ASUU strike, a blessing in disguise for private owned universities-Rector Ushe

Apostle [Professor] Francis Ushe Inde is the Rector of the African campus of the prestigious Freedom University and Theological Seminary, Pottstown, USA which has turned out several distinguished graduates serving in the public and private sectors.In this interview with Cyril Mbah, Professor Ushe Inde analyses how the problems militating against the growth of higher education in Nigeria has affected national development and he also proffers solutions to the perennial strike by the Academic Staff Union of Nigeria Universities [ASUU]. Excerpts.

Prof. Please tell us about your school and how it has adapted to its environment as well as the public acceptance of the institution by the local community.

Like you know, the name of the school is Freedom University and Theological Seminary. It was established in Pottstown, USA. We have campuses in several countries of Africa including Nigeria. Because of what we stand for, the institution devotes its time to training missionaries to be efficient and effective in Christianity because it is a religious school and it might please you to learn that we are not out to make profit. We are not running our institution because of money. Our fees are very low compared to the other private universities. Mission schools are not business centres. It should be a vision and visions are different from business centres.

What is the strength of your students in terms of numbers?

Our institution is a unique school. We have several degree, master and doctorate students here in the FCT and in other campuses of the university in other parts of the country apart from Abuja who are off-campus students. We are working on some partnerships including with a university in Italy to expand our degree grogrammes. We always have three batches of graduation each year.

As a school administrator, what do you feel about the prolonged ASUU strike and the fact that this present strike is not the first and may not be the last?

It is very sad and sympathetic to see our youths out of school for a long time and that negotiation to stop the strike has not yielded the desired results. Many undergraduate students have come to us to enroll in some programmes but because we stick to theological courses and avoid secular ones, we have turned them down in some cases except they want to study guidance and counselling or peace and conflict management among others.

This is however not the case with other private owned universities where the strike has been turned into a harvest with attendant high school fees. Many administrators saw the ASUU strike as a blessing in disguise for private owned universities and used the opportunity to increase their fees.  People are entitled to their decisions but hiking fees just because of a crisis opportunity is not funny at all. Their school fees have become so outrageous but I would advise proprietors of the private secular universities who have hiked fees since the beginning of ASUU strike to reduce the fees to make education affordable for the average Nigerian parent. As it is now, not everybody can afford their fees. Youths are tired of staying at home. Most of them come to us because they want to go to school. They are really tired of this strike.

What advise can you offer the government and ASUU over this lingering strike?

Education is the foundation of development of every society and to neglect it means that development has been neglected. Once education is not taken serious, it jeopadises the development of the country. The government should ensure it handles this on-going strike with wisdom and understanding. Government should try and reach an agreement with ASUU instead of allowing the strike to be prolonged unnecessarily.

The ministry of education should do more to ensure that the strike is resolved without further delay.  I believe we have the resources to meet or provide what ASUU has demanded. We are not a poor country and if the resources we have can be properly channeled, it is sufficient to help promote quality education. Agreements should be obeyed whenever they are agreed upon and endorsed by the parties involved.

ASUU has been on this matter for sometime because government has always reneged after every agreement and this was why the association insisted now that it will not call off the industrial action again until its demands are met. This is not the first time, the union will go on strike but I will urge them to reason well and call off the action because of our children who are suffering.

As an education administrator, are you not concerned about how this frequent strike has affected the quality of education in the country?

The strike has really affected the quality and value of education drastically because whenever the schools resume, the programmes will be rushed and the students will not undergo the due process of learning. This has resulted in half-baked graduates. We also discovered that the students who have stayed at home for too long have become a nuisance to the society by putting their hands in many wrong things. Many Nigerian graduates who go overseas to work have problems having their certificates accepted there because the country’s certificates are not recognised overseas due to the quality of education.

If you are to address Mr. President directly on this matter, what will you tell him as the father of the nation?

I would ask Mr. President to use his good office and intervene on the strike. The president is the leader he has advisers and counsellors working with him and advising him. I would suggest the every leaders should surround him/herself with capable advisers who can give the person good advice at all times. Good advice and counsel are very important to leaders. When a leader surrounds himself with good advisers, he will lead well. Every leader should also try to weigh and abide by the good advice of good advisers to make governance better. Every administration should put in place proper governance systems that will enable the administration to succeed. It is obvious that the administration does not want to resolve this matter because their children are schooling overseas. We have people representing us in the National Assembly and state assemblies. They are supposed to help in governing this nation. What are they doing to ensure that this type of problem that we have at hand does not always crop up?

What would you advise parents and students who are at the receiving end of this?

My advice to parents is to take things easy and remain calm while we keep praying for positive change in Nigeria. There is hope for Nigeria as it was stated in the scriptures ‘don’t laugh at me oh my enemies for the lord shall see me through every tribulation and I shall arise.’  The positive change that God will bring to Nigeria will come to pass. Also, I would urge students to remain calm and refrain from becoming violent. Students should maintain peace and order and wait on God to restore sanity in Nigeria. God has seen your cries and there will be solutions soon just as He told the children of Israel through Moses saying, ‘I have seen your cries.’ I am assuring students that God will send help on the way to solve the problems of the nation soon.