Strikes in Essential Services: A Critical Examination of the Right to Strike by Lecturers in Public Universities in Nigeria
Abstract
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is a trade union that was established to protect the welfare of lecturers in Nigeria's public universities. However, following ASUU’s inception in 1978, the organisation has encouraged its members to disrupt academic activities at public universities for at least 25 times over a period of 42 years (i.e. 1980 to 2022). In particular, since Nigeria's return to democratic rule in 1999, ASUU’s industrial actions have brought about at least 15 semesters or 7 years of disruptions in the academic activities of Nigeria's public universities. Therefore, the study critically examined ASUU's right to strike as well as the implications of outlawing such right by considering the Nigerian public universities as rendering essential services. The study was based on textual data from secondary sources such as published research articles, newspaper publications, historical, government and policy documents from intergovernmental organisations such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The analysis of these textual data suggest that lecturers in the Nigerian public university system are overworked and underappreciated and that incessant strikes embarked upon by ASUU to improve the welfare of its members could have long-term economic repercussions as incessant disruptions in academic activities potentially stifles the labour market of a sustainable pipeline of highly qualified individuals. However, the study also found that if ASUU's right to strike is banned under the guise of providing essential services, Nigerian universities might offer their students poor quality education since underappreciated and overworked lecturers might not give their students the best education possible. The study recommends that the Nigerian government should take a cue from other countries that have effectively reconciled their public university lecturers' right to embark on strike with maintaining a continuous delivery of high standards in public education.
