The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) at the weekend said it would unfold its next agenda if the federal government refused to negotiate with it on its demands.
Speaking at the Town and Gown meeting with parents, students union leaders and alumni of universities in the country at the Africa Hall, University of Ilorin, the National President of ASUU, Professor Biodun Ogunyemi, gave a graphic detail of agreements ASUU had with the federal government since 2009 which, he said, are yet to be honoured despite promises made to the union.
He said, “If the government refuses to negotiate, we will unfold our next agenda. Let’s wait and see.
When we get there we will cross it.”
He stated that the current strike action embarked upon by the academics was necessitated by the deliberate refusal of the federal government to fund university education and leaving the nation’s university facilities to decay.
“There is a deliberate attempt to kill university education in the country. Some universities use stoves in their laboratories instead of burners and buckets to fetch water to perform experiments.
It’s as bad as that”, he said.
He explained that ASUU had signed MoU with the federal government on the need to improve facilities in the campuses, students’ welfare, academic promotion and welfare, but “were neglected because there were plans to make education inaccessible to children of the poor which today is creating social vices such as yahoo-yahoo, yahoo-plus, banditry and other criminal activities in the society.”
“Check the social media; you will see them celebrating their children graduating from foreign universities. This is why they are not willing to fund public universities.
“Nigeria can fund free education if the government shows the right attitude to education, block all leakages, and curb corruption. If the government can give N80 billion to banks as a bailout, why not to the education sector,” the ASUU president said.
Past ASUU leaders, who include Professor Sule Abdullahi Kano and Professor Nasir Issa Fagge, in their separate remarks urged parents, students and the public to see reason with ASUU, saying, “We urge you to support and work with us to get out of the mess the Nigerian educational system is into.”
