Lest University Professors Become “Street Protesters” Burning Tyres

Mahjoub Fadel Badri
A job title carries its own prestige—enough to satisfy anyone who asks, “What does so-and-so do?” If the answer is “He’s a university professor,” the conversation ends there. Simply gaining entry to university is an achievement in itself—so what of those who teach there?
This is how it is perceived in the collective consciousness. The university professor holds an unparalleled position in society. Teachers in general occupy a lofty status, often likened to candles that burn themselves to light the way for others. At the pinnacle of this calling stand university professors—the bearers of knowledge and enlightenment.
Yet, regardless of the stark disparities in salaries, a university professor in Sudan earns barely 150 US dollars a month—believe it or not.
The University Professors’ Union has adopted a strategy of patience and gradual escalation in pursuing its legitimate demands from the “Government of Hope”, trusting that it will honour its commitments made since establishing itself in Port Sudan, up to its most recent promises this past February.
The Professors’ Committee has not taken a confrontational approach. It acted with restraint, escalating cautiously towards strike action, consulting its base before doing so. The result of that consultation was a 94.4% vote in favour of an open-ended strike—reflecting the professors’ deep sense of professional and ethical responsibility towards their students and society, even before the government.
With the dignity of scholars and the composure of academics, the Committee waited for the Minister of Higher Education to open his office door to them. They even suspended their declared strike in consideration of the difficult national circumstances since the outbreak of the war. Professors worked without pay for a considerable period and later accepted only 60% of their salaries, in solidarity with the national army. They expected the approved budget to reflect what had been agreed with the government—but it did not. After fifty days of patience, the Committee was compelled to act, announcing the commencement of an open-ended strike as of yesterday, Sunday.
Had university professors been like street agitators or unruly protesters, they would have burned tyres and barricaded roads, winning applause from those who glorify such acts—“Glory to the tyres, and to those who set them ablaze!”
Your Excellency, Chairman of the Sovereignty Council and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces, Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Burhan—have you ever heard of a strike within the army? That would be called mutiny. Yet a strike by university professors is no less serious in its implications, and such a scenario must not be allowed to occur.
Your Excellency, Prime Minister of the Government of Hope, Dr Kamel Idris—would it please you to see our esteemed professors abandoning their students in lecture halls and laboratories over a mere handful of dollars?
Your Excellency, Minister of Higher Education, Professor Ahmed Mudawi Musa—were you not once in the very position these professors now occupy? Do you not know, from experience, the reality of the academic who endures hardship for the sake of the nation’s future? Is it not enough that years of university education have already been lost—from the period of political turmoil to the present war that threatens the very existence of the country?
Your Excellency, Minister of Finance, Dr Jibril Ibrahim—you hold authority over public funds. As people say, “A leader can achieve what seems impossible,” and surely this matter is not beyond the government’s capacity. Professors are entitled to allowances—postgraduate supervision, research and publications, applied work, executive duties—all of which are already approved and agreed upon. Moreover, university professors are exempt from standard civil service regulations. Yet despite all this, their basic salary remains shockingly low.
Is it acceptable that professors should abandon their mission of carrying the torch of knowledge and instead turn to marginal jobs that yield several times their academic salary?
These esteemed professors do not wish to strike except out of necessity. They love their work and their students. Their greatest aspiration is to see their students ascend the ladder of success through knowledge and learning. It is inconceivable that the slogan of Dr Kamel Idris’s government should be “Hope”. In contrast, hope itself fades under a strike by university professors—the very key to progress, development, stability, and national reconstruction.
Gentlemen, do justice to university professors—if not for their sake, then for the sake of our children and the future of our country.

Shortlink: https://sudanhorizon.com/?p=12451