We appear to be in a season of strikes. That is understandable. The cost of living is so high that many families are battling with hunger and other deprivations. Rather than get succour from the government, these families become victims of more biting policies they never bargained for in life.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has threatened total and comprehensive strike if the Federal Government continues to drag its feet on the implementation of the Memoranda of Understanding/Action resulting from its agreement with the union in 2009. The union further embarked on nationwide protests last week.
ASUU members from the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka chapter, blocked the Enugu-Awka-Onitsha Expressway in their protest. Some of their placards read, “End poverty salary now”, “FG, stop deceiving us”, and so on.
ASUU has really endured. Its last total, debilitating strike was in 2022. That action lasted for one academic calendar and crippled activities in the universities. Before 2022, ASUU had embarked on a crippling strike in 2020. It lasted for nine months and seriously disrupted activities in the universities. There were many other strikes.
The demands of the union are very simple. Among others, it wants the Federal Government to pay its members outstanding 25-35 per cent salary arrears. It wants payment of three and a half months’ withheld salaries owed its members during the 2022 strike. It insists that the Federal Government should fulfil its promise to inject N1.3 trillion revitalization funds in public universities in six tranches. Government paid the first tranche of N200 billion in 2013. It failed to remit the remaining N220 billion every year for the subsequent five years as agreed. Its main excuse was paucity of funds.
Who will believe the government with the opulent lifestyle public office-holders flaunt everywhere. You do not have money for schools, but you have to buy $150 million presidential jet. You do not have money to maintain the infrastructure in higher institutions, but you have enough to buy exotic sport utility vehicles (SUVs) for lawmakers and some other political office-holders.
You do not have enough money to pay lecturers and doctors, yet you have enough to increase the pay of political office-holders by 114 per cent. The Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC) told Nigerians that the increase became necessary because the current earnings of these office-holders were inadequate, unrealistic and outdated. It noted that a minister who received less than N1m per month since 2008 should not be expected to put in their best without necessarily being involved in some other things. Incidentally, lecturers have been on the same salary scale for the past 16 years. A nation of misplaced priorities!
Like ASUU, the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) has threatened its own strike. Late last month, the union gave the Federal Government 21-day ultimatum to resolve issues affecting polytechnic education in Nigeria. The union is demanding, among others, payment of arrears of the 25/35 per cent salary review, release of the circular for Peculiar Academic Allowance, and non-discrimination against HND holders.
In every sane country, education and health are the two most critical sectors. Teachers and doctors are well paid because of the great work they do. In countries like Switzerland, Luxembourg, Germany, Australia, Canada and many others, these two professionals are among those that receive the highest salary. Switzerland pays its teachers an average of $69,000 per annum. In Luxembourg, an average teacher receives about $98,000 per year.
In Nigeria, politicians are among those who receive the highest pay. A senator goes home every month with not less than N21 million. There are other side attractions for them. Compare this with the salary of a professor, which amounts to about N500,000 a month without deductions, and you will fully understand why we have remained backward as a country.
This situation has led to many lecturers leaving the Nigerian universities for greener pastures abroad. The immediate past Vice-Chancellor of the University of Lagos, Professor Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, lamented recently that, within seven years, no fewer than 239 first-class graduates of UNILAG employed as lecturers quit the institution.
Of course, politicians do not bother because most of them send their children to foreign schools. When they have headache, they travel to France or United Kingdom for treatment. It doesn’t perturb them if doctors migrate in droves to the United States or Canada. Nor does it count if they go on countless strikes.
When the Federal Government, in June 2025, commissioned the renovated Abuja International Conference Centre, now called Bola Ahmed Tinubu International Conference Centre, schools and hospitals in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were on strike. It was due largely to the inability of the FCT Administration to meet up with payment of salaries and other entitlements of workers.
The cost of the renovation was N39 billion. This is more than enough to pay off the striking workers and still have surplus balance. Weekend Trust estimated that the N39 billion could build new 1,200 classrooms, 312 new primary health care centres (PHCs). It also equals the capital expenditure of 12 federal universities or nine federal medical centres in the approved 2025 budget.
It is not surprising that the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwives (NANNM) all gave ultimatum to the Federal Government to accede to their demands or risk total and indefinite strike. They are all unhappy about the neglect of their welfare and poor, inadequate facilities at the public hospitals.
The 25,000 Nigerian nurses went on a seven-day warning strike when the 15-day ultimatum they gave to the Federal Government on July 14 expired without any serious response from the government. The nurses’ demands revolve around better welfare, upward review of their shift duty and specialist allowances, well-equipped hospitals as well as a secure and conducive work environment. Nurses last went on strike in 1984.
Similarly, doctors in Lagos under the Medical Guild also went on a three-day warning strike last July. It was over alleged non-payment of 12 months’ arrears owed honorary consultants under the Consolidated Medical Salary Structure (CONMESS), among others.
In the recent past, the National Association of Resident Doctors (NARD) had embarked on a series of strikes. They are not happy about the absence of life insurance or death-in-service benefit for their families, among other welfare issues.
Rather than accede to these demands, the Federal Government is inflicting more pains on the already traumatized citizens. Just last week, the Nigeria Immigration Service announced an increase in the cost of obtaining Nigerian standard passport. The new fee for 32-page passport with five-year validity is N100,000. A 64-page passport with 10-year validity is now N200,000. This review was barely a year after it was increased from N35,000 to N50,000 for 32-page, five-year passport. A 64-page, 10-year passport then went up from N70,000 to N100,000.
Though the cost is high, many Nigerians will still obtain their passports and plan their next movement out of the country. If the conditions at home is good, who will want to leave his country to stay permanently in another man’s land?
Most of the migrants leave to escape the existential problems at home. I know top professionals and managers who were supposedly earning fat salaries in Nigeria. They still joined the bandwagon of those seeking greener pastures abroad. They know that whatever millions they receive as salaries in Nigeria pale to insignificance when compared to the hard currency they earn abroad from their menial jobs. One thousand dollars is over N1.5 million. This is how far naira has been so pummelled.
President Bola Tinubu floated the exchange rate on assumption of office in 2023. His sudden removal of fuel subsidy caused astronomical rise in the prices of goods and services. There was no prior arrangement to warn Nigerians or institute measures that will mitigate the hardship that followed.
If government officials live austere lifestyle, Nigerians will understand and tighten their belts as advised. But they flaunt their wealth with impunity. When their convoy of exotic vehicles moves, their security details cordon off everywhere and push people out of the way. When the convoy of President Tinubu moved through Lagos Island in December 2023, some anguished residents and traders shouted, “Ebi npa wa o!” (We are hungry o!)
Rather than give his children fish as they requested, the President decided to give them scorpion. There is no middle class again. A Tokunbo car that used to cost about N1.5 million is not less than N10 million today. How many people have that kind of money now? What it means is that you have to guard your old car jealously because if anything happens, you may not be able to buy another one.
The government gloats over raising its revenue but not about raising the standard of living of the people. They collect all sorts of taxes and raise the rate of some statutory fees at random. Before Tinubu came in as President, third party car insurance was N5,000. They raised it to N15,000. A bag of 50kilogramme of rice was less than N10,000 before the All Progressives Congress (APC) took over power in 2015. Today, the price hovers between N70,000 and over N100,000. Meanwhile, the minimum wage is N70,000 a month. Tell me, what can N70,000 buy in Nigeria today? I still wonder how a lot of families survive this situation.
The series of strikes and warning strikes are an indication that people are tired and frustrated. If the government gets its priorities right, the citizens will understand and give their maximum cooperation. But as it is now, many Nigerians have been pushed to the wall. They have no other option but to struggle for survival.
Re: Provocative pay rise for political office-holders
Casmir, when the anti-people congress (APC), officially known as the All Progressives Congress, taunted the PDP with the moniker, “Papa deceiving pikin”, the expectations of many, were that, with the APC in power, the era of deceitful style of governance (gbajue in Yoruba) would come to an end. But alas, we are beginning to witness monumental deceits in governance in Nigeria!
Thanks to you in no small measure for the eye-opening revelations. Wow! The wind has blown and we have seen the anus of the fowl. There is no hiding place for these political office-holders engaging in financial destabilisation of the national treasury.
Their financial heist is at the detriment of the welfare of the citizenry. With the harsh economy biting harder on Nigerians and producing more executive & non-executive beggars online & offline (in the streets), it is extremely vexatious/provocative for anyone to propose any form of increase in salary for those who catalysed inflation and devalued the naira at the worst rate ever! Logically, this is wicked, irrational and irritating.
Credit:The Sun