Former Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, Lagos State University chapter, Prof Ojo Olorunleke, shares his thoughts with MUHAMMED LAWAL on the release of four months’ withheld salaries by the Federal Government, among other issues

There have been concerns that students in universities do not show seriousness in their studies. How true is this?

No, students in the universities are serious. Since the emergence of technology, studying at university has become an easy thing. The Internet is a new platform where students read a lot of things. Do not be surprised that some professors in the university may not know what these students know because of the digitisation of knowledge. So, students are reading but the age of science has changed the world. Importantly, the government should ensure that students study in an environment conducive to learning. They are willing to learn with adequate facilities.

With your years in the teaching profession, what do you say about cultism in the universities?

Like some years ago, cultism was rampant in almost all the universities in Nigeria. Today, it has seriously reduced. For instance, at Lagos State University, cult-related activities have gone down in the past few years. If the government funds the universities, there would be a big change. Money is needed to put a lot of things to work.

What were your contributions during your time as ASUU Chairman at the Lagos State University?

That was from 1993 to 1996; I was ASUU chairman at the Lagos State University. This period marked the military period, and the June 12 saga was on. So, ASUU as an organisation of university workers had to embark on a national struggle and the struggle led to what I referred to as ‘the partial liberation of Nigerian universities, because it led to the formation of an agency by the government that will receive some funds from foreign companies based in Nigeria.

That fund led to the creation of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund and today, the Tertiary Education Trust Fund is the saving grace of Nigerian universities. During this period, I was obliged to be the chairman of ASUU-LASU, and we contributed our bit to national development through the creation of TETFund, but it was TETFund at that time.

What are the issues in the university system which should be addressed?

We had to look at education politically. When ASUU goes on any national struggle, it does not go on to struggle for its selfish interest; it looks at everything politically. They look at what can be done to improve education in Nigeria from kindergarten to university, polytechnic, college of education, etc. According to UNESCO, any serious nation must devote 26 per cent of its budget to education. Incidentally, less endowed countries than Nigeria can do that. When you look at the budget for education, UNESCO believes that we should not be less than 26 per cent of the budget. In Nigeria, the government has not deemed it necessary to implement that UNESCO recommendation.

Will you say Nigerian universities have witnessed development over the years?

What development? When ASUU went on strike for over 10 months, what did the government do? The government created an alternative ASUU at the University of Ife and some other universities. What development do we have? We have nothing. That is my perspective of Nigerian university education. In fact, I will say that we have been regressing for the past 20 years.

What are the critical issues being raised by the union?

I was ASUU-LASU chairman 20 years ago. So, I cannot speak authoritatively on what the union is agitating for. However, the union is asking for adherence to the agreement being reached with the Federal Government. Unfortunately, the Federal Government in its wisdom thinks that ASUU can be bamboozled. The major problem between ASUU and the Federal Government is the failure to adhere to the established norm of state unionism.

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How do you think the government can proffer solutions to them?

Well, I am an employee of the Lagos State Government, and I cannot speak for the Federal Government. The only reasonable thing the Federal Government can do is to adhere to the rules already established and signed by the Federal Government and agreed upon by them. But now, they are pretending, that those agreements are not binding. The government should go back and implement the agreements. The government should go back to its drawing board, look at the agreements in time, and honour them. That is, the government should go back and implement the agreements. If not, we will just be deceiving ourselves.

Was the withholding of lecturers’ salaries for months justifiable?

I do not think so. For the government to engage in a witch-hunt or fail to pay the workers simply because they are on strike…these lecturers, while people are sleeping, they are preparing documents and possibly propounding new theories. Everything cannot be in the classroom. For me as a lecturer in Literature, to teach a course in the university, I have to sit down and prepare fully for that course. I cannot prepare it in an hour. So, when lecturers say they are on strike, it is only a caution of their teaching. While they are on strike, research still goes on. For the government to say they are not paying, I am sorry to say; is a primitive method of inflicting pain on the lecturers.

There have been debates that President Bola Tinubu’s directive on the release of four months’ salaries to lecturers is a favour and not a necessity. However, it is seen as a necessity in some quarters because it is what these lecturers worked for. How do you react to this?

I do not think anybody can do you any favour by paying you in arrears what you have protested for. In fact, they should pay with interest. It is unrighteous to withhold any worker’s salary under the rule that you are on strike. Definitely, it is not a favour. There is no favour in paying for work that has already been done. It is not a favour in any way; it is their right. They have worked and you are keeping their salaries; it is unrighteous.

What about the damage caused by the ASUU strike? For instance, some students who were supposed to graduate and observe the one-year national youth service were affected by the eight-month-long strike due to their ages, among other factors. What do you say about this?

It is unfortunate that they are being affected. However, if the government had obeyed and they had done what ought to have been done, there would have been no need for a strike. The fact that students are being declared overage is not caused by ASUU. The government should always fulfil its commitments.

This strike is not a personal agenda. It is for the good of governance, it is asking the government to do what is right by funding the universities properly and giving them what they need to conduct research and pay workers legitimate wages. There is no professor in Nigerian universities that earns N500,000 in a month apart from the Vice Chancellors.

The last increment in salary for academic staff was at least 15 years ago. How do you expect these universities to be one of the best in the world with the wages you are paying the workers? It cannot sustain them for one week.

Apart from embarking on strike, what other means do you advise the union to take rather than disrupting the academic calendar? Again, what advice do you have for the Federal Government and the union?

I cannot speak for ASUU as of now, because I am now an individual worker within the university. Well, my advice is that the government should acknowledge those obligations. If they have signed an agreement with ASUU, they should honour the agreement.