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From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has secured the backing of the federal government to beam its “searchlight” on vice chancellors of public universities alleged to be involved in corruption and the mismanagement of various financial allocations from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund).
The union said it has observed the consequences of weak supervision of vice chancellors regarding the implementation of TETFund projects. It noted that many VCs have consequently engaged in the mismanagement of various TETFund allocations to their institutions.
ASUU President Prof. Chris Piwuna raised the allegation at the public presentation of 72 titles of TETFund-sponsored academic textbooks in Abuja on Wednesday.
He alleged that the VCs often use TETFund intervention disbursements as they please because they believe it is an annual cycle that must come from TETFund.
He said the union has concluded plans to beam its searchlight on the VCs of the universities to further demand proper accounts of the utilisation of TETFund interventions.
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He said, “Yes, there is plenty of money being given to the universities in recent years. Sadly, many of them have not utilised it effectively. While some of them have mismanaged it, others have used them for different purposes than what it was meant for. They come back because they know that TETFUND will make another disbursement to the institutions the following year.
“I think there should be more scrutiny about what’s been going on with TETFUND interventions in the universities, especially in the Centres of Excellence. TETFund has just added about six more Centres of Excellence to the existing 30 that are obviously not well. Most of them are performing below expectations. Hence, they must be made to account for those monies.
“We are going to turn our searchlights on the VCs and our universities soon. Honestly, we will. Because funds are not being properly managed at the university levels, we are going to take them up to make sure that they account for all of them.”
In his response, the Minister of Education, Dr Tunji Alausa, appreciated the observations and concerns of ASUU and supported the move to beam their searchlights on the activities of the vice chancellors, particularly regarding TETFund interventions.
He said, “Several of our Vice Chancellors, Rectors, and Provosts are running the institutions like an empire. We need your (ASUU) help in ensuring that fiduciary responsibilities are met and that they are held accountable.
“Every single money that we deploy to those institutions should be used the way they are meant to be used. We would work with you (ASUU) to ensure that that’s being done.”
