AQUINO Journal of Philosophy

There have been recurrent decays and crises in the Nigerian university system. This largely emanates from the government’s negligence of its moral and constitutional duties towards education. This negligence is the cause of the persistent industrial strike actions carried out by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU). This brings about the question on the government’s responsibility to education. Many successive Nigerian administrations have demonstrated indifferences to the welfare and dignity of university labourers, particularly the academic staff, forgetting that education is amongst the constitutional rights and an ethical obligations of the state. This raises questions: What moral responsibilities do Nigerian government owes to its university? How does the government's negligence of the academics conditions of services constituted the breach of ethical governance? In what way does moral philosophy guides the reform of the Nigeria’s university system? The intent of this study is to examine the foundations of the obligations of the Nigeria government to university. It also intends to expose how the Nigeria government's leadership failures contributed to regenerations and collapse of public university standard. To maintain focus, via avoidance of overgeneralizations, the writer narrows down the study to the academic conditions of services in federal university. This is because, the area is deeply encapsulated in both the human and moral dimensions of educational crisis. Applying the evaluative method of philosophical inquiry here, the study discovered that the government’s negligence behaviors to university education causes moral deficits in the public administration system, and this therefore, directly affected the academic conditions of services. It discovered also that the government's failures to carry out its administrative obligations consequently, is the cause of the recurring industrial disputes between the ASUU and government which is adversely affecting students and academias themselves. The adage goes, “a hungry man is an angry man.” Concurring to this, Socrates asserted that, “man cannot philosophize with an empty stomach.” Since education is the backbone of national development, and academics are its custodians, the study recommends that, any policy, and attitude that will undermine their well-being, must be avoided, because such endangers the country"s progress in at large. The government of Nigeria, must undertake genuine moral and structural reforms to ensure transparency in leadership's accountability. This no doubt will promote sustainable academic welfare to achieve consistency in its development.

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