CONSCIENCE, NURTURED BY TRUTH: THIEVES AS HEROES

CONSCIENCE, NURTURED BY TRUTH: THIEVES AS HEROES: Recently, around the middle of December 2013, in the south-central city of Jaén, Spain, a thief helped the Spanish police to arrest a ...

THIEVES AS HEROES

+Lateef Olayiwola +Ganiyu Olatunde +Sulaimon Arigbabu +Temitope Sanni +Segun Sanni +Jimi Popoola +Dayo Akinmola +Fatogun, Samson Akinwumi +Jules Fakrogha +Kayode Samuel +Sewanu ADEBODUN-TOPLONU +Olufunmilayo Olumade 

Recently, around the middle of December 2013, in the south-central city of Jaén, Spain, a thief helped the Spanish police to arrest a suspected paedophile football coach after the thief tipped them off  as a result of incriminating videotapes stolen from the man's home. The videotapes, three in number contained graphic recordings of sexual abuse against children aged about 10. The thief after watching the video wrote the police an anonymous letter giving them the address of the suspect, alongside the videotapes in a brown envelope and placed it beneath a parked brown car. In the letter to the police, the thief wrote "I have had the misfortune to have these tapes fall into my hands and feel obliged to submit them so you can do your work and put this ... in jail for life.” The Spanish police have since identified the alleged suspect from the content of the videotapes and arrested him after a search of his home and the indoor football club where he worked.

Interestingly, the suspect had earlier reported a burglary at his home nine days earlier, listing several appliances as stolen, but making no mention of his missing video camera and tapes. For reference sake, a paedophile is a person who is 16 years of age or older, who is primarily or exclusively sexually attracted to children who have not begun puberty (girls 10 years old or less, and boys 11 year old or less, on average). Meanwhile, the police had asked the thief to report at the police station to answer the case of burglary despite cooperating with the police in the arrest of the paedophile coach.

About the same in Nigeria, the two people that have taken part in the plundering of Nigeria topped the headlines in the national media, blogosphere and social media world. These two people are former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, a former military head of State and retired army general, and Chibuke Rotimi Amaechi, a former speaker and present governor of Rivers State. The former was in the news for his 18-page treatise to the President Jonathan on the present situation of things between both of them, their party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and Nigeria. The thrust of Chief  Obasanjo letter entitled “Before It is too late” on one part, it was meant to forewarn  President Jonathan about the worsening state of the nation in relation to governance breakdown, massive looting and corruption, insecurity, exponential increase in unemployment among others. On the part of the later, Gov. Amaechi at a public function was quoted saying " We steal because you never stoned us".  Gov. Amaechi words were more of an in-your-face-scorn of the Nigerians in general. On the other side of the two communications which have gone viral on the social media was a salient call for the people to stand up and revolt against the rot plaguing the country.

The actions of both men can be likened to that of the Spanish thief mentioned earlier above. Both have through their communications have reported other criminal actions of others out of supposed concern for the Nigeria. Both Obasanjo and Amaechi's actions are similar to the Spanish thief’s note to the police that helped arrested the paedophile coach. Rather than been arrested like the Spanish thief for their roles in the destruction and entrenchment of corruption and other plagues bedevilling the country, unfortunately both men have somehow been successful at stealing Nigerians’ focus from the real issues. Even though   Gov. Amaechi and other thieves who recently decamped from the PDP to the All Progressives Congress (APC) may escape arrest and the wrath of law momentarily, his message remains poignantly relevant because of its importance as a future guide to what should be direction of the people’s action. .

“Even the musicians, you're singing about us, the leaders? If you see a thief and you allow him to be stealing, what do you do? You have stoned nobody that's why we are stealing. Who have you stoned? We came out and you started dancing, the oil subsidy, we told you they stole N2.3trillion, what did you do? Instead you're protesting. The oil subsidy that is not reaching the poor, few individuals are going away with the money, you have done nothing … It's good to steal if you can't fight back. You have heard about $50 billion, nobody is talking… In some countries people will be on the street, until they return that money. $50billion is N8trillion, it will change Nigeria. Me I want to steal only $1billion, let them bring it"

The context of word captured in full here is very strong yet very damning. A friend of mine has compared his vituperation to that of rapists who always blame their victims for committing the crime of rape; it's always about the way she dressed, the way she looked at me, the way she talked to me, she has been taking my money etc., but no excuse absolves a rapist of the crime he has committed.

Since Gov. Amaechi decided to reference other climes, it just as important for me to bring to his awareness what occurs in those climes to those who corruptly enriched themselves or their families from state coffers. For the avoidance of doubt, Gov. Amaechi, just recently in nearby Ghana, President John Dramani Mahama relieved the deputy minister of communication, Victoria Hammah, of her position a day after she was heard in a leaked tape to radio stations saying she would not quit politics until she has made at least $1 million. In the United State, the governor of President Obama’s home state of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich is presently in jail for attempting to sell the vacant senate seat of President Obama to the highest bidder. Even Congressman Jesse Jackson Jnr. and his wife are not spared either for daring to spend campaign funds on themselves. In communist china, a top party official was sentenced to jail for corruption while the uncle of the North Korean Leader was also recently convicted and killed for corruptive practices against the state.

In other climes, Gov. Amaechi and many of his likes will be cooling their asses in police cell awaiting trial for corruption, besides the fact that, he would have ceased to be the governor of Rivers State. Perhaps, Gov. Amaechi does not know that those who steal from the public have not been spared either by the laws of their land, which abhors corruption and corrupt practices. Unfortunately, this isn’t so because President Jonathan’s failure to provide leadership in the fight against corruption in Nigeria. Perhaps because he too is implicitly corrupt too, has chosen to gloss over the Gov. Amaechi’s comment regarding the stealing of government fund and bleeding of country’s coffers dry. Although Gov. Amaechi may be protected by immunity for now, his newly assumed ‘neo-progressive’ stance may not be enough to save him from future prosecution and jail-term for corruption.

As for Chief Obasanjo, his despicable roles in the emergence and elevation criminally motivated economic and political crimes in Nigeria is still very fresh in our minds and can never be forgiven. If Chief Obasanjo had allowed enthronement of genuine democracy in 2007, without forcing the duo of late Alhaji Umar Yar’ Adua and Goodluck Jonathan on Nigeria, perhaps the nations could have fare better. Just perhaps, corruption, insecurity, bad governance, may have been reduced to the barest minimum. Perhaps, our education and health sectors would have been better by now or be on the road to full restoration. Perhaps, had Chief Obasanjo strengthened the anti-corruption institutions like the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) while in the office, the likes of Gov. Amaechi and other thieves likes him including Chief Obasanjo  wouldn’t be as bold to bully Nigerians with their ill-gotten wealth and stolen largesse.

In addition, Dr. Jonathan, the only sit-in president presiding over a most corrupt and crime ridden Nigeria, and his fellow travellers would have exercised some caution in the daily destruction of Nigeria, if the judiciary hadn’t been compromised during Chief Obasanjo’s period in Nigeria. Sadly, this is not the case, and this explains why Nigeria has become a country of anything-goes. What a shame, the once vibrant most populous black nation has become a dancing floor for criminals to practice corruption and other vices. But lest, Gov. Amaechi and his fellow thieving friends across the political divide forget, the revolution in Nigeria is not far in the horizon and Nigerians will not just stone you thieves, but you will all be publicly tried for your crimes against the people and Nigeria and executed. The only regret for Gov. Amaechi and his fellow thieves is that they will not be able to use their private jets to escape the wrath of the people when Nigerians stand up. Finally, although thieves can become heroes just for a moment, a thief will remain a criminal forever and shall be brought to book according to the laws.

Anthony Kola-Olusanya is a teacher and citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. 

BEYOND MO IBRAHIM RANKING: ASUU AND THE INSINCERITY OF FEDERAL GOVERNMENT

It is no more news that President Goodluck Jonathan met with the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities on November 4^th, 2013. By the end of the historic meeting between President Jonathan led team and ASUU leadership, it appeared the federal government (FG) was ready after all to resolve the lingering ASUU’s industrial strike action. According to Minister of Labour, Emeka Wogu, “the meeting ended positively and the message of the President to ASUU is full of hope and high expectations, and our prayer is that they come back with positive response. They might not even come back to meet us; they might even take decisions there that will meet your expectations.” Labour Minister Wogu also noted that “the offer made by the president was in line with the 2009 agreement reached with the union. The offer is within the issues that led to the strike; the issues contained in the 2009 agreement and we did not go beyond the agreement”. The breakdown of the new offer from the FG was that “the Federal Government would give N 1.1 Trillion to public universities in the next five (5) years. The government will release N220 Billion yearly into the sector beginning from 2014” towards revamping the Nigeria’s public universities.  The NUC, NLC and TUC as joint guarantors of the agreement while the Minister of Education will be the implementation officer. Also, the meeting agreed that the money will be placed in a special account at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).  

To an average layman or woman, the outcome of the meeting was a nice way for President Jonathan to earn praise from Nigerians for helping to resolve the logjam, which all the small men and women in and around his cabinet couldn’t deal with. Like the animated saviour of the people in the cartoon movie ‘Spiderman’, President Jonathan’s resolve and his 13 hours sitting with ASUU was commendable. A meeting which has earned him comparative credentials liken to that of late Dr. Nelson Mandela, hero and former President of the Republic South Africa, who spent 27 years in prison.  Of course, we cannot take it away from President Jonathan, this is by no means an achievement in a country where political office holders hold the citizens with a ‘go and die’ disdain.  Be that as it may, the positive resolution of the ASUU strike in November could have helped the President put his much vaunted ‘transformation agenda’ back on track and probably Nigeria on the part to being a member of the top 20 economies in the world by the year 2020. But all that appears to be history now.

What could have gone wronged, despite the President’s 13 hour sitting-down meeting with the lecturers’ union leaders? Nobody except the President and his men and women of his cabinet can tell. But as an outsider, I like every other Nigerian believes that the President Jonathan led federal government team are neither committed to the greatness of this country nor the welfare of its citizens. Reflectively, 27 months earlier, in 2011, when President Jonathan launched the transformation agenda with the pomp and glamour nobody could have doubted the fresh air blowing round the Nigeria’s political landscape. The Transformation Agenda is based on a summary of how the Federal Government hopes to deliver projects, programmes, and key priority policies, from 2011 to 2015 coordinated by the National Planning Commission (NPC). These key projects, programmes, and priority policies are not different from those contained in the Vision 20:2020. To attain the overarching goal of the vision 20:2020, key parameters such as polity, macro-economy, infrastructure, education, health, agriculture, and manufacturing would have to be met and sustained.

While the identified key parameters could be considered very potent, the education parameter appears to be the bedrock upon which all other parameters are built. The important role accorded education in this drive towards attainment of the vision’s goal for the country is crucial given that  the educational goal includes the provision of modern and vibrant education system, which provides for every Nigerian the opportunity and facility to achieve his/her maximum potential and provide the country with adequate and competent human power. By no means, education is a form of investment in human capital, which in turn yields economic benefits and contributes to a country's future wealth by increasing the productive capacity of the people. Suffice to say that the success of other sectors of the economy largely depends on the extent of support for the country’s educational development. Hence, without the provision of a vibrant educational or training system, it will be very difficult, if not impossible for the country to achieve the lofty aims contained in the vision 20:2020 and Millennium Development Goals (MDG).

With the ASUU strike in its 6^th month, it is gradually becoming obvious that the transformation agenda of the President Jonathan and Nigeria’s vision 20:2020 is in jeopardy. A revisit to the Mo Ibrahim IIAG ranking places Nigeria in the 41^st position in Africa behind more serious countries like Mauritius (82.9%), Botswana (77.6%) and Cape Verde (76.7%) in first, second and third position respectively. Whilst the top three leaders at the West African sub-regional level includes Ghana (66.8%), Senegal (61%) and the island nation of Sao Tome  and Principe (59.9%). Comparatively, at the continental level, the leading country on the IIAG ranking, in 2012, Mauritius devoted about 15% of its GDP and between 30 and 40% of her annual budget on education during the same period. Also between Ghana and Nigeria, Ghana in 2012 spent 8.2 per cent of its GDP on education while Nigeria spends 0.8 per cent of its GDP on education. Meanwhile, the combined earnings of the two countries are by far less than Nigeria’s during the same period. In addition, Southern African countries are spending about 35 to 45 per cent of their annual budget on education. This, therefore, forces the question of which country is richer and serious about its national development goals in relative terms? Of course, the answer to this question is not far-fetched, as this is very obvious with 2013 publication of IIAG ranking and the FG’s handling of the ongoing ASUU strike which has paralysed the top echelon of the country’s educational sector.

It goes without saying that the seriousness and commitment of a country to national development and institutional performance can be viewed from education sector performance. Education is universally recognized as a form of investment in human capital, which in turn yields economic benefits and contributes to a country's future wealth by increasing the productive capacity of its people. Universities all over the world are accepted as the citadel of knowledge, education and human resource development. The gross neglect of this sector by successive Nigerian governments over four decades, is a classical demonstration of the FG many double speaks on the issue of university funding. That President Jonathan would suddenly find solace in issuing threat of sack on the striking university teachers is a further demonstration of the fact that the FG and President Jonathan is not wholly committed to its own project and programs of both the vision 20:2020 and Transformation Agenda. Archetypically, the FG has not deviated from the norm, since it appears whether a military or civilian administration, there is a particular trend of line which must be toed. And this is to always obfuscate the issues; such that its resolution becomes a mirage, while the chaos continues in perpetuation.

This perhaps explains FG’s claim that ASUU was making new demands even when it was very obvious that there was nothing like that from ASUU and on the strength of that, the lecturers are to be sacked. On the issue of salaries for the period, ASUU is right to request for the withheld salaries since the strike is justified and rooted in the international Labour laws regarding lockouts and non-payment of salaries. International labour laws guiding lockouts or strikes stipulate inter-alia that “the employer shall not lockout employees during the tenure of the agreement” as well “employees shall not embark on strikes during the tenure of the agreement”. This clause is always fundamental clause in any labour agreements signed across the world to protect the system. I say this as someone who has previously participated in workers’ union negotiations both within and outside Nigeria. What this suggests, is, where the employer(s) lockout workers, the employers shall pay the workers remunerations and dues to them since the workers have not shown or demonstrate unwillingness to work. But where the employees embark on strike or lockout while the agreement subsists, the employees shall forfeit their dues and remunerations. There have never been troubles over this as parties are known to respect and implement agreements signed.

Now, what makes the present case of ASUU strike different is that the ongoing strike is aimed at forcing the FG to respect and implement an agreement it signed with the union in 2009. On the basis of this, the FG owe the university teachers hereto referred as the employees in the agreement their dues and remunerations for the period in question. Hence, ASUU justified in its request for the payment of the withheld monthly salaries as a condition for the suspension of the strike. Having said this, I need to quickly say that strike as a weapon is not a strange phenomenon throughout the world. Even in the global headquarters of capitalism, the United States of America (USA) and other G8 countries, workers do embark on strike when and if they needed to. Strikes are the only means with which employees can force their voice to be heard. No workers’ union is known to embark on needless strikes.

The accusation against ASUU strike as self-serving and politicised is grossly unfair and absurd. If anything, we should support ASUU in its fight against impunity and the revitalization of our universities. Our universities, polytechnics and colleges of education need serious intervention; otherwise the future of the country is doomed. I am at loss that it’s only when ASUU or any other workers’ union are on strike that things will collapse when it comes to funding issues. For the avoidance of doubt, it need be known that it was ASUU strikes that brought about Education Trust Fund (ETF) and Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND). Of course, ASUU or the universities is not the only beneficiary of these gains on the long run, the major beneficiary is the government and Nigeria. Further, any labour agreement being signed after a strike all over the world always carry a statement that no one will be penalized for taking part in the strike.  As per ASUU insisting that N200 billion should be deposited in universities accounts is not out of place. This is December 2013, if truly FG wants to start implementation this year, I don’t think this should generate any issue. The entire sack threat thing goes to confirm that FG is actually not interested in implementing the agreement. Nigerians must not forget that the present strike was called after the union had written 351 letters and met various government officials at least 150 times to remind government on the need to honour the agreement promise.

Beyond the issue of trust, let’s look at this from another angle. ASUU has not made any demand that the money should be in a special account in the CBN, this was agreed to by the President as a guarantee that the money will be safe. ASUU had requested from the President that an official of the Federal Government at the level of a Minister preferably the Attorney General and Minister for Justice sign on behalf of the FG so that the agreement/resolution will have the force of Law. This, President Jonathan himself had guaranteed ASUU; that it will be done also. This is not too much to do if the President and FG actually love Nigeria and believe in the great future for the country.

After all the shenanigans, it’s a welcome development that the FG has acceded to ASUU by signing the memorandum of the understanding (MOU).  According to the MOU, the FG is to fulfill all the obligations agreed upon during President Jonathan’s November meeting with ASUU, including the non-victimization clause. For a country that has grown weary with FG’s lies and half-truths, let’s hope the FG will demonstrate good faith by implementing this newly signed MOU. For the avoidance of any doubt, the MOU among other issues stipulates that the FG will inject N200 billion yearly beginning from 2013 towards revitalization of the country’s universities over the next five years.

Anthony Kola-Olusanya is a teacher and citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

MO IBRAHIM RANKING, FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AND ASUU STRIKE

Anthony Kola-Olusanya

On July 1^st, 2013, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) embarked on an industrial strike to force the federal government of Nigeria (FG) to implement the 2009 Agreement, which the later had signed with the union. The agreement, which was largely about the revitalisation of the university education system in Nigeria, is anchored on FG’s massive fund infusion into Nigeria’s publicly funded universities (federal and states owned). Like previous agreements, the FG decided it wasn’t going to honour the 2009 agreement. This decision not to honour and respect an agreement it signed with ASUU was based on two reasons which includes; a flimsy excuse that the Nigeria’s economy will shut down, should the FG implement the content of the 2009 Agreement. Secondly, on the arrogance that the FG will appear weak should it implement the agreement it had signed with ASUU in 2009. It is suffice to say that the FG took this decision after it had conducted the needs assessment towards implementation of the 2009 agreement through two separate committees like 2009 ASUU\FGN Agreement Needs Assessment Committee and ASUU\FGN 2009 Agreement Implementation Committee. The later committee would round up its work later in 2011 with a commitment from the President and other stakeholders on the FGN side promising that there would never be a strike in the nation’s public universities for a long time.

While the university teacher strike was going on, the Mo Ibrahim Foundation published its 2013 Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG) in October. Established in 2007, the IIAG is the most comprehensive collection of quantitative data on governance in Africa. The index is compiled in partnership with experts from a number of the continent's institutions. It also provides an annual assessment of governance in every African country. The IIAG provides a framework for citizens, governments, institutions and business to assess the delivery of public goods and services, and policy outcomes, across Africa. The index is classified into four categories namely; safety and rule of law; participation and human rights; sustainable economic opportunity and human development. Today, the IIAG is recognized as the barometer for measuring government performance in Africa.

Overall, the index ranked Nigeria in 41^st position out of 52 countries in Africa in relation to governance and leadership in Africa. The implication of this present ranking is that Nigeria ranked 9^th when we talk about countries without good leadership and lacks good governance. The sad point of the ranking is that many countries like Liberia, Sierra Leone among others who are just coming out years of civil war, ranked above Nigeria. Besides the overall ranking, Nigeria also showed poor ranking in other specific areas. Within the West African sub-region, Nigeria also ranked a dismal 16^th position out of 19 countries, overall in good governance and leadership. Of note is the country’s ranking in education, and human development, which are both sub-components of human resource development (HRD). Nigeria ranked 30^th and scoring 49% below the African average (52.9) and lower than the regional average (52.5) for West Africa, in provision of education to its citizens. With respects to human development, Nigeria ranked 33^rd in Africa, scoring 52.7%, a score considered lower than the continental average (58.3) and 43.4 below than the regional average (52.5) for West Africa respectively. Before going any further, it is instructive to note that at the top three positions in Africa are countries Nigerians would categorize as small nations like Mauritius (82.9%), Botswana (77.6%) and Cape Verde (76.7%) in first, second and third position respectively. Whilst the top three leaders at the west African sub-regional level includes Ghana (66.8%), Senegal (61%) and the island nation of Sao Tome  and Principe (59.9%). At the bottom of the table on the continent are Somali and Chad at the sub-regional level.

What is responsible for these countries’ success in Africa and West Africa? Both Mauritius and Ghana cannot  and do not earn as much as Nigeria, but unlike the self-acclaimed giant of Africa, the small African country - Mauritius education budget hovers around 13-15% of the annual budget in 2013. Ghana on her part allocated 33% of annual budget to education during the same period. What this suggests is that these two countries placed huge emphasis on human capital development since only an adequately-funded education sector can guarantee as well develop the much needed human capital that will help transform these countries. Sadly, Nigeria’s 2013 allocation to education is only a paltry 8% of the annual budget. In essence, the IIAG leading ranked countries at both the continental and sub-regional levels are doing some things which Nigeria  is not doing; especially when one considers the federal government (FG) much vaunted commitment to ‘transformation agenda’ and the so-called vision 20:2020.  

An assessment of the Mauritius economy revealed a concrete demonstration towards national development. It is an understatement to say that Mauritius has a strong human capital foundation developed through consistent and equitable investment in human development. The goal of the island country is becoming a knowledge economy. This goal is not impossible given that education is free and has been expanded in recent years, in order to create further employment opportunities and ensuring inclusive growth. Return on investment in education, shows that around 90% of entrepreneurs are Mauritian nationals, and business people had the human capital, education and knowledge needed to exploit market opportunities. Interesting too Mauritius is one of the least corrupt African countries. On the contrary, the latest values of Human Development Index (HDI) which provides a country’s measure of human capital development (in areas such as income, health, and education) show that Nigeria is ranked 156 with the value of 0.459 among 187 countries. The value places Nigeria in the bottom, meaning that Nigeria is considered to have low level of human development. The comparative value for Sub-Saharan Africa is 0.475 and 0.694 for the world average and this places Nigeria a little below the continental average with an HDI of 0.471.

Comparatively, two issues among others speak to Nigeria’s dismal overall performance on the continent and in the sectional areas of education and human development in this year’s IIAG rankings. One is the lukewarm posture of the FG lip service to educational development. Second is the gross under-funding of the educational sector. These two issues underscores our poor performance even areas in which Nigeria is noted to be doing well in forty–fifty years ago. As well, both issues are directly linked to the ongoing ASUU strike which is about to enter the sixth month. Another pointer to this dismal performance is that no serious country desirous of meeting its developmental goals don’t allow its university teachers to go on strike to pressure government to do what governments in other sister African countries do without pressure or prompting of any union.

A search through the internet failed to reveal any strike action by the university teachers in the IIAG top countries on the continent. In the West Africa sub-region for example, the university teachers across Ghana on Monday, August 1, 2013, embarked on a nationwide industrial action to protest unpaid market premium. The notice of strike served on the Ghanaian government prompted an emergency meeting of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission (FWSC) was called in order to avert the strike. In addition, the deputy minister in charge of tertiary education, Okudzeto Ablakwa would later assured university teachers their outstanding premiums will be settled. The strike action was resolved within a few days. What we see in this approach and prompt response by Ghanaian authorities when compared to Nigeria’s is an example of good governance and leadership. Little wonder Ghana is attracting students from all over the world including Nigeria to her universities.

Meanwhile, rather than provide leadership by either preventing or resolving the strike, FG has continued to play the roulette game with future of the teeming youths in public universities across the country. Instead of addressing the issues of non-implementation of 2009 agreement it signed with university teachers’ union, the federal government has continued to behave like the proverbial ostrich that buries its head in the sand by pretending that all is well with the public universities system. Although, President Jonathan in November had personally intervened in the fifth month of the strike, events following the meeting with ASUU have further exposed FG’s unwillingness to respect and be bounded by its own proposal.

 At this juncture, it is necessary for the FG and President Jonathan to know that Nigeria didn’t get this all-time low in one year. The crisis of the educational sector, vis a vis university education and by implication human development occurred as a result of the decades of neglect, massive funding cut as well as gross under-funding has been with us for many decades. The same way, I would like note that Mauritius, Botswana and Cape Verde did not appear as African top three countries, but years of serious planning and commitment towards greatness. President Jonathan needs to be aware that sacking all university teachers in one day does not portray him and his regime in good light. Indeed, for a government who is laying claim to a transformation agenda built on the back of the vision 20: 2020, mass sacking of university teachers will not only deny Nigeria the much needed human capital, his transformation agenda and vision 20:2020 will also suffer monumentally.

So rather than waste time sacking the university teachers, the federal government and President Jonathan need to be concerned about how to improve Nigeria’s position on the IIAG from 2014 and beyond. The FG need to stand up and confront the monster called under-funding that has reduced the once enviable Nigeria’s public universities to a shadow of itself by injecting huge funds towards the revitalization of universities. Doing this, will lead to cascade of gains for the country, for which the FG and indeed President Jonathan can celebrate. Chief among the gains will be brain-gain for the universities. Furthermore, Nigerian universities will become the place to go for Nigerian youths who are daily leaving the country for study abroad never to return and the nation would have saved the best for human resource for the country.  In addition, foreign students will also return to Nigerian universities with the educational sector reaping some foreign exchange from the international students.

I have concentrated on the educational sector and indirectly university education because of the multiplier effect of such investments for any country desirous of growth and indeed greatness. The successes and gains of investing in education including universities would naturally reverberate through the whole system in unimaginable ways. Finally, I urge President Jonathan to sit again with ASUU and resolve this crisis once and for all. Mr. President Sir, ASUU’s demands which includes adequate funding to revitalize the university system, progressive increase of budgetary allocations to the education sector to 26 per cent, transfer of Federal Government property to universities, setting up of research and development units by companies are strategic to Nigeria’s growth and development.  Therefore, there can be no other alternative than to resolve this lingering crisis, except you, Mr. President, and indeed your entire administration is satisfied with Nigeria’s continued ranking among the lowly performing governments of the world.

Anthony Kola-Olusanya is a teacher and citizen of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.