Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - ASUU is on Strike Again! Tell Us Something New!

Ikhide,

I want to remind you that Asuu is not responsible for the poor foundation in basic subjects like english language. These students were expected to have acquired the basic knowledge of english language, maths etc before coming into the University. The reason for introducing  post jamb exam was  to weed out those with very poor foundation  who as a result of the Nigerian factor made the highest scores in Jamb. Blame the system that allowed the rot in our primary and secondary schools. If your ward cannot speak or write english, first check out his background in the primary and secondary school. ASUU members also have their children in the Universities, so do not exclude them from the parents you pity so much. Many of you left Nigeria to   live in other countries where basic facilities are available, and yet you criticise us here who have to fight every minute and hour for those basic facilities. I will like you to visit any class room during the dry season especially as from January, and you will see how difficult it is for any form of learning to take place in the hot room called class room. These days we struggle to take possession of  the open spaces with chairs to do our lectures. Many of these lectuers don't even have offices, they use their cars to consult with students, sometimes what is made available is a staff room where three to four lectrurers  can use a table and chair in between lectures. The labs are lacking in basic lab  equipment. A friend of mine who visited a University in Atlanta felt like staying back after seeing that the lab of a lectruer is much more eqipped than the departmental laboratory of any University in Nigeria. He told me that  were he  to be young, he would not have returned. He felt so depressed coming home. This is the frustration that has caused several of the strikes that you criticize. An Average class here is about 150- 250, a lecturer who apart from teaching should also be conducting research, is bedevilled with five to seven courses per semester, , he ends up spending the entire time marking and grading scripts. The University cannot employ more because your Nigerian government thinks that  we can  cope, no money to pay salaries.Visit the libraries and check out the journals, some of the latest edition you can find are those published in late 80s or early 90s. Where on earth can a system like this produce quality gradauates? Please lend your voice to the call for a revamp of the system, not a revamp of ASUU. We are infact miracle workers. No sane human being can work under these terrible conditions and produce something worth while.

 

Nkolika

Awka

From: Ikhide <xokigbo@yahoo.com>
To: "usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com" <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Tuesday, December 6, 2011 8:21 PM
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - ASUU is on Strike Again! Tell Us Something New!

Well, I am happy to ignore your Made-in-ASUU thuggery and respond to you. I am not unaware that a lot of this nonsense points to a deep structural problem. I believe in collective bargaining passionately, not collective bludgeoning which is what ASUU resorts to each time her members need to buy Christmas gifts for their children abroad and away from their God-awful classrooms.  ASUU has presided over the worst decades of higher education in the tortured history of Nigeria. They are proudly graduating people from universities who should not qualify to graduate from secondary schools. Those of us who pay for siblings and relatives to attend your hovels know that we are simply throwing good money after bad lecturers but do we have a choice?

And the notion that ASUU will listen to rational reasoned discourse is as silly as expecting the Nigerian senate to do some real work. Won't happen. There has not been a shortage of rational well-thought out analysis that includes suggestions for structural changes. No, ASUU has been hijacked by a cabal of thugs who know that what they are doing is wrong, but who don't give a damn. ASUU has lost virtually all support on the ground and it has zero credibility.

This is no longer funny folks, you guys are playing with the lives of children and you don't care. It is sad, really. I mean, go and get me an English major from one of your universities, tell him or her to speak and you will come face to face with the enormity of your crimes. The other day a "poet" a perpetual final year student of some place (thanks to ASUU) wrote an essay excoriating me about something. I practically wept; every other sentence was grammatically challenged. I hear he writes "books" that are used in "schools." Talk about self-medication.

You all go ahead with your strikes, in fact, I do agree, it is better that the "universities" be closed until we figure out what to do with ASUU and the direction of our directionless schools.

- Ikhide

From: "alemikae@yahoo.com" <alemikae@yahoo.com>
To: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, December 6, 2011 2:20 PM
Subject: Re: USA Africa Dialogue Series - ASUU is on Strike Again! Tell Us Something New!

XOkigbo. The system needs help and sacrifice from you to come and do real work which no one is doing except you. Will you put yourself and insight where your mouth of criticism has always been. That is the only way to undermine the antics of ASUU, which you imagine is the cause of the university crisis rather a symptom of a social system disorganization at levels of value, governance and policy. Hope you are aware that the government has just announced its intention to establish five new specialized universities. Where are the lecturers for such venture. Please come and do real work in those new universities before they are contaminated by ASUU members. Please come and exhibit your world acclaimed real work.
Etannibi

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless handheld from Glo Mobile.

From: Ayoola Tokunbo <toks_ayoola@hotmail.com>

Sender: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com

Date: Tue, 6 Dec 2011 09:12:37 +0000

To: <usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com>

ReplyTo: usaafricadialogue@googlegroups.com

Subject: RE: USA Africa Dialogue Series - ASUU is on Strike Again! Tell Us Something New!

On  the current situation in Nigerian universities, we do not need emotional ranting, but rational analyses and solutions.
 
This Abani-like condemnation of everything Nigeria would not get us anywhere.
 
Tokunbo
 

Date: Mon, 5 Dec 2011 15:59:13 -0800
From: xokigbo@yahoo.com
Subject: USA Africa Dialogue Series - ASUU is on Strike Again! Tell Us Something New!
To: USAAfricaDialogue@googlegroups.com; Ederi@yahoogroups.com

Nigeria's Academic Staff Union (ASUU) is on strike again. That is really not news, they are ALWAYS on strike; it would be news if they announced that they were going to be in the classrooms doing real work on behalf of the hapless children of the dispossessed trapped in those decaying pretend institutions euphemistically called "universities." The abuse of other people's children in Nigerian "universitie" has been going on for a very long time. Below are two articles I wrote in 2009 about ASUU that dysfunctional body. Nothing has changed with ASUU, that bully-pantheon that has been hijacked by thugs in academic gowns.

Enjoy the rest of my rant here...

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