The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, wants the Nigerian government to stop announcing the setting up of new universities when it can hardly fund the existing ones.
The ASUU Owerri Zonal Coordinator of the union, Uzo Onyebinama, made this known in his reaction to the creation of new universities by the federal government.
On 5 April, the government gave the nod for six new Federal Universities of Medical Sciences to open in Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, while six other universities had their bills passed by the Senate.
These are in addition to the granting of licenses to private universities.
Mr. Onyebinama says the existing ones are suffering from so much neglect.
“It is not about opening more universities but about adequately funding and sustaining the universities.
“The universities we have on ground now are a shadow of themselves.
“If government can effectively fund the existing universities, expand their facilities and adequately equip them, they can comfortably absorb whatever number of students seeking admission,” he says.
“These newly created universities will join the ones existing before them and be complaining of lack of funds and educational equipment and the new government will continue creating new ones.”
Mr. Onyebinama thinks the announcement of new universities is politics. He has also revealed that ASUU is working to get the National Universities Commission (NUC) to regulate the creation of universities.
“As the country approaches 2023, we know that it is typical of government to be doing such thing just to make the people believe that it is working.
“We know all their gimmicks and both the Federal and the State Governments are guilty of this.
“So what we are doing is to get the National Universities Commission, NUC, to review its Act to empower it to regulate how governments create new universities indiscriminately when they cannot fund the existing ones,” he said.
Mr. Onyebinama’s comments are coming at a time ASUU is on strike over funding of universities in Nigeria.
Students of most government-operated universities in Nigeria have been at home since ASUU started its latest strike in February.
The Owerri zonal chairman of the union is unhappy ASUU is perceived as the enemy when it is only interested in getting the government to improve the quality of public university education.
