The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has given the Federal Government two weeks to reconstitute the governing councils of the federal universities and also meet its other demands contained in the agreements they signed.
ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodoke, at a press conference, in Abuja, yesterday, said the decision was taken at the meeting of the National Executive Committee (NEC), which ended in Abuja on Monday.
The level of illegalities and impunities going on in the universities. The vice chancellors are practically running the institutions like sole administrators. That’s an illegality that can only happen in Nigeria. Several decisions that ought to be reviewed and taken by the Council are being taken by the VCs with some of them claiming that they got approval from the Minister of Education.
However, said the decision to issue the two weeks ultimatum was to awaken the consciousness of the government to the challenges, insisting that the silence of the government in several issues highlighted was affecting the smooth running of the universities.
Speaking earlier at a workshop on ‘Emerging Areas of Students Needs in Beneficiary Institutions’ organised by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) in Abuja, Osodeke argued that the absence of Governing Councils in the federal universities for almost a year means the institutions have been operating illegally within the period.
He noted that the Establishment Act of the universities stipulated that the Governing Councils must always be on ground to monitor academic and non-academic activities of the universities but unfortunately, there have not been Governing Councils for the federal universities in the last one year.
He also decried the neglect of the education sector, saying Nigeria ranks lowest in education budgets in the West African sub-region and reiterated the union’s call for an upward review of education tax to 10 percent, insisting it would increase TETFund funding from the current N600 billion annually to N3 trillion.