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.”
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