The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has said that sharp decline in the 2017 budget allocation to education sector will do the country more harm than good.
ASUU president, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, who raised the alarm in Abuja during NLC visit led Ayuba Wabba to the secretariat, said it is easy to destroy any country, once the educational sector is destroyed.
Prof. Ogunyemi said the declined in 2017 budget allocation to four per cent for education in the country was worrisome which is culpable of destroying the nations educational system.
He said the declined towards funding education from 11 per cent to eight percent in 2015 has done the education system no good, adding out of the six percent proposed in 2017 only four per cent was given at the end of the day.
“The declined would only destroy the country because destroying the educational system of a nation means destroying the nation.
“education has been relegated to the background because political office holder now owned private universities at the detriment of government universities.
“The owned universities how can they care about government universities. The moment the destroy government universities Nigeria has image again, because everything has been privatised even their thinking. ”
He further said the Union has always engaged government about funding and provision of facilities to attract brains for education to bring about development in the country.
According to him, the political class hardly recognised the essence of scholarship and funding for the development of the system, but all they think about was for them to take away what belong to the people.
The ASUU president however solicit the support of Nigerians and NLC in the struggle to gets adequate funding for eduction sector.
NLC president, Comrade Ayuba Wabba, emphasised the role of education in nation development, stressing government must prioise adequate funding for education.
According to him, most leaders in Nigeria had benefited from free education and now they can not transfer same education to the children of the poor, majority of Nigerians youths have been denied quality education.
