For close to six months last year, the Nigerian university campuses were more or less ghost towns, except for the presence of non-academic staff and a few senior management staff of the institutions.
The campuses were deserted when the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on July 1, 2013 embarked on an indefinite strike over the failure of the federal government to implement key elements of the 2009 agreement reached with the union. With the resolution of the disagreement, the institutions have come alive once again as students and lecturers are back on the campuses for academic activities.
To some of the returning students, it is an exciting moment to re-unite with their course mates, friends and well wishers. Of course, it is not all the students who vacated the campuses at the beginning of the strike by the lecturer are back. Some of them died due to one reason or the other and will never be back, while some too got involved in accidents and are still hospitalised. A 200 level student of economics, University ofAbuja, Festus Onjeh had cause to be thankful to God for preserving him and those of his course mates that have returned to resume their studies.
“Strike is an evil wind. Do you know that some students are not able to make it back because they are dead? I must thank God for my life first. Government must do something to avoid this type of situation in the future,” he said. He was not the only one that made such calls, other students and parents who spoke with LEADERSHIP on the suspension of the strike by ASUU and subsequent resumption of academic activities by the students, asked the Federal Government and ASUU to keep faith with the terms of agreement.
ASUU had called off the protracted strike on December 17, 3013 after it signed a fresh Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with government on how to fully implement the contentious 2009 agreement between the parties. When lEADERSHIP visited the University of Abuja, it was observed that lectures have already commenced in some departments while some students were seen returning to school in trickles.
The same story is true of the Nasarawa State University, Keffi. A 300 level student of English and Literary Studies of the University of Abuja, Joshua Anyebe, who spoke with LEADERSHIP, at the main campus of the university expressed sadness over the time lost to the protracted strike. He said even though he was happy and excited to re-unite with his course mates after about six months, government and ASUU should be committed to the agreement reached to forestall any future disruption of academic activities, pointing out that the loss was usually more on the part of the students.
He, however, commended the Federal Government and the leadership of ASUU for resolving the impasse, saying whatever agreement reached should be binding on the parties. Anyebe said: “You can see we just had our first lecture, trying to refresh our memories and have a recap of what we did last year. I feel excited meeting with my course mates and friends after this long. We hope that the Federal Government and ASUU will keep faith with the agreement so that we don’t have this kind of strike again”.
Most of the students also commended the vice chancellor of the university for resolving the internal crisis that had engulfed the institution and for the infrastructure being put in place to encourage teaching and learning including the medical college of the institution that has already scaled the accreditation hurdles.
They also commended the release of N200 billion by the Federal Government for infrastructural development in public universities as well as N40 billion for payment of academic earned allowance for the lecturers among other issues agreed on re-engineering of the nation’s university education.
The university’s spokesman, Mr. Garba Waziri, also told LEADERSHIP that quite a number of students had resumed and lectures had commenced in earnest in some departments. He also disclosed that the lecturers had also resumed fully, saying all of their issues including the five months salaries owed to them during the period of the strike had been paid.
He disclosed that not all the students were just returning fresh from the strike and some of them had complied with the order of the Committee of Pro-chancellors that all federal universities should re-open for academic activities and returned since Monday 2nd December, 2013.
The authorities at the UNIABUJA had announced that all students of the institution should return on the 1st of December, 2013 for resumption of academic activities. According to the approved revised academic calendar for the 2013/2013 session sighted by LEADERSHIP, students were expected to return on Sunday 1st December while lectures were to commence on 2nd December, 2013. December 21, 2013 to Sunday 5th January, 2014 was declared Christmas break.
However, LEADERSHIP gathered that the University of Abuja chapter of the ASUU had already written the Senate of the university to review the academic calendar on the grounds that nothing really happened during the purported resumption last year. It was also gathered that the Senate of the university might meet before the end of this week to review the timetable in order to forestall another round of internal crisis. Meanwhile, the food vendors and petty traders at the UNIABUJA campuses hailed the Federal Government and ASUU for resolving the face-off that really put them out of business for almost half a year.
While recounting the losses during the strike, they expressed optimism that things would get normal soon. According Hanatu, a mother of three, “this is where I raise money to train my two children who are in school. I can’t say how much we have lost but you know how cost of living is in Abuja and for you to stay out of business for one day, it means a lot”.
The motorcycle riders popularly known as ‘Okada’ were not left out in the euphoria of the resumption of academic activities as they have happily commenced their business, conveying students and visitors to and from the university. leadership.ng
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