By; BAYO AKAMO, Ibadan
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Tuesday alerted of an alleged plan by the federal government to cripple public universities in order to increase private universities’ patronage.
ASUU Chairman, University of Ibadan chapter, Dr Deji Omolethe who raised the alarm in Ibadan during a chat with newsmen on the ongoing warning strike at the University alleged that the agenda of the present administration in the country “is to purposely underfund public universities so as to assist private institutions whom “were mostly built with looted funds” .
Emphasizing that public funds must be spent on public goods and education,Dr Omole vowed that ASUU will continue to resist all attempts to privatise public education.
“While education remains a tool for liberation of the masses, ASUU will continue to fight for qualitative education funding and delivery as well as enhanced welfare for the underpaid academic staff in Nigeria public universities” he said.
According to Dr Omole, the recent fractional salary of its members and reduction in personnel cost to public universities was part of the alleged ploy by the FG to cripple public universities
The ASUU Chairman said the approach of the present administration in the country “is propaganda driven” and that“ Nigerian leaders are funding their private lives with public funds”.
He alleged that the “President Buhari-led administration is reducing personnel grants of public universities with a view to creating crisis for benefit of their private university proprietor-friends to benefit” and that Nigerian parents and students should rise and call the Buhari-led administration to order to fund education as university system may not escape from another indefinite strike.
Commenting on the warning strike by UI ASUU members over fractional salary payment, illegal pension deductions, undisclosed Internally Generated Revenue, unpaid promotion arrears and unpaid postgraduate supervision allowance, he said the congress of the union will review the situation with a view to chatting a way forward but does not rule out a possibility of an indefinite strike.
