Inadequate funding hinders varsities’ performance – ASUU

By Agboola Bayo Ibadan.

Th e Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has alerted that it will be diffi cult for any Nigeria university to eff ectively compete globally as the federal government has failed to budget enough funds to education sector. ASUU raised the alarm in a statement issued in Ibadan by its University of Ibadan chapter Chairman, Dr Deji Omole and made available to journalists.

Th e union, while rating the twoyear administration of President Mohammadu Buhari poorly in public funded education, berated the administration for reportedly “defrauding the people during 2015 campaign” with a promises to fund public education with a minimum of 15 percent, but that budgetary allocation to education nosedived further under the administration’s two years of governance. “On education, the government has performed poorly as the budgetary allocation to education suff ered a serious decline as against what the APC government promised. Th e government promised minimum of 15% but instead of moving towards that we are actually moving backward.”

it said. Th e union added: “Fractional salaries are paid to workers even though the cost of living is now more than triple. Non release of revitalization grant in line with ASUU/FGN agreement and MOUs, non-payment of earned academic allowances “. ‘In fact no Nigerian university will be able to compete eff ectively with other universities abroad with the attitude of this government towards public funded education”. ASUU emphasised that federal government should ” be held responsible for the growing rate of crime for failing to arrest youth through meaningful education and nonchalant attitude to the problems facing the poor majority in Nigeria” According to the union,” APC government has made Nigerians poorer, with public education “poorly funded because the rich do not have their children schooling in Nigeria’.

In the health sector, the union accused the present administration in the country for “poorly equipping Health Institutions in Nigeria” saying, “many poor Nigerians have died of the same disease that has made the President to run to the United Kingdom” Wondering why it has been diffi cult to build a world class Health facility in Nigeria for all Nigerians to have access, it recalled that the National Leader of APC Bola Tinubu also ran out of Nigeria when he fell ill to be treated despite being in government for eight years in Lagos and controlling more states in Southwest.

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