Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere – Martin Luther King
The struggle for the soul of the Nigerian university system between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) continues into the eighth month. It has come with a series of fireworks ranging from taking ASUU to the Industrial Court; to the threat of proscribing the union. Unfortunately, some members of the union have lost their lives while some students have also been lost to the imbroglio.
In the last seven and a half years that President Muhammadu Buhari had been leading this country, he has concentrated more on “building the nation” rather than doling out national honours. However, the President conferred a posthumous award of Grand Commander of the Federal Republic on Chief M. K. O. Abiola, and declared him winner of the historic 12th June 1993 presidential election.
Other honours are the Federal Government’s National Productivity Order of Merit Awards and the Nigerian National Merit Award. I do not know of other honours that Nigerians have received lately from the Buhari administration.
Going through the list, I noticed the name of the late Dr Stella Adadevoh, who received a posthumous award for her performance in the fight against the spread of the Ebola virus in the country. Her courage in preventing the index case from escaping into the community caused her her life. Earlier in the year, Adadevoh was given a posthumous National Productivity Order of Merit award. And she would be conferred with the Officer of the Order of the Nigeria next week. We should borrow a leaf from the words of the Priest at the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II, “Now let us remove all symbols of power from the coffin, so that our sister, Elizabeth can be committed to the grave as a simple Christian”.
I was awestruck when I saw the list of those that will be given the national honours; it seems quite patronising. Largely for the political class, few public sector players, sportspersons, and the academia. I presumed this is a slap on ASUU. Amid the non-payment of salaries, some of them are being honoured by the nation that is starving them.
The rate at which people have exited the country since the beginning of this melodrama has spiked; lecturers leaving the country in droves, students abandoning their academic pursuits in Nigeria and moving to other countries that have stable academic calendars, while others are switching from Federal and state universities to private universities at huge costs. It is quite possible that what led to the “demise” of public primary and secondary schools may happen to Federal and state universities with the reoccurrence of the strike.
In 2011, Nigerian literary giant, Prof. Chinua Achebe rejected the national honour of Commander of the Federal Republic, which he first declined in 2004. Another person nominated for honours at that time, Mr Femi Gbajabiamila, then the Minority Leader of the House of Representatives, wrote to then President Goodluck Jonathan to indicate his rejection of the award of Order of the Federation to be conferred on him. The lawmaker had queried the criteria used in nominating recipients for the 2011 National Honours. In the letter to the President, Gbajabiamila argued that national awards should only be conferred on those who have made concrete contributions to the development of the country, unlike now, when it is being indiscriminately doled out as presidential favours.
However, in the current list, Gbajabiamila, the current Speaker of the House of Representatives, is first in the list of recipients of the Commander of the Order of the Federal Republic. Does it mean that this one is merited rather than being a presidential favour?
On the list, many of those from the Diaspora are being rewarded by the system that pushed them out. It might seem gratifying that their good works are being recognised by their fatherland, but they need to reflect on the circumstances that led to their forced exile from a land that cannot support their dreams to become great ones.
With the paltry amount earned by the academia, they would need to fly into Abuja and, as expected, with a spouse. From whose pockets would these funds come? Even if it is paid by the Federal Government, will it compensate for the eight months of unpaid salaries? Remember, it is a “no work, no pay” strike.
I have grown up hearing the aphorism, “an injustice to one, is an injustice to all”. I am sure that an award for one is not an award for all. If we keep losing this war in bit through “presidential favours” in the form of national honours, then the lives of innocent Nigerians – the students – have been wasted for no just cause.
The world is watching if the academia will take the lead in revamping the educational sector and the electoral process, as they are the major umpire in overseeing the process and, if they will stand out to defend the students. This war will be won or lost to the political class if the academia keep dancing to the tune of honours that would have little or no impact on lives.
Irantiola is a Lagos-based public affairs specialist. He can be reached via abolz2001@yahoo.com
