Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASSU, in Kano raised a red flag against proliferation of Universities in the country, saying, state owned Universities may soon collapse due to bad governance and underfunding.
Co-ordonator of Kano zone of ASSU, Professor Abdulkadir Muhammad, at a Press Coference, therefore, called on the National Assembly to urgently consider the passage of the National Universities Commision Act, amendment bill to address proliferation of state Universities.
He said ” we are calling on the National Assembly to as a matter of urgency, consider and pass the Bill’ adding, ‘ due to bad governance and bad funding, our universities may soon collapse beyond redemption.”
He said ” visitors of state universities had turned establishment of state universities into projects for appeasing electorates in their senatorial and state cpnstituencies, while neglecting the existing state universities.”
He further said ” besides non funding of capital projects, most state governors also failed in the primary responsibilities of regular payment of salaries in their universities’ and rejected charging of high tuition fees in state universities which he said places education beyond the reach of common Nigerians.
On the issue of University Transparency and Accountability Solution, (UTAS )he explained that end user acceptability test had been completed and that the union was waiting for the subsequent deployment of UTAS in the management of payroll and personnel systems of the federal universities.
The association also urged the Federal Government to sign and implement the draft ASUU/FGN renegotiated agreement of May, 2021, in addition to the release of the first tranche of the N30 billion fund for the revitalization of public universities.
“The government should also release N25 billion Earned Academic Allowance .
“We also urge the federal government to immediately remit withheld check-off dues to the branches of the withheld and amputated salaries/ allowances and third party deductions.,” he added.
The coordinator said that the Union would always deploy appropriate measures to salvage the Nigerian university system from rot and decay.
He said that the union firmly believes in the use of qualitative education to liberate and transform Nigeria from its current state of underdevelopment