The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has called out the federal government of Nigeria, accusing it of shying away from its responsibilities.
The ASUU chairman in the University of Ibadan, Prof Ayo Akinwole levelled the allegation at a press conference on Wednesday where he blamed the ongoing ASUU strike on the ineffectiveness of the government and argued that the union deserves all that they are demanding.
He submitted that rather than focus on critical issues of national development, those in power are more interested in having their egos massaged by sycophants.
Speaking further at the press conference held at the Faculty of Arts, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, Prof Akinwole said the government has put the nation on auto-run and abandoned its responsibilities.
He described as frustrating the fact that ASUU has been making the same demands from the federal government over the years and the country’s leaders have not been able to find a solution.
He added that the proposition and setting up of another committee by the government for the agreement between them to be renegotiated is satanic and unacceptable, saying the government is full of deceit.
The ASUU official, therefore, called on the government to meet the demands of the striking lecturers and save the nation’s educational sector from further collapse.
His words: “If Nigeria Labour Congress has been asked to call ASUU to order, who else apart from the Nigerian people do the union ask to call the government officials to order? They have made a mess of the long-standing tradition of the committee system.
They have turned committee formation to finding jobs for political jobbers, who will submit their reports that will not be implemented by the government that appointed them. It has become so sad that the country is put on auto-run without respect for those they even employ to work for them.
It is never too late for the government to make it an urgent point of duty to solve the problem of university education and not think that it will just pass away. It will be getting worse if nothing is done. Problems do not get solved by propaganda, falsehood, and deceit.”
Akinwole said the nation’s political leaders have shown a “lack of ideological clarity for running a growing nation state and avoiding appalling dysfunctionality.
Nigerians currently live and lament unendingly about the same issues over and over again with negative progress on critical issues of economy, governance, healthcare, education, high unemployment, poor infrastructures, obdurate anti-corruption fight and insecurity.”
He, therefore, called on the government to “face the reality of decay and declare a state of emergency on the poor condition of public universities in Nigeria and give it what is due to it.
Government should stop the isolationism and embrace holistic solutions to public university education. Let us stop portraying students’ interests as different from those of their teachers and parents. All the interests converge at improving the quality of life and educational infrastructure.
The piecemeal solution of part payment of earned academic allowance, grossly inadequate disbursement of revitalization funds, erosion of university autonomy, and proliferation of universities should come to an end. You cannot kill the goose that lays the golden egg.
Nigerian academics deserve a commensurate living wage consequent on the economic context of Nigeria today in order to maintain the dignity of their work.”
