Wike’s Threat To Close Down Universities

The current crisis plaguing university education in the country has taken a turn for the worse with the Minister of Education, Nyesom Wike, ordering the striking university lecturers to resume on 4 December or lose their jobs. This is really a sad development, considering the gains already made by the negotiating teams on both side of the divide towards finding a lasting solution to the crisis. We vehemently condemn the minister’s use of force and say, without mincing words, that this draconian measure has not only dented the progress made so far but will also not solve the debacle.

It sounds incongruous that the minister is making such a dictatorial move in a civil democracy where the freedom to disagree and clamour for one’s right is enshrined in the constitution. It goes a long way to show that the federal government is not ready to listen to the yearnings and aspirations of the lecturers and students. It is also sad that Wike is making such a move when Nigerians are expecting the lecturers to call off the industrial action soon.

Whatever are the demands of the striking university lecturers, the fact remains that they embarked on the industrial action in order to rescue university education in the country from total collapse. By ordering them to resume willy- nilly, Wike is only saying that the federal government cannot be trusted to keep its promises or fulfill the agreement earlier reached with the lecturers. Wike, by this use of force,  is only betraying his intransigence but  also the reason why his political interventions in Rivers State has plunged the state in a deep crisis. Nigerians have not forgotten how President Goodluck Jonathan used him to foment trouble in the state.

This draconian move is not the best way to find a solution to a problem that seems intractable. The problems plaguing the university system in Nigeria is not intractable. It only requires a government that has the political will to take the bull by the horns and solve. Wike’s move is tantamount to setting afire a very combustible material.   Rather than easing the already tense situation, it would bring down the whole system, as the striking lecturers will, responding to this stance, return fire for fire.

Wike’s retrogressive move has also brought to the fore the much- vaunted talk about university autonomy. If the universities in Nigeria were autonomous and independent our political leaders would not have the power to issue such a threat or close universities according to their whims and caprices. Now is the time for the striking university lecturers to be very serious about their demands for autonomy so that the university can be protected for those in positions of authority who  do not know the value of education.

We therefore call on President Goodluck Jonathan  and the Minister of Education to rescind the decision to clamp down on the lecturers and go back to the negotiating table. That is the only sure way to revamp the university system in Nigeria. That is the only sure way to peace, which is very essential for any development to take place. Nigerians have had enough of the bullish attitude of our political leaders.