CONFLICT MANAGEMENT AND THE RULE OF LAW: A CASE OF ASUU INDUSTRIAL ACTION IN NIGERIA (2015 – 2018)

Abstract

In Nigeria, industrial conflict or action has remained a recurrent trend in many organizations, especially governmental organizations. This is because of the poor remuneration, wages, motivations, entitlements, rewards and other welfare packages given to workers in the organization. Workers perceived poor attention to their agitations and flagrant neglect of the rule of law has remained at the heart of these industrial conflicts. In Nigeria, the Academic Staff Union of Universities’ strike is seen as a festive and annual event with serious jeopardy to academic activities. Industrial actions therefore cause low productivity in an organization. The research work relied on the frustration- aggression theory to examine the industrial conflicts between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government of Nigeria. It was discovered that ASUU and the Federal Government industrial conflict has been lingering because of government nonchalant attitude towards the demands of ASUU. It was also discovered that the panels set to resolve the conflict have not been upholding the principles of the rule of law which made the situation to be more precarious. The researcher also found out that this conflict has serious negative effects on the students, lecturers, and the country at large. It was observed that none of the conflict resolution techniques including; negotiation, mediation, arbitration, adjudication were consistently maintained in resolving the matter.  A  recourse to some of these principles were advocated.