INTERROGATING THE ASSUMPTIONS OF GENERAL SYSTEM THEORY INTHE 21ST CENTURY: OYO STATE GOVERNMENT-LABOUR LEADERS’ DISPUTE (2016-2019)

Abstract

Conflict of interests over human needs has been a recurring decimal since the advent of mankind on the planet earth. The only viable option left for man is how to strike a balance in human relations without necessarily destabilizing the social setting. This study examined the strengths and weaknesses of General system theory in the dispute between Oyo State Government and Labour Unions over the management of 31 secondary schools in the state. The causative, as well as trigger factors, that led to the industrial dispute were also interrogated. The study is qualitative, and relied on secondary and Face-to-face interviews for data collection. Content analysis was adopted. It was discovered among others that: Religious Organizations (ROs), Ibadan District Council (IDC), Secondary School Associations (SSA), Traditional Rulers (TRs), and Parent Teachers’ Association (PTAs) were interested in the Public-Private Management proposal by the State government. The functional indispensability of General system theory was incompatible with the State-centric approach of the Oyo state government. The unpaid salary arrears of the teaching staff, civil servants, and the apparent lack of trust and sincerity of purpose at the latent and manifest stages of the conflict were the trigger factors in the dispute. The study concludes that, the unmet basic needs and aspirations amongst the stakeholders were the causative factors of the protracted dispute. It recommended that, parties in the dispute should have jettisoned their principled negotiation approach as the issues were not beyond conflict transformation strategies.