Nigeria’s federal universities have, for years, experienced repeated disruptions in academic activities due to strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), strikes often rooted in the quest for improved educational standards and better welfare for lecturers.
While these industrial actions paralyze public institutions, students in private universities remain largely unaffected, primarily because there are no academic unions operating within those institutions.
Addressing this divide during The Toyin Falola Interview Series tagged “A Conversation with the President of ASUU, Professor Christopher Piwuna,” the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Joe Ajaero, urged ASUU to initiate discussions around the unionization of private universities.
According to Ajaero, the creation of private universities was, in part, intended to weaken ASUU’s influence. He called for greater synergy among university unions to unify their demands and strengthen the collective voice of Nigerian academia.
If private universities unite with ASUU in the fight for quality education and improved conditions, could this be the turning point that forces the government to act or will it simply expose deeper cracks in Nigeria’s educational system?
#EducationReformNigeria #ASUUandNLC #UnionStrong
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