Strike: A Wrong Approach To Nigeria's Educational Problems(Volume 2)

By ADETULA DAVID
Having talked about the expensive effects of strikes on our educational system in Nigeria, i won't shy away from also discussing the benefits these incessant strikes may accrue ONLY if successfully geared towards its intention that masses were made to believe. Amongst the benefits are better infrastructures in our schools, improved welfare packages for the workers in the academia thereby making teaching pleasureable to the teaching staffs and also indirectly help in impacting the desired and required knowledge on the students but what most people don't understand is that there are other better ways to address the educational problems in Nigeria other than the popular strikes.

The major protagonists of strikes in our schools, the government workers in the schools are not just multi-directional in their approach. They are always mono-strategic in their mechanism to articulate their demands, a strategy that is not only impotently archaic but also has been found not effective in our black continent to a very large extent. Not even only that, the touted genuineness of their agitations and action is quite questionable. If truly strikes could rescue the Nigerian educational system, then our institutions should by now be one of the best in the world. If the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has been on strike for about thirty(30) months in the past ten years and we are still where we are today, then it obviously means it is a wrong approach to Nigeria's educational problems.

Permit me to digress a little please, i keep asking myself that if our fore-fathers could achieve independence for our dear Nigeria without bloodshed as it was the case in many countries, then, why is it so difficult for this  generation to try another better method to approach our educational problems other than the incessant strikes which is the popular and non-effective usual way? Srike is just been counter-productive and unhealthy for our education!


At this point, i am more than sure without mincing words that it is now very conspicuous that the dangers incessant strike actions pose to our education and even on the economic life of our nation both in the short-run and long-run outweigh its benefits. I hereby plead with the stakeholders of this sector; the workers, governments, students and others to let us come to this realization that strike is not the right approach to our problems. I want us to engage more practicable and effective ways to tackle the problems in our education that will ensure the much anticipated better face for it rather than the accumulating damages the sector suffer.

Dialogue remains a very viable and effective tool in this instance. The successful progression recorded in many areas of life today cannot be applauded without stating that they were achieved through dialogue, round table conferences and other diplomatic avenues. More importantly, sueing the erring government to a law court is another viable way i am sure will diplomatically curtail the aggravating danger of strike in our educational system if given a trial.

I implore the governments at all level to also try as much as possible to help realize this feat; quality education. A very good policy has been 'prescribed' by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organisation(UNESCO) to help address the problems we are facing in our education sector most especially in Africa. This allows at least 26% of the nations annual budgetary allocation go to the education sector as against the 9% currently committed to it in Nigeria. {2}

Adoption of this will go a very long way in salvaging the current disposition and also help to achieve the greatness we crave for. This is very possible in Nigeria if our leaders are truly dedicated to the transformation project. Not also leaving out the work forces in the sector, the likes of ASUU, ASUP, COEASU, NASU, SSANU and so many others, i want to charge them to be more dedicated to their duties, proving critics wrong and being sincere in their constructive and preventive demands.

The students have over the years shown resilience and even solidarity to struggles that were aimed at solely benefitting the workers, same gesture should be reciprocated in hard times when the students are faced with oppression and problems beyond their limit. I therefore plead with the work forces not to repay the students' patriotism at this time with damaging strike actions.

I therefore reinstate that strike is a wrong approach to Nigeria's educational problems.



REFERENCES:

1. DailyPost Nigeria online Newspaper,
ASUU strike: ‘Unplanned breaks affect students’
11th December, 2011
http://dailypost.com.ng/2011/12/11/asuu-strike-‘unplanned-breaks-affect-students’/

2. FinIntell News,
2013 Budget Analysis
http://www.myfinancialintelligence.com/banking-and-finance/2013-budget-analysis