National President, ASUU, Nasir Issa-Fagge
The
Academic Staff Union of Universities said the existence of the National
Universities Commission has not brought improvement to the standard of
education in the country.
The union also said that it would not
call off the strike because of the mere promise made by the Federal
Government to provide revitalisation fund for the university system.
ASUU also called on the National
Assembly to investigate the activities of NUC with a view to determining
the continued relevance or otherwise of the university supervisory
body.
If found irrelevant, ASUU said it should be scrapped.
Chairman of ASUU, University of Ibadan
chapter, Dr. Olusegun Ajiboye, who spoke in Ibadan noted that the NUC
boss, Prof. Julius Okojie, had concentrated the effort of the university
regulatory body on quantity rather than quality while issuing
accreditation to universities.
Ajiboye said, “Okojie should take full
responsibility for all his deeds in the NUC. Nigerians should be proud
of ASUU in its efforts at repositioning public universities in the
country.”
The union leader added that the result
of the assessment exercise of NUC carried out by the National Economic
Empowerment Development Strategy should be used to judge the relevance
of NUC and its leader rather than the self-assessment of the regulatory
agency.
He said some of the accreditations
granted by NUC were enmeshed in controversy, wondering why the National
Assembly had not taken action on the controversies surrounding the
accreditations so far recorded.
He said, “One of the efforts of ASUU to
reposition education in the country is the NEEDS Assessment document.
This was a product of a rigorous academic exercise carried out by
dependable and credible members of our union. Unlike the numerous faulty
accreditation reports which had given these universities clean bill of
health, the NEEDS Assessment Report stands out as a classical document
of reference detailing the rot and decay in public universities in
Nigeria.
“All well meaning Nigerians can see the
contrast between Okojie’s packaged accreditation reports and a credible
job done by ASUU. It has become very clear from the assessment document
that Okojie and his people have fooled this country for too long. Time
is now for government to beam a searchlight on the activities of the
NUC. The education committees in both the Senate and House of
Representatives have an arduous task to do here. Nigerians are calling
for dismantling of an omnibus body that has done the country more harm
than good.”
ASUU also reiterated its commitment to
the current effort to gain Federal Government consent to its demand,
saying that the strike would not be called off based on mere government
promise.
Meanwhile, a non-governmental
organisation, Do It Right Foundation, has appealed to the Federal
Government and ASUU to work hard and resolve the lingering crisis that
has shut down the education sector.
In a statement on Sunday, President and
National Coordinator of the foundation, Mr. Dixon Jubril, called on the
university lecturers to give room for re-opening of the universities
in the interest of the students.
“It has become a burden on both the
government and ASUU to save the education sector from collapse by
finding a common ground for the amicable resolution of the crisis. What
both parties to the dispute must have in mind is that while the
situation lingers it is the future of the students that is at stake.
“We call on ASUU in particular to shift
ground a bit for the common good of the education system. It’s our
belief that the time has come for ASUU to devise other means of settling
its disputes with government instead of the constant disruption of
academic activities with its attendant socio-economic implications.”
PUNCH
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