By Waziri Isa Adam
The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Professor Chris Piwuna, has lamented that due to the pathetic conditions of service in Nigerian Universities, some colleagues have been forced to relocate to their offices to sleep with their families.
Comrade Piwuna made the revelation yesterday during a Virtual Conversation titled, “A conversation with the ASUU President”, on “The Toyin Falola Interviews” Programme which more than Five million personalities from more than 27 countries participated.
The ASUU President who queried that, “How can such people be expected to source endorsements or drive World-class research?, regretted that, “We are still struggling to move out of the 17th century, not the 18th century.”
Commenting on why the federal government does not prioritise education, the ASUU strongman said, “It’s because government officials do not consider the sector’s problems as national concerns that require the right attention that it deserves.”
He said it is because of the indifference of key government officials towards the education sector that has made it difficult to move the education sector, which is instrumental in the development of every nation, forward.
He stressed that it’s because of this indifference by the government that ASIU had always been prompted to embark on strikes as the only language that the government understands.
In recent years, the union has often justified industrial action as prompted by government proposals that it views as total departure from the agreed terms of the 2009 FGN-ASUU Agreement, and other unresolved issues.
He said because children and wards of most government officials do not attend public universities in Nigeria, they do not see the problems of education as problems that affect them.
He cited that it is because of this selfish interest that when ASUU declares an industrial dispute, the Minister of Finance, or the Minister of Science and Technology, sees it as the problem of the minister of education, and who should solve it alone.
Comrade Piwuna added that “But if the Minister of Finance understood that economic growth depends on a knowledgeable workforce, he would take the problems of the Minister of education as his own. The same applies to every other Minister.”
He said ideological differences and corruption are other issues that hinder positive response by the government on the demands of ASUU which are rooted in patriotism and love for the country and the education sector as a whole.
“While we, in ASUU, see education as a public good, those in government treat it as a capitalist venture, something that can only be important if it generates profit”, Comrade highlighted.
He regretted that because many of the private universities in the country belong to them, they have been pressuring TETFund to begin the funding of their universities.
He gave an example of the Chief of Staff of former President General Buhari, Professor Suleiman Gambari who because he is now a Pro-chancellor and the chairman of the governing council of a certain private university, he has been mounting pressure on TETFund to fund such private universities.
The anchor of the programme, Professor Toyin Falola, had earlier given a comprehensive overview of ASUU’S historical struggles during the dictatorial military regimes of General Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida and General Sani Abacha, which led to recurring industrial actions that severely affected Nigerian universities then.