My ASUU Story thread
1 On February 11th, 1978, the National Association of University Teachers (NAUT) was transformed from an association into a trade union and renamed the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) by military decree.
1 On February 11th, 1978, the National Association of University Teachers (NAUT) was transformed from an association into a trade union and renamed the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) by military decree.
2 It remained fallow for two years because academics were unaware of the change. In 1980, under the leadership Biodun Jeyifo and Uzodinma Nwala, pioneer President and Secretary of ASUU, I was part of the core group that established ASUU nation-wide.
3 We all had a radical socialist ideological bent & were convinced the State had a responsibility to provide the best education to all citizens for free. We fought for the public good defined essentially as – FREE AND HIGH-QUALITY EDUCATION PAID FOR BY THE STATE FOR ALL.
4 We believed there was a golden opportunity for intellectuals to join the working-class struggle as trade unionists and provide intellectual support to the larger struggle to improve the educational system, even more important, to contribute to building a progressive Nigeria.
5 In other words, we were not focused on the narrow self-interest of lecturers. This is no longer the case which is why I have been raising issues.
