From Okey Sampson, Umuahia
National Executive Council (NEC) of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has restated its rejection of the Federal Government’s students’ loan scheme.
This is just as the ASUU NEC insisted on stripping the former minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Isah Pantami, of his full-time professorship.
ASUU National President, Emmanuel Osodeke, stated this at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike (MOUAU), while briefing newsmen on the outcome of the union’s recent NEC meeting.
In giving reason for ASUU’s rejection of the students’ loan scheme, Osodeke said the scheme was being promoted by the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank, warning that it is a way of starving public universities of funding and a ploy to divert public funds into private universities owned by ‘politically-exposed individuals and their friends’.
He called on government to urgently review all international money lending agencies, including IMF and World Bank sponsored-economic policies which he alleged are increasingly degrading the quality of life of Nigerians.
ASUU NEC equally called on government to also accelerate the process of arriving at a minimum living wage as demanded by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC).
The ASUU president also spoke on the negotiation of Federal Government and ASUU 2009 agreement; withheld salary; arrears of earned academic allowances; Illegal dissolution of governing councils; Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPS); core curriculum minimum academic standard and proliferation of universities and urged government to address them.
Osodeke, who lamented that university education was suffering total neglect by the government, wondered why the federal and state governments are establishing more universities without making adequate provision for their fundings, alleging that many of the new institutions were only established for political reasons.
The ASUU president regretted that the ugly trend has put much stress on intervention funds of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), alleging that such new universities are being established with money diverted from TETFUND.
He also raised the alarm that the Federal government is planning to re-introduce the controversial IPPS, saying the January 2024 salaries paid to the ASUU members indicated ‘new IPPS’.
The union boss demanded the payment of withheld seven and half months salaries of its members, payment of earned academic allowances and equally condemned Federal government for dissolving governing councils of universities.
While accusing the Vice Chancellor of Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Nnenna Oti, of allegedly victimising the members of ASUU in the university, Osodeke called for the stripping of Patami, as a full-time professor, saying the vice chancellor and management of FUTO were wrong to award a serving minister a professorship.
He expressed worry that public universities are being underfunded by the federal and state governments, leaving the students population and Nigerian education sector to suffer.