Lecturers Using Their Blood to Run Public Varsities, Says ASUU Leader

•Coalition of university alumni groups urge Buhari to resolve prolonged industrial dispute

Onyebuchi Ezigbo in Abuja and Kemi Olaitan in Ibadan

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) yesterday said all chapters of the union that started the over six-month-old strike are intact and resolute in their quest to turn the public universities around and make them compete globally.

This was just as the union stated that lecturers in public universities in the country have been using their blood to run the institutions, sustaining them and would not sacrifice her members’ welfare any longer.

It stressed that it would resist any effort to turn intellectuals to slaves of irresponsible leadership.

The Chairman, University of Ibadan Chapter of the union, Prof. Ayo Akinwole, who made the disclosures in Ibadan, asked Nigerians to disregard the lies of the federal government, stating that the government was far from meeting any of the union’s seven demands.

He said the union gave a 14-month notice to the federal government before commencing the strike which started in February, adding that even the effort of the Nigerian Interreligious Council in 2021 yielded no results before the union was forced to declare the strike.

According to him, “We waited for 14 months from December 2020 to February 2022 before declaring this strike. I am saying 14 months’ notice, 14 months of engagements and Nigeria Inter-religious council intervened in 2021 when we would have declared the strike.

“We gave them one month with no result. Heroes are gone before they are appreciated but our union will not die. We will not die. We are going to be alive to see this struggle through.”

Akinwole disclosed that the N1.1trillion for revitalisation of universities was not for lecturers in public universities, stating that the amount was arrived at by the federal government through a NEEDS Assessment report on the level of decay in Nigerian public universities.

The ASUU boss who thanked members of the union for sacrificing and remaining resolute to reposition public varsity education in the country, argued that irresponsible leadership was the reason for strikes in Nigeria as only strikes have forced government to spend money on her universities in the last 25 years.

He said, “If ASUU does not go on this struggle, there will be no university for our children to attend. In the last 25 years, federal government will not spend money on their university unless ASUU goes on strike.

“Does that show they are responsible? I am also a parent and my children are home with me. Most lecturers have to spend their money on their students’ project for some students to graduate. I could give you numbers of some of my students who can tell you how much I have had to support their projects. Lecturers retain Nigerian public universities with their blood.”

Meanwhile, worried by the continued closure of some public universities in the country and the apparent stalemate in negotiations with ASUU, a group known as the Concerned Alumni of Nigerian Universities has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to immediately intervene to resolve the dispute.

A joint statement by the alumni groups, stated that the president should wade into the matter as a matter of utmost concern so that all contending issues are speedily and expeditiously resolved.

In the statement, the associations expressed concern over the unabated crises between the ASUU and the federal government and the continued closure of

universities in Nigeria.

In a letter signed by the Presidents of the University Alumni Associations, the concerned associations stated that no nation wanting to get to the promised land, and indeed aspiring to be a member of the comity of enlightened nations would toy with education.

They stated that globally, education was government-driven followed by other linked chains like lecturers, parents, students and other stakeholders.

“In this connection, the associations called on the federal government to urgently put in place a mechanism to holistically address the concerns and demands of the striking lecturers and other University staff,” they added.

Those who signed the statement on behalf of the alumni associations were: President (Worldwide), University of Lagos Alumni Association, Dr. John Momoh; National Chairman, Conference of Alumni

Associations of Nigerian Universities (CAANU) and president of ABU Alumni Association, Prof. Ahmed Tijani Mora, President, University of Ibadan Alumni, Prof. Elsie Adewoye, President University of Calabar Alumni, Prof. Yakubu Aboki Ochefu, President, University of Jos Alumni, Nuhu Sani, and President, University of Port Harcourt Alumni, Ule Williams Glad.

The associations further drew the attention of government to the recurrent crises in the country, especially the spate of terrorism, banditry, kidnappings, money rituals, prostitution, and other social vices, and noted that these are some of the consequences of youths not being critically engaged.

They said that a situation where millions of students had been locked out of campuses portends a grave danger for the country, the associations lamented.