RE: ASUU, Call Off This Strike Now (By Farooq A. Kperogi), Rejoinder By: Dr. Innocent Emmanuel.
It is with heavy heart but with total submission to sane and sound reasoning that I write to respond to the write-up credited to a highly honoured cum prolific writer, Farooq Kperogi. His write-ups are glazed and laced with deep reasoning and startling intellect.
Although I hold him in high esteem, the ink overflowing from his pen is now frequently occasioned by cerebral over-discharge making him to unscrupulous ky comment on every topical issue with myriad of misfiring and calamitous comments with far-reaching negative consequences. This nagging predisposition, subtle appropriation of exclusive knowledge- the ITK (I-Too-Know) syndrome and sanctimonious disposition are becoming overbearing for an individual whose brain-drain is a product of the ailing and failing system ASUU and many others seek to fix.
It is becoming clearer that the comfort of the scenic and flourishing environment where Kperogi now resides has made him to be free of problems turning him into a less productive, and a ranting champion, that is the master of all, as far as throwing tantrums on the events in Nigeria is concerned. As I advise this great personality to be circumspect and selective to areas of his expertise when commenting on national and international issues, I bring to his knowledge the following brief but salient points:
1. The Federal Government and ASUU had signed an agreement dating to 2009 which lies at the crux of the strike. The failure of government to abide by the content of this agreement or its renegotiated version is the reason for the frequent strikes by ASUU. The government which reneged on the agreement should be blamed and the assailant action should not be justified by anyone when the victim reacts. Indeed you cannot force a union into a strike action and then withhold their emoluments/salaries. The strike is a direct consequence of failure of governance.
2. No government in those developed climes Kperogi quoted keep workers on strike for more than a week talk more of six months. As such, the governments in the progressive world have no backlogs of money to settle owing to few days of strikes. The Nigerian government on the contrary would wait for the strike to linger for more than four weeks before calling the Unions to the first negotiation meeting. After the first negotiation meeting, it would take the government another fresh four to eight weeks to call for another negotiation meeting. The process continues in this trajectory until days run into weeks and weeks into months. The government antics and tactics are to accumulate the hitherto salaries of these workers for months and later use these accumulated funds to settle the same staff on the terms of a new agreement. They would seek to invoke the "no- work, no-pay" rule so that those monies that would have been paid the staff are lost. Indeed we are familiar with the fact that "Peter could be robbed to pay Paul". Clearly, the elongated strike is a deliberate action by government and they should not be allowed to get away with it. They are responsible for the starvation of lecturers and their families including the corollary of loss of lives of lecturers and their loved ones in this instance. Also, the suffering of students (including depression and suicide) and other businesses that revolves around education hangs solely on the neck of the irresponsive and irresponsible government.
3. Government has been owing ASUU monies for years e.g the earned academic allowance(EAA) and sundry benefits. This additional act of withholding ASUU's cash ostensibly now as a "no- work, no-pay" after intentionally forcing them to prolong the strike is an act of victimization to decimate the resolve of its membership. ASUU's response to this is only a measure to face headlong this act of victimization. All that is said by the ASUU's President will be implemented to the later. So Kperogi who has chosen the "chicken as coming first before the egg is only but a biased observer that cloaks himself with the regalia of fairness."
Finally, Farooq Kperogi and the honourable Ministers of Education (Senior and Junior) should register it in their subconscious minds that the resolve of the ASUU ably led by its President Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke is unwavering and unflinching. No amount of blackmail will whittle down the potential and kinetics of a union who from time immemorial always uphold the highest ethical and academic standards in its drive towards excellence for Nigeria and Nigerians.
Solidarity forever!
Dr. Innocent Emmanuel is of theDepartment of Pathology,College of Health Sciences,University of Jos,Jos, Nigeria.twitter @INNOCEN70527567
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