ASUU Opposes 9 Newly Approved Varsities, Threatens Strike

The Yola zone of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has demanded that the federal government immediately freeze the recently approved nine universities until the existing ones receive adequate funding, infrastructure and staffing or face industrial action.

The union’s zonal coordinator, Dani Mamman, made the members’ position known at a press conference held at the Modibbo Adama University, Yola, the Adamawa State capital yesterday.
Maman said the approval of the new universities continues the systematic destruction of Nigeria’s higher education system.

He lamented that although the 2009 ASUU-FGN agreement emphasised revitalising existing universities through sustainable funding, successive administrations chose expansion without capacity, leaving students to learn in collapsed classrooms and obsolete laboratories.

The zonal coordinator, represented by Dr Mbave Joshua, chairman of the Taraba State University chapter, directed members to reject in totality the Tertiary Institutions Staff Support Fund (TISSF) introduced by the federal government, describing it as a debt trap loan for its members.

“Our members are already burdened by multiple loans due to poor wages and unpaid entitlements.
“Rather than address the root cause of financial distress, the government is offering a cosmetic loan scheme that deepens economic slavery.

The zone, which comprises Adamawa State University (ADSU), Mubi, Federal University Gashua (FUGA), Modibbo Adama University (MAU), Yola, Taraba State University (TSU), Jalingo, University of Maiduguri (UNIMAID), and Yobe State University (YSU), Damaturu, further urged the federal government to implement its earlier agreements or face industrial actions.