It is six months now since the Academic staff Union of Universities (ASUU) went on strike to protest federal government’s failure to implement the agreement it reached with the Union. Universities environment have been deserted as federal government and affronted union leaders fail to agree on the pique issues of implementation of the 2009 pacts and memorandum of agreement bordering on welfare, improved funding and financing to Universities, the proliferation of Universities, discontinuation of the controversial integrated personnel payroll and information system (IPPIS) for University Transparency and Accountability Payment system (UTAS), among others.
Through a series of meetings have held between the federal government and the Union leaders, both groups are yet to concur on the issues, while the lecturer have continued to persistently avoid the classroom. The national association of Nigerian students (NANS) have staged protest at different times, asking the government and ASUU to find a common ground and reopen Universities. The industrial conflict between the ASUU and the federal government can be understood as a class conflict and involves both economic, political and internal factors directly affect disputes (e.g., low wages and working conditions, poor and irregular funding, increased student population and weak institutional autonomy). The effects of Nigeria’s macroeconomic policies contribute to the intensity of the disputes. Federal government has turned a deaf ear to education development in Nigeria. In which the federal government want to have nothing to do with education. But yet it is because their children are not part of them. Therefore, the factors influencing the labor disputes (strike) between the ASUU, and the federal governments were largely driven by historical, economic and political factors that became institutionalized and embedded in Nigerian politics, such that persistent conflicts will be difficult to resolve. Finally, to resolve these issues between the federal government and ASUU, we recommend, among other things, the following: The federal government should create a robust forum where active stakeholders (government, management, and ASUU) meet and discuss issues that concern them, rather than expressing it through strikes. In addition, the federal government should gradually increase annual budget allocations for education by 26% or more.
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