How ASUU Strike Boosts Enrolment at State, Private Varsities

With the lingering and incessant strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, many parents and candidates seeking admission into the universities for the 2022/2023 academic session have shifted their interest to state and private universities, Udora Orizu writes

With the prolonged and incessant strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), many parents and candidates seeking admission into the universities for the 2022/2023 academic session have shifted their interest to state and private universities.

This came as a latest finding from a survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abia which reveals that private universities have become feasible alternatives due to the lingering strike by lecturers in public universities.

The nationwide strike action by the lecturers has paralysed academic activities in all the federal universities in the country since February 14, 2022. The unfortunate development, albeit perennial, appears to have betrayed the people’s confidence in Nigerian public universities. Worried by the scenario, many admission seekers in the country, aided by their parents and guardians, have now resorted to private universities.

What every student wants is to graduate at record time. But the perennial industrial action embarked upon by ASUU has practically made this impossible. It has only altered academic calendars, prolonging the graduation period for students. Most times, a four-year course is completed after five or six years. Those who study five to six years courses are lucky if they do not graduate after seven to eight years respectively.

Sometimes, state universities only join for mere solidarity reasons, thereby disrupting their academic calendars in the process.

This is why some stakeholders have continued to react to the pulling out of some state universities from the ongoing indefinite strike by ASUU, blaming it on threats from their employers.

It would be recalled that some state universities such as the Kaduna State University, (KASU), Ekiti State University (EKSU) and the Nasarawa State University, Keffi have pulled out of the ongoing indefinite strike actions by ASUU.

A lecturer in the University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), Dr. Oluremi Oni, said that the pulling out by state universities from the strike would not in any way affect the structure of the union. Oni, who blamed ASUU for bringing state universities into the issues affecting federal universities, said their pulling out was actually proper.

“Government has shown that they don’t like ASUU; when a similar thing happened last year, ASUU gave the government the presentation and they picked the one they could honour and threw it back at ASUU and ASUU was okay with them at that time.

“So, it was because of the government’s inability to implement the agreement last year that made ASUU go back to strike. Government did not implement what it promised us and now they are expanding the problem and the public does not even know what the problem is and everybody is blaming ASUU,” she said.

Oni expressed concern over the action of the government’s intention to extend the meeting with the union till June 2023, saying that this showed lack of commitment to education.

She blamed the government on the “no work no pay” approach, saying that the union took the decision on behalf of the generality of Nigerian children to have quality education not minding the fact that their children were also affected.

“The government has forgotten that ASUU members also have children in these universities and so members are also losing.’’

The Secretary, Workers and Youths Solidarity Network (WYSN), Mr Damilola Owot, called on the leadership of ASUU to re-emphasise the benefits of the strike to state workers with a view to giving them reasons to maintain the tempo and not to relax. According to him, ASUU should pay special attention to specific needs of the state universities too and incorporate them into their future demands.

“We extend our solidarity to the members of the ASUU who are currently on strike. The decision of some state universities to pull out of ASUU could largely be linked to threats from their respective employers – state governments. The demands are clear and vivid; honour agreements, pay salary arrears and adopt UTAS. We believe that both the State and Federal workers stand to benefit from the concessions,” he said.

The National Coordinator, Congress of University Academics (CONUA), Dr Niyi Sunmonu insisted that the liberalisation of academic unions was the only way out to end incessant varsity strikes. He said the liberalisation would engender cross-fertilisation of ideas, nurture healthy competition and protect the interests of all stakeholders hence there would be no need for strike.

“Freedom of association is enshrined in the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. And as long as that provision still exists in the constitution, Nigerian citizens are freeborn and they can operate under it to freely associate. We hope that the freedom of association will continue to help the advancement of learning in our universities,” he said.

Also, the former National President, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Mr Sunday Asefon had previously called on state-owned universities to opt out of the action. He said that ASUU had lost the support of Nigerian students given the unpatriotic disposition displayed by them in extending their strike indefinitely.

“We have taken the time to review the decision of ASUU to declare an indefinite strike after the ongoing six-month strike. We consider the decision as not only unpatriotic, unnecessary but wicked and definitely not in the interest of our nation or the tertiary education system in Nigeria. We call on state governments to liaise with vice-chancellors of state institutions to announce the resumption of academic activities and grant the vice-chancellors authority to enforce the resumption. State universities should never have joined the strike in the first place,” he said.

In the meantime, due to the lingering strike by ASUU, private universities have become feasible alternatives by lecturers in public universities, a survey conducted by the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abia showed.

At Madonna University, Okija in Anambra, the Public Relations Officer, Mr Emeka Okpara, said that most of the courses offered in both the Elele and Okija campuses of the institution were fully subscribed to in the just-concluded academic session while enquiries on their admission requirements have increased.

A lecturer in the university, who pleaded anonymity, said the school had exceeded its quota in some of the courses and now, the institution is at risk of being sanctioned by the National Universities Commission (NUC).

At the Tansian University, Umunya in Anambra, a member of staff in the Admission Department said that the university was already experiencing an upsurge in the number of admission seekers.

“We have had good students’ enrollment since the university was established about 15 years ago. However, the level of enrollment increased last year,” he said.

Mr Lawrence Nwaimo, who is seeking admission to Paul University, Awka, said the school had commenced admission for the 2022/2023 academic session. He said that there were many candidates struggling to gain admission due to the limited chances in the institution.

In Ebonyi, the Public Relations Officer, Evangel University, Dr Thenz Nwali, said that the incessant strikes by ASUU and non-academic Staff Union in public universities led to more students seeking admission into the institution. An official in the university’s Admission Department also said on the condition of anonymity that many candidates were coming to the institution to seek admission.

He said: “The incessant strikes in the public universities have pushed up student enrollment in our school.

“Even the candidates who did not have our institution either as first or second choice are coming to seek admission here.”

In Abia, the Vice Chancellor, Clifford University, said that the 2021/2022 academic session had just ended and that enrollment for the 2022/2023 session had yet to commence.

“We will begin to enroll new students in October. That is when we will start to see the impact of the strike, whether there is an improvement or not,” Omeonu said.

He further said that available statistics from the previous enrollments did not show any increase as a result of ASUU strikes.

Also, Prof. Ambrose Ugbogu, the Vice Chancellor of All Saints University of Theology and Seminary, said that the statistics of the university’s enrollment had not revealed any increase in the past six months.

“Also, those who were already admitted into public universities would not want to relinquish their admission,” he said.

He, however, admitted that some undergraduates and parents might begin to contemplate changing institutions, should the strike linger into the commencement of the 2022/2023 academic session.

The Principal Assistant Registrar/Head, Media and Public Relations, Gregory University, Uturu, Mr Sleek Ogwo, said that it would be difficult to give any statistics of enrollment, when admission for 2022/2023 had not begun. Ogwo said that the university had just concluded its 2021/2022 session and would soon begin the admission process.

“We can only ascertain whether there is an increase in enrollment compared to our previous records around October, when we should be done with admission,” he said.

A parent, named Mrs Gloria Duru, said that she had lost interest in public universities because of the incessant disruptions in academic activities due to industrial disputes between ASUU and the Federal Government.

Duru said that the private universities had provided an alternative, provided one could afford the financial resources. She said that she had been able to secure admission for two of her children at both Clifford University and Gregory University, Uturu.

In Imo, Rev. Fr. Emeka Iheme, a Lecturer at the Department of Philosophy, Claretian University of Nigeria, Nekede, near Owerri, said the institution was expecting more than double the number of students admitted in the last session.

Iheme said that the university admitted at least 71 students in their first academic session in 2021, when the institution was established. He said that at least 300 prospective students had so far enrolled for the next session starting in October.

He further opined that the increase in the number of the university’s enrollment could be attributable to the introduction of new courses scheduled to start next session, following NUC accreditation.