Bail Out Nigerian Universities In Public Interest - ASUU Tells FG

 

 

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, Lagos zone has reiterated its appeal to the federal government to bail out universities in the interest of the public and for the future of children in Nigeria.

The union urged the government to release funds for the bailout of public universities as it had done to aviation, banks and the power sectors for business good.

The union said this in a statement issued on Sunday by Lagos Zonal Coordinator, Prof. Olusiji Sowande,
as it tackled the Labour Minister over a claim, on a television programme, that the Federal Government cannot afford the conservative N110 billion for the revitalisation of universities.

           

The union added, “Furthermore, parents, students and the general public should not be persuaded by Dr Chris Ngige’s public statement that government cannotThe union appealed to parents to continue and join hands with the union to save public universities from total collapse as such is the only guarantee to ensure children are properly trained.

afford to pay the conservative N110 billion naira for the revitalization of the Nigerian public Universities.

“Only recently, the government approved N5 billion bailout fund to operators in the aviation sector to ameliorate the harsh realities of COVID-19 on their business operations. Over the years, the Nigerian government has spent over N1.5 trillion to bail out power generation and distribution companies to keep their business afloat despite the privatization of the power sector. Trillions of public fund have been expanded on commercial banks as bailout funds to save them from collapsing.

” If the government could bail out private businesses for “Business Good” then Nigerian public Universities deserved to be bailed out for “Public Good”.
“The Needs Assessment Report of 2012 (an assessment funded by
the government itself) provided glowing evidence of the need to save the public Universities from imminent collapse.

“The document stipulated that N1.3 trillion injected over five years would save the public
Universities from collapsing. Government’s failure to faithfully release the revitalization fund over the years is a deliberate attempt to allow the public Universities to collapse.”

It urged the government to act in the interest of students that have stayed at home for seven months, saying the union had shifted ground from the initial insistence of a release of one tranche of N220 billion revitalization fund to
demand for 50% of one tranche (N110 billion) for the government to show its commitment to the revitalization of our Universities.

“This is a major reason government has not been able to return to negotiation with our Union in
the last two weeks.

“Parents and Nigerian students should note that our current struggle is patriotic and our sacrifice for the survival of Nigerian public Universities is unparalleled,” the union added.