By Gami Tadanyigbe
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has described the economic and education situation within the University system as worrisome and disturbing in the country.
Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, ASUU President said this while speaking with newsmen at a two-day programme organised by the union on the state of nation conference on Thursday in Abuja.
The theme of the conference is, “Nigeria in a State of general crisis: the search for a new path to development”.
Osodeke said that most of the internally generated funds from universities were nothing to write home about when compelled to the daily or monthly running costs for electricity, security among others.
“We are so challenged. But let me give you a quick example, University of Lagos, University of Ibadan Amadu Bello University, and University Nigeria, Nsuka, what they get from the government account for overhead running of the university in a month is N15million.
“Meanwhile, the University of Lagos needs about N200 million naira to pay electricity bill. It is this IGR that you talk about that is used to pay for the electricity.
“One of the universities today is closing down because they have been given electricity bill of N300 million naira.
“What government gives you to run the system is N15 million, and you get a bill for electricity alone of 300 million naira,”he said.
He also added that, where is that money coming from? You have to run the laboratories. You have to run the diesel. You have to run the fuel for vehicles.
He therefore said that was where the IGR goes and that it was not enough to buy books in the library, or to run your library, among others.
“For whatever reason, they have refused to fund the university systems as it was in the earlier part of our history.
“From the way we are going, if nothing is done, many universities will close up because they can not afford the so called band A and Band B,”he said.
Osodeke also noted the economic situation of some academics in the country was had become so worrisome.
He noted that farming had become even more lucrative for academicians, especially as some professors earned as lower than N300,000 per month.
and still and publish journals.
He also criticised the proliferation of Universities in the country, warning that they were merely running on skeletal manpower as most of the lecturing staff were out of the country searching for greener pastures.
He noted that the situation within the university system as very disturbing, stressing that most of their members are dropping dead.
ASUU also noted how rigging is perpetrated by the polictical class, which warranted their members to stay away from electoral processes after the 2015 general elections.
Osodeke added that, academicians still presiding over elections are doing so on individual capacities, not as ASUU members.
Speaking, the Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr Abbas Tajudeen, called on ASUU to shelved the plan strike that they had threatened to embark.
Tajudeen said that there must be other alternative means of resolving industrial disputes in the university system other than the regular resolve to strike.
“We must equally strive to maintain industrial harmony and stability through alternative dispute resolution system,”he said.