ASUU is not to blame for the decline of public universities; Chairman; The chairman said the ongoing struggle by the union is to salvage the university system from total collapse.
HAVE YOU USED OUR JAMB TOOL YET? IT PROVIDES YOUR JAMB COMBINATION FOR FREE
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) claims that it is not to blame for the nation’s public universities’ current state of decline.
This was said by Lazarus Maigoro, the union’s head at the University of Jos, during a peaceful demonstration it organized on Tuesday in Jos.
The chairman stated that the union’s continued fight is an effort to prevent the university system from completely collapsing.
“Public universities and, by extension, the educational system have been given systematic neglect, chronic underfunding, and lack of attention, leading to its incapacity to compete globally,” he claimed.
Therefore, Nigerians should not view ASUU as the opposition to education but rather as the organization whose goal is to make a university education the envy of all, he continued.
He recalled how the union had communicated with the government over the years about the need to deal with its problems.
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), the NEEDS assessment money, and other financial streams to reinvigorate public universities were established as a result of the countless fights by ASUU, Mr. Maigoro continued.
Therefore, Nigerians should not view ASUU as the opposition to education but rather as the organization whose goal is to make a university education the envy of all, he continued.
He recalled how the union had communicated with the government over the years about the need to deal with its problems.
The Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), the NEEDS assessment money, and other financial streams to reinvigorate public universities were established as a result of the countless fights by ASUU, Mr. Maigoro continued.
“By paying pro-rata salaries and withholding its eight months’ worth of withheld wages, ASUU is saying ‘no’ to the casualization of academics in public universities.
“We urge Nigerians to make it clear to the government that it must abide by and uphold the commitments it voluntarily signed and engaged into with the union, including the conclusion of the 2022 renegotiation.
Our national body instructed all chapters to hold this peaceful protest and lecture-free day in response to this, he said, “to express our concern with the attempts by a small number of Nigerians to ruin public universities.”
(NAN)
