MEMBERS of Nnamdi Azikiwe
University, UNIZIK, branch of the Academic
Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, yesterday, in
Awka took to the streets on a peaceful protest
to prevail on the Federal Government to
implement the agreement it reached with the union in 2009 on the proper funding of the
country’s public universities. The lecturers gathered at the popular Aroma
junction in the Anambra State capital as early
as 8. 00am, displaying placards with some
inscriptions as ‘Kill education, kill
development’; ‘Fund education, fund
development’; ‘ASUU for quality education’; ‘FG: agreement is agreement’; and ‘Nigeria
needs quality education’. UNIZIK ASUU chairman, Professor Ike
Odumegwu, who addressed the lecturers
among others, accused politicians and some
wealthy Nigerians of deliberately trying to kill
education in the country so that their private
universities could make education beyond the reach of the poor people. He said: “The implementation of the
agreement borders on morality. We are neither
negotiating, nor renegotiating with the Federal
Government, but only asking government to
implement the agreement it signed with ASUU
in 2009. “In that agreement, government agreed with
ASUU on the needs assessment of the
universities and agreed to release money for
its implementation only for it to turn round now
to say that ASUU strike is politically motivated.
Government has said ‘no work, no pay’ and ASUU is saying ‘no pay, no work’. Our demand
is that our universities should be made to
compete with others in the world. “A situation whereby our rich people send their
sick ones to India for medical treatment
because our teaching hospitals are in shambles
due to lack of proper funding is no longer
acceptable. “Our government is budgeting N3.2 trillion for
the building of centenary village, but it cannot
release N400 billion to upgrade facilities in the
nation’s public universities. If this strike fails, it
will result to a number of negative
consequences for Nigerian education, including the fact that an average Nigerian student in a
federal university will be paying at least
N200,000, while over 80 per cent of parents
can no longer afford to send their children to
the university.”
University, UNIZIK, branch of the Academic
Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, yesterday, in
Awka took to the streets on a peaceful protest
to prevail on the Federal Government to
implement the agreement it reached with the union in 2009 on the proper funding of the
country’s public universities. The lecturers gathered at the popular Aroma
junction in the Anambra State capital as early
as 8. 00am, displaying placards with some
inscriptions as ‘Kill education, kill
development’; ‘Fund education, fund
development’; ‘ASUU for quality education’; ‘FG: agreement is agreement’; and ‘Nigeria
needs quality education’. UNIZIK ASUU chairman, Professor Ike
Odumegwu, who addressed the lecturers
among others, accused politicians and some
wealthy Nigerians of deliberately trying to kill
education in the country so that their private
universities could make education beyond the reach of the poor people. He said: “The implementation of the
agreement borders on morality. We are neither
negotiating, nor renegotiating with the Federal
Government, but only asking government to
implement the agreement it signed with ASUU
in 2009. “In that agreement, government agreed with
ASUU on the needs assessment of the
universities and agreed to release money for
its implementation only for it to turn round now
to say that ASUU strike is politically motivated.
Government has said ‘no work, no pay’ and ASUU is saying ‘no pay, no work’. Our demand
is that our universities should be made to
compete with others in the world. “A situation whereby our rich people send their
sick ones to India for medical treatment
because our teaching hospitals are in shambles
due to lack of proper funding is no longer
acceptable. “Our government is budgeting N3.2 trillion for
the building of centenary village, but it cannot
release N400 billion to upgrade facilities in the
nation’s public universities. If this strike fails, it
will result to a number of negative
consequences for Nigerian education, including the fact that an average Nigerian student in a
federal university will be paying at least
N200,000, while over 80 per cent of parents
can no longer afford to send their children to
the university.”
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