ASUU and two super ministers

President Muhammadu Buhari is a wonderful man. On at least one count. He appears to be fiercely loyal to some individuals, particularly friends and political associates. This must be his deep-rooted virtue because, while serving in government, such persons end up having his ears and heart to the point that not even negative public dispositions towards them can affect the way they are perceived, rated or treated by their boss. And if eventually they are asked to vacate their seats, they can be sure of safe landing. Everyone should place enough value on friendship. How that is allowed to interfere with the functions of state, however, is a matter of discretion, self-respect or sense of judgement and the general good.

Dr Chris Nwabueze Ngige, Nigeria’s Minister of Labour and Employment and Mallam Adamu Adamu, Minister of Education, can be categorised among Buhari’s privileged, trusted allies. First appointed into their portfolios in November 2015, they returned there for a second term after their principal was re-elected in May 2019, making them two of the nation’s special, super ministers. Ngige, medical doctor and former governor of Anambra State via the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for nearly three years, also became the senator from Anambra central senatorial district on the ticket of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). Adamu, a graduate of accounting and later a Master’s degree holder in Journalism practised both professions extensively and actually rose to the zenith of the latter. Buhari did not hesitate to pick him as his special assistant when the late Head of State, General Sani Abacha, appointed him to head the defunct Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF). Adamu’s membership of Buhari’s Presidential Transition Committee in 2015 to which he also acted as secretary sent signals that in him was truly a right-hand man of the incoming president.

The fact that both Ngige and Adamu are set to complete the two terms (eight whole years!) of this administration in their ministries should erase any doubt, if any, about Buhari’s total, unquestioning confidence in them. But governance is not always about what leaders feel, for the simple reason that the stay on their seats is not permanent. Rather, it has much to do with how the decisions and steps taken or missed impact on the people. Like the president himself, these gentlemen are writing their legacies with their own hands. In a matter of time, posterity will rise to the occasion and give them marks. That is being done in the minds of Nigerians already.

The eight-month nationwide strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) was called off in October for two immediate reasons. One, in obedience to the judgements of the courts that ordered the lecturers to return to classes. Two, the mediation by the leadership of the House of Representatives. Both bases require tact, magnanimity and maturity on both sides in order to make any meaningful progress. But those attributes have not been well exhibited by some government functionaries, especially Dr Ngige. His public utterances and body language since the strike was suspended have portrayed triumphalism, a posture of having successfully wrestled the university dons to the ground. He has so far been muscular in rubbing in his justifications for the no-work-no-pay stance of the government and indeed the other issues involved. What he fails to realise is that ‘defeating’ his ‘opponents’ ought not to be displayed like a laurel, as the collateral damage in this matter goes beyond the direct actors.

As for Mallam Adamu, what he reportedly said last week at the 66th National Council on Education (NCE) in Abuja could well be a defining moment, a flash of epiphany, an unfortunate Freudian slip in his current national stewardship. According to him, “Most of our policies at the federal level pulled children out of the street back to the school but, evidently, the actions of the state governments are pushing the children back to the streets. Few days ago, someone called my attention to the fact that I am the longest serving Minister of Education in Nigeria… My worry was that I came to office as Minister of Education seven years ago to tackle the myriad of issues confronting the education system, particularly the issue of out-of-school children. But, unfortunately, I failed to achieve all these expectations. For seven years, I was unable to tackle the issue of out-of-school children and several other challenges in the education sector. There are so many factors that contributed to that failure. The key one, probably, has to do with education commissioners in the states.” No doubt, the lingering ASUU crisis is one of the nuts he hasn’t cracked.

I have not and shall not join those who have been calling for his resignation or sack, especially after that self-expressed testimonial that passes for his admittance of failure in solving the many problems presided over by his ministry. It is clearly not yet in the character of office holders in the country to voluntarily step away from the table. In the first place, he shouldn’t have been saddled with the burden of that all-important sector as there is not much in his background that prepared him for the role. Adamu would probably have performed better in another capacity. Sadly, it’s too late to discuss his suitability. What will go into history is that Ngige and Adamu, two federal cabinet members most relevant to the industrial atmosphere in our public university system, are mishandling the conflicts that seek to tear down this aspect of tertiary education.

I have argued repeatedly that ASUU cannot completely exonerate itself. The arguments and weapons of yesterday which the union seems stuck with won’t work today. Its glorious years were largely in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s when the country was run mostly under unitary, military governments and most of the universities were owned by the federal government. All that has changed. Successive administrations have also not given education the kind of priority attention it enjoys elsewhere. Now, inadequate plans and misplacement of priorities have left meagre resources for education generally. The task of forcing the arms of those in authority to do the needful should be that of the legislature, non-governmental organisations (NGO), media, student bodies and the generality of the people. By being paternalistic, even to the point of insisting that higher fees be not charged, ASUU has gone outside its brief, in my view. Its primary responsibility should be to the members – remunerations and other elements that make for a respectable, virile workplace. This is by no means myopic. Lecturers must pause and ponder over the real worth of their struggle in the face of obvious realities. Today, most of the parents, students, and populace who ordinarily should hail their efforts are doing the opposite.

On a sober and final note, dear ministers Ngige and Adamu, ASUU members may have had missteps of their own but it’s important you understand the kind of dilemma you’re superintending over. Forget court rulings. No legality can produce optimal teaching and learning. Something has died in many lecturers. The future of our youths is now overexposed to trauma, so is the entire nation’s. This stark reality may not readily mean much to a country that puts more premium on certificates than the actual acquisition of knowledge. May we not all reap the hanging fruits of regrets.

Ekpe, PhD, is a member of THISDAY Editorial Board.