ASUU STRIKE UPDATE

ASUU blasts NUC, says strike continues: National President, ASUU, Nasir Issa-Fagge

The Academic Staff Union of Universities said the
existence of the National Universities Commission has
not brought improvement to the standard of education
in the country.
The union also said that it would not call off the strike
because of the mere promise made by the Federal
Government to provide revitalisation fund for the
university system.

ASUU also called on the National Assembly to investigate
the activities of NUC with a view to determining the continued relevance or otherwise of the university supervisory body.
If found irrelevant, ASUU said it should be scrapped.

Chairman of ASUU, University of Ibadan chapter, Dr. Olusegun Ajiboye, who spoke in Ibadan noted that the NUC boss, Prof. Julius Okojie, had concentrated the
effort of the university regulatory body on quantity rather than quality while issuing accreditation to universities.

Ajiboye said, “Okojie should take full responsibility for all
his deeds in the NUC. Nigerians should be proud of
ASUU in its efforts at repositioning public universities in
the country.”

The union leader added that the result of the assessment
exercise of NUC carried out by the National Economic
Empowerment Development Strategy should be used to
judge the relevance of NUC and its leader rather than the
self-assessment of the regulatory agency.
He said some of the accreditations granted by NUC were
enmeshed in controversy, wondering why the National
Assembly had not taken action on the controversies
surrounding the accreditations so far recorded.
He said, “One of the efforts of ASUU to reposition
education in the country is the NEEDS Assessment
document. This was a product of a rigorous academic
exercise carried out by dependable and credible
members of our union. Unlike the numerous faulty accreditation reports which had given these universities clean bill of health, the NEEDS Assessment Report stands
out as a classical document of reference detailing the rot
and decay in public universities in Nigeria.

“All well meaning Nigerians can see the contrast between
Okojie’s packaged accreditation reports and a credible
job done by ASUU. It has become very clear from the
assessment document that Okojie and his people have
fooled this country for too long. Time is now for
government to beam a searchlight on the activities of
the NUC. The education committees in both the Senate
and House of Representatives have an arduous task to do
here. Nigerians are calling for dismantling of an omnibus
body that has done the country more harm than good.”

ASUU also reiterated its commitment to the current
effort to gain Federal Government consent to its demand,
saying that the strike would not be called off based on
mere government promise.
Meanwhile, a non-governmental organisation, Do It Right
Foundation, has appealed to the Federal Government and
ASUU to work hard and resolve the lingering crisis that has shut down the education sector.

In a statement on Sunday, President and National
Coordinator of the foundation, Mr. Dixon Jubril, called
on the university lecturers to give room for re-opening
of the universities in the interest of the students.
“It has become a burden on both the government and
ASUU to save the education sector from collapse by
finding a common ground for the amicable resolution of
the crisis. What both parties to the dispute must have in
mind is that while the situation lingers it is the future of
the students that is at stake.

“We call on ASUU in particular to shift ground a bit for
the common good of the education system. It’s our
belief that the time has come for ASUU to devise other
means of settling its disputes with government instead of
the constant disruption of academic activities with its
attendant socio-economic implications.”