The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof Christopher Piwuna, has directed vice-chancellors of universities across the country to protect institutional lands against encroachment by politicians and other influential individuals.
Piwuna warned that the union would resist any attempt by governors, ministers, political office holders or private interests to take over university land for personal or commercial purposes.
He stated this while speaking at a two-day strategic engagement with heads of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) beneficiary institutions, chairmen of governing councils and bursars in Abuja on Wednesday.
The ASUU president, who expressed concern over the growing threats to university autonomy and institutional assets, insisted that university land must be protected for the benefit of present and future generations of students.
“We will not allow anybody to take an inch of our university land for personal gratification. Whether the individual is a governor, a minister, a chairman of a political commission or a party official, whoever that person may be, if he attempts to take an inch of our land, we will fight him to the hilt. It will not happen,” he said.
Piwuna questioned the justification for allocating university land to private individuals and business concerns, arguing that such decisions could undermine the long-term interests of universities and generations of students.
“What is 25 or 30 years in the life of a young person that somebody will suddenly come and claim to be allocating university land to private individuals or business concerns? We will not allow that,” he added.
He said the union had communicated its position to Vice-Chancellors, stressing that university authorities must not surrender institutional interests to political pressure.
“We have told the Vice-Chancellors that even if everybody takes a plot of land, it does not mean we should surrender our institutional interests. We will not stop speaking out,” he said.
He maintained that the union would defend university land across the country, irrespective of whether the institutions were federally or state-owned.
The ASUU president further cautioned universities against establishing academic programmes simply because they appeared lucrative or were likely to attract more students, warning that such decisions could result in accreditation challenges.
He urged institutional heads to ensure that programmes were properly designed, adequately funded and supported by the necessary facilities and personnel before their introduction.
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