Independence: Hardship On Campuses Getting Unbearable – ASUU

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) University of Ibadan chapter lamented the hardships public university workers face, saying the situation is becoming unbearable.

The Chairman, Professor Ayoola Akinwole, stated this in a release to mark Nigeria’s 64th independence anniversary, entitled “Nigeria at 64: a state in need of deliverance from the leadership of Perpetual have-nots.”

He stated that the union had been very understanding by issuing an ultimatum to the government. In contrast, the federal government had been lazy about it, adding that another 14-day ultimatum was about to end, within which the government should meet the union’s demands to preserve the relative peace of public university campuses in the country.

He says, “Many Lecturers ran away to other countries; many died due to financial debility; those who could not run away got into debt just to survive, while many resigned to take another job in the private sector.”

The ASUU boss stated, “In the sixty-four years of Nigeria’s independent existence, education and the nation’s state are both in a downward spiral, owing to the dwindling fortunes in the quality of politicians steering the ship of the country’s government.

“Political leaders and holders of executive positions, be it at local government, states and federal levels, whose answers to any request from workers especially in the education sector (and the Nigerian citizens) has always been “government have not the resources to meet the demands of the unions”.

While noting that Nigeria’s problems were due to the significant neglect of its educational sector, Akinwole maintained that without the necessary tools, an improved welfare package for the lecturers and a conducive work environment, the university system would be unable to deliver on her mandates.

The ASUU chairman admonished President Tinubu “to desist from singing the unpleasant and baseless have-nots song but brace up to resolve the outstanding issues about university education as raised by ASUU, inject funds into the education sector for revitalisation, improve the remuneration of academics, and address the economic crisis in the country.”

He warned that if the trend of hardships facing Nigerians were not halted, it would culminate in multidimensional insecurity, adding that it is “more worrisome that amidst these economic woes of the people, the government is channelling its expenditure to areas like purchasing new Presidential jets and Cadillac Escalade.

“The quality of lives of the ordinary Nigerians has precipitously declined, and the gap between the haves and the have-nots is daily expanding; the rich continue to get stupendously richer while the poor are getting poorer.’’