquisition and by extension, trade relations. Before the establishment of NYSC, intertribal marriages were minimal and frowned at because of tribal distrust. There were strange reasons why one group must not marry the other. Intertribal wars and age-long disputes formed the basis for such distrust. With the coming of NYSC, this became a thing of the past as the posting policy of the Scheme made it possible for people to interact, learn new languages, marry and do business effortlessly. Learning one’s language is always not easy but once you can attempt, you instantly become a friend. The NYSC keyed into this initiative and produced pamphlets in the major languages of Igbo, Yoruba and Hausa which helped corps members to learn basic communication skills. The number of corps members who have decided to settle down in their places of primary assignment, marry and start a business or get employment is enormous.

Due to the size and complexity of Nigeria, the conduct of elections was always stalled by a lack of qualified and patriotic Nigerians who could reach deep into the hinterlands and creeks. Conflict of interest also made people indigenous to a particular place unfit to deliver credible elections. Electronic voting also required youth who are technologically sound with knowledge of computer applications. Corps members came in handy and have since been conducting elections judged by even international observers as credible and fair. The success of Nigeria’s democracy story will not be complete without the mention of Corps members’ role in the conduct of the elections.

While appreciating Mr. President for his youth- friendly policies, we pray for quick response as the Trust Fund bill will soon be on his table for assent. It is also important to thank the minister of Youth and Sports for always supporting the scheme. Mention must be made of civil society groups, religious leaders and traditional institutions as well as other stakeholders. This support must be sustained especially now that the DG is working hard to make the Trust Fund a reality.

By Alex Ndubueze

With the deteriorating security condition in the South-East, one is inclined to call for a political solution to put an end to the burgeoning restiveness bedeviling the region. While bouts of criminal activities and bloodletting characterized the South East, the arrest and incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu have irrefutably aggravated insecurity in the zone with repercussions for socio-economic and political order. This has sparked desperation and entreaties by critical stakeholders and groups for workable resolutions to restore peace and stability in the region. Though these calls are intended for peace and greater good, the political solution being sought for is unfortunately not tenable and the reasons are not far-fetched. 

Nnamdi Kanu was arrested and charged with crimes of terrorism and treasonable felony. These crimes qualify him as a criminal suspect and not a political prisoner. This is more so that the internationally accepted definition of political prisoner is at variance with crimes committed by the outlawed group leader. A political prisoner is anyone detained for exercising their human rights under international law. Such rights include peaceful assembly, freedoms of religion, association, expression and advocacy for peaceable social and political change as well as criticize government policy or government official. Kanu was none of that or could have been one if he remained non-violent. He turned his IPOB group to a bloodsucking violent pack. The modus operandi of the Indigenous Peoples of Biafra is also not in line with peaceful procedures as defined. Kanu is commonly known to aggressively advocate for civil disobedience, bigotry and fanning the embers of war to provoke anarchy and public disorder. He has on several occasions openly incited members of his group to take laws into their hands. 

Indisputably, the formation of IPOB’s military wing code named Eastern Security Network, exacerbated insecurity in the South East Zone. Attacks on police formations, correctional centres, homes of select personalities and other critical government facilities became widespread after the formation of ESN. IPOB is also suspected to have launched unprecedented attacks against security agents in the region leading to the death and maiming of innocent citizens. During the #EndSARS protest, Kanu was known to have incited the carnage and destruction of lives and property in Lagos State and some parts of the country. His broadcasts are filled with hate, bile, intolerance and propaganda against the State and its institutions. 

Similarly, the Parliamentary Assembly of Council of Europe noted that a person can only be recognized as a political prisoner if the suspect’s detention is imposed purely for political reasons without connection to any offence. The activities of the IPOB leader falls within the context of crimes against the state which prompted security and law enforcement agencies to effect his arrest. In furtherance to this, Nnamdi Kanu was never a member of a political party neither is he being tried for expressing political views. He has never contested for election under any party or independent platform. Why then should he be referred to as a political prisoner? His offences – treason and terrorism¬ – are purely criminal; for which he is being charged and tried by a competent court of law.  

It is public knowledge that Nnamdi Kanu has been granted access to his lawyers, family members and medical doctors. He practices his religious beliefs unhindered despite the attempt by IPOB, subversive groups and individuals sympathetic to him to project otherwise. According to information in the public space, he is treated in accordance with provisions of the Administration of Criminal Justice Act (ACJA). His legal team can attest to the veracity of this assertion. Additionally, a political prisoner is someone who is detained for many years without trial or under house arrest. Nnamdi Kanu was never detained under an executive order. The State has not also failed to take him to court after his arrest. He was promptly charged. So the argument of being detained as a political prisoner has no foundation. Nnamdi Kanu was a fugitive who jumped bail after his initial arrest. The severity of his charges, unrepentant disposition and history of jumping bail has diminished the chances of a Judge granting him bail again. Therefore, a political solution may not be feasible given the fact that Nnamdi Kanu’s case contradict the basis for being termed as ‘political prisoner’. His actions contravene both the country’s Criminal Justice system and international laws, thus the law must be allowed to take its full course. Nnamdi Kanu must face the music.

Rather than seek a political solution, stakeholders and promoters of a political solution in the Kanu matter should resort to social reorientation of its citizens to shun violent and divisive acts responsible for crippling security and socio-economic activities. They should also join hands with government and security agencies in restoring normalcy in the zone. Campaign for political solution is a blackmail that should not be allowed to fester. The Igbo elite should come out of its inertia and selective amnesia. It should face the problem and speak out in one loud voice against evil. Those struggling to plant in public psychology that Nnamdi Kanu is a political prisoner should stop that. He is simply a criminal suspect and should be seen and treated so. This achieves common good. Allowing Kanu and IPOB with their splinter groups to bestride the region with pervading violence will rub the region of many things including economic development and the Presidency of Nigeria. The time to act is now.

Ndubueze is a public commentator