By Biddin Abubakar
In the ongoing standoff between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), one truth rings louder than ever: Nigeria must choose peace over pride.
The Federal Government’s rigid insistence on enforcing the “no work, no pay” policy against university lecturers is not a mark of strength rather it is a symptom of misplaced priorities and a failure of leadership.
At a time when the education sector needs healing, collaboration, and renewed trust, the government’s hardline approach only deepens wounds that have refused to heal for decades.
This policy does not mend the broken relationship between the government and ASUU; rather, it widens the divide and leaves millions of Nigerian students trapped in the middle, helpless victims of a crisis they did not create.
Let’s face the truth, confrontation has never solved any of Nigeria’s educational crises. Since 1999, every administration has found itself in this same quagmire promises made, agreements ignored, strikes declared, and futures suspended.
What the nation desperately needs currently is not another round of threats or press statements but a sincere dialogue anchored in empathy, understanding, and respect.
There’s an African proverb that says, “When two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.”
In the case of the ASUU/FG crisis, there’s only one elephant, the Federal Government while the lecturers and students are the grasses crushed under the heavy feet of pride and indifference.
By implications, implementing “no work, no pay,” the government is not merely punishing lecturers for downing tools; it is also punishing the students, the universities, and ultimately the future of Nigeria itself.
Every strike season leaves behind a trail of shattered dreams. A student who should have completed a four-year degree ends up spending six or seven years in school.
Courses are truncated, exams postponed indefinitely, and academic calendars thrown into chaos. The result is a generation of young Nigerians burdened by frustration, uncertainty, and delayed ambitions.
Equally, heartbreaking is the plight of the lecturers, the very custodians of knowledge who have devoted their lives to nurturing the next generation.
Many of them are now struggling to survive in a system that seems to value everything but their contribution. When a nation forces its intellectuals into poverty and indignity, it is laying the foundation for its own downfall.
Education is not a battlefield. It is a sacred investment in national growth, human capital, and the moral fabric of society.
A responsible government should not treat its teachers as adversaries but as allies. It should not silence them with threats but empower them with incentives.
The “no work, no pay” policy might look decisive on paper, but in reality, it deepens frustration, resentment, and hopelessness in a sector already gasping for breath.
Nigeria’s education system has endured enough. Crumbling infrastructure, outdated curricula, underfunding, and a lack of welfare for lecturers have turned many of our universities into shadows of what they once were.
Instead of wielding punitive measures, the government should seize this moment to rebuild trust, reform policies, and restore dignity to the ivory towers.
True leadership is not about proving who is right but about doing what is right. A visionary government does not respond to grievances with punishment; it responds with understanding.
It does not hide behind bureaucracy; it leads with compassion. The future of millions of young Nigerians cannot continue to be collateral damage in a never-ending war of egos.
The Federal Government must realize that peace is not weakness, it is wisdom while dialogue is not surrender, it is strength.
The time has come for both sides to return to the negotiating table, not as rivals, but as partners united by a shared purpose: the revival of Nigeria’s education sector.
ASUU must also show flexibility and a willingness to embrace innovative solutions. But the larger responsibility rests with the government, which holds the key to policy direction and implementation.
History will not be kind to any administration that allows its universities to rot while chasing political battles. A nation that neglects its schools plants the seeds of insecurity, poverty, and underdevelopment.
When education is wounded, the entire nation bleeds and the scars take generations to heal.
In truth, what Nigeria needs now is leadership that listens, not leadership that lectures. Leadership that inspires cooperation, not confrontation. Leadership that prioritizes dialogue over decree.
Let the government, therefore, choose peace over pride. Let it reach out to ASUU not with threats, but with tangible action plans. Let it restore the dignity of our classrooms and renew the hopes of millions of students whose dreams hang in the balance.
When the history of this era is written, may it not be said that our leaders allowed their pride to destroy the foundation of our nation’s future.
Because, indeed, when education falls, everything else follows.
Biddin Abubakar
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