COVID-19: ASUU Bauchi rejects reopening of universities amid poor funding

Gyang Bere, Jos

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Bauchi Zone, has kicked against calls for the reopening of Nigerian universities by some stakeholders in the country, citing unresolved COVID19 pandemic issues and poor funding from the Federal Government.

ASUU Zonal Coordinator, Bauchi Zone, Prof Lawan G Abubakar, disclosed this on Tuesday at a press conference at the ASUU Secretariat, University of Jos.

‘Our position is that Government should not reopen Universities until they have done the needful,’ he said.

‘The COVID-19  pandemic has clearly exposed the poor funding of our health institutions and particularly the educational institutions which further shows there are fundamental issues which needs to be address

‘The union did not say schools should continue to be closed. What the union is saying is that neither the COVID- 19 pandemic nor the ASUU strike is the reason to justify the continued closure… but [that] fundamentally the government has failed.

‘They have failed to address the obvious issues because there is no commitment to the Nigerian state, the facilities that are needed in the educational and health sector […] you put protocols in place and there are no facilities to comply with the protocols,’ he argued.

Prof Abubakar further raised concerns on the issue of Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS).

‘The new trend in the desperate attempts of the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) to implement IPPIS in the universities has exposed his excesses and how he has taken laws into his own hands.

‘We would want to advise AGF to assist Nigeria and Nigerians in curbing mega-corruption in the many MDAs [federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies] that have recently been exposed in this bad light.

‘We have mechanisms to check any form of corruption in Nigerian universities, as is being done in University of Lagos now.’

ASUU also appealed to parents and students to remain calm as the union is working to make ensure the things are done to improve the Nigerian university system.