ASUU blasts Buhari, APC over poor education policy, funding

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has described President Muhammadu Buhari’s policy on education as wicked and criminal against the needs of Nigerian youths.

The union accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) led government of a deliberate plan to starve public education with funds in order to deny Nigerian youths the right to know and challenge misrule.

In a statement signed by its chairman, University of Ibadan Chapter, on Sunday, Prof. Deji Omole, the union lamented that the sacrifices of understaffed and underpaid Nigerian academics will be futile if President Buhari does not increase education funding.

Omole stated that the University of Ibadan was presently groaning due to paucity of funds, insufficient staff, decayed infrastructure and bad laboratories.

According to ASUU, education is not the priority of the Buhari-led government.

The statement added that due to paucity of funds, over 500,000 Nigerian children who desired public university education were rejected annually due to poor funding, decayed infrastructure and reduced manpower.

The statement further said unless urgent steps were taken to cater for the needs of the Nigerian children, many of them will fight back with crime.

“APC Government’s failure to fund education is a design to kill public universities. University of Ibadan is groaning terribly due to paucity of funds. Retired academics cannot be replaced because government deliberately refused to make budgetary provision for growth and development.

“This crisis has led to the staff on ground being overworked, leading to early deaths of many of our colleagues. Education is not the priority of this government.

“Due to paucity of funds, many universities, including University of Ibadan, the nation’s premier university, cannot admit many qualified candidates into the universities.

“This is dangerous to the society as the rejected qualified and brilliant candidates may eventually take to crimes because the country has rejected them. The policy is not only wicked but criminal,” the statement reads in part.