"Address funding issue for varsities"

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has called on the National Assembly to address the issue of low funding of the education sector in the country.

The ASUU President, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi made the call on Wednesday while answering questions from newsmen after the inauguration of a new secretariat constructed by the ASUU chapter of Kano State University of Science and Technology, Wudil.

NAN reports that the new ASUU secretariat was named after Nasir Hussein, a founding member of the union in the university.

Ogunyemi said the union was not happy with the allocations to the sector in the last three years and said that the National Assembly must change the narrative.

“In this year’s budget 6.1 per cent was allocated, last year it was eight per cent and we rejected it and the year before was 11 per cent.

“So the allocation to the education sector has been on the decline and what we are saying is that we will no longer take it.

“We went to the National Assembly during the budget defence and argued our case,” the ASUU president said.

He expressed hope that the lawmakers would do something urgently to address the issue, to enable Nigerian universities have the necessary facilities for uninterrupted academic activities and be able to compete with other universities across the world.

“We hope the National Assembly will address the issue of funding and address other problems bedeviling the universities in the country.

“We have always been engaging government on what they need to do to make our universities globally competitive to attract and retain the best academics.”

According to him, the union is also working to promote policies that would address the welfare of its members as well as improve the quality of lives of Nigerians.

Ogunyemi also commented on salary shortfalls in some universities, saying that the union would no longer tolerate such.

“We have written to the government. We met at Yola last week and we put it on the table that as from the end of March, we will no longer accept any reduction in what is due to our members as their entitlements.”

He added that ASUU would continue to concsientise Nigerians to identify people with the capacity to provide the best leadership in the country.