2 weeks Ago By Guardian Nigeria
From Ikere-Ekiti where I am on sabbatical appointment, I spent the December holiday in my jungle village, Ikot Ide, Akwa Ibom State. I had planned a short stay in Port Harcourt (my base) after my stay in Ikot Ide before taking off to Ikere but my stay was extended because of the shift in the re-opening of my university and the avoidance of boredom should I go back as earlier planned. My elongated stay in Port Harcourt made me come face-to-face with the offer the Federal Government of Nigeria had for workers in federal universities in 2025 – N40,000 per 50kg of foreign rice.
Bravo! Many calls came to me from my colleagues to come and get my one bag of rice. Do not ask me of the struggle I heard associated with the distribution of the rice – near stampede. At first, I felt this was a deal and I asked one of my non-academic friends to go and get my pay slip and I would send my NIN and would later come with my identity card to pick the rice, as required of everyone.
“Wait a minute! What is this rice for? Why is the rice given to university workers at this time when there are hungrier Nigerians out there who cannot afford one meal a day? Why palliative, instead of better welfare that would enable me to feed myself, instead of government feeding me? What will happen next after the one bag of rice has finished? Why this mockery? I asked myself. Immediately, I called my friend and told him to forget the rice, that I was no longer interested. I gave him my reasons for not accepting the rice and thought that my friend had understood my points.
Unfortunately, the next time my young friend called, it was a proposal for him to pick the rice in my name and make “business” out of it. Maybe, my friend thought that I rejected the Federal Government’s offer because I had. Far from it! I do not have.
It is just a matter of principles and my conscience. A few days before the rice palliative was announced, I had to go to my prestigious ASUU Cooperative to buy only 25kg of local rice. The 50kg foreign rice would have been a better opportunity if I did not have any reason to reject it.
In addition to the questions I asked myself before I rejected the offer, the federal government rice palliative is very likely to cost me my very good friend – a vicious circle of Nigerian government palliative. Away from myself, the university managements that received the offer for the workers did the right thing because among the workers in the institutions, there are those who are as hungry as those out there in the rural places and even in the cities. Also, among the university workers, there are those who even when they are well fed, would not let go of any opportunity, for any reason.
But I sincerely believe that if this offer were to come through ASUU, academic staff in the universities would have missed it because ASUU would certainly rebuff the offer. Thanks to ASUU that it never directed its members to reject or accept the offer. The question, however, is: must ASUU members only act on a matter of conscience, principle and respect for human dignity when the union instructs or compels them to act? My “selfish” thinking is that it is high time university lecturers questioned the rationale behind a jiffy “good” offer of the government, especially when there is no sign that the government has any interest in their welfare.
The very government that has weaponised hunger against its citizens is the government that panders the country’s intellectuals with rice palliative. Maybe, we will have to applaud the government for this gesture? What an insult to a people who are supposed to be venerated! What derogation to a people who are the engine of the society! What a mockery! How long shall Nigerian academics be subjected to self-demeaning conditions by the government? How long shall Nigerian academics accept the degradation that goes with a bowl of rice? I rather feel that instead of applauding the federal government for the rice that did not cost it anything yet was sold for N40,000 (as some said that the rice was foreign and represented seized products by the Customs Service), university workers should persistently do everything to convince the government of their resolve for better welfare package from the government. By so doing, we would not only applaud the government for parlaying our welfare but we would also accord ourselves the respect that seems to be very difficult to come from the government.
By the way, if it is true that the palliative was foreign rice, what does the government tell the Nigerian people about its policies? If the rice was bought by the federal government and given to the beneficiaries at subsidised rate, what does it tell us about its import policies? How sincere is the government on its policy of encouraging local production of rice in the country? The whole picture is still that of a bag of inconsistencies in government policies and implementation. However the Federal Government got its rice and gave it as palliative to university workers, my concern is that if the government means well for Nigerian university workers, palliative is not the answer. Better welfare package will surely promote the dignity of labour when the workers use their earned resources to take care of themselves and their dependants.
May we not wait for such a time when university workers would be required to file out for their rations of essential commodities. Udoudo is a Professor of Journalism and Media Studies On Sabbatical Appointment at the Department of Communication Studies, Bamidele Olumilua University of Education, Science and TechnologyIkere, Ekiti State..
