Ekiti State Governor, Kayode
Fayemi on Monday criticised the decision of the Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU) to embark on strike.
According to him, tertiary
institutions in the country had fared better under President Muhammadu Buhari.
Fayemi said this in Paris at the
end of the President’s interactive session with Nigerians living in France.
He said; “If you talk about
tertiary education, ASUU is on strike, but you ask yourself, why is ASUU on
strike. ASUU claimed that it is on strike because it wants improvement in the
fortunes of education in Nigeria and that government has not lived up to expectations.
“I made bold to say that no
government has done as much as this government has done, not just for ASUU, but
for tertiary education in our country.
“Is it enough? Absolutely, it’s
not going to be enough. We have to keep doing more”, Nation quoted him as
saying.
“But ask yourself what was the
average wage in the University system before. A university professor earn more
than me as a governor. My salary as a governor is N500,000. Most university
professors earn about the same amount, if not more.
“Yes, you may argue that there
are other opportunities available, there are also other opportunities that are
available that are not being taken advantage of by our academics. I can say a
little bit about this because this is my terrain.
“I do not think that ASUU on its
own strength can argue that government has not done well. There is hardly any
institution in Nigeria today, including states universities, that have not had
the benefit of intervention.
“It is either the government is
building an auditorium or rehabilitating a laboratory, or improving on students
hostels in virtually all the universities as I speak to you. That’s what
TETFUND does via their intervention funds. That again is not the complete
solution.
“Can we continue to maintain a
tuition-free education in Nigeria, in even Federal universities. What UNESCO
pushes for, what most universal human rights positions argue for, is that basic
education should be free. Basic education is free in Nigeria right up to
secondary schools.
“As for free university
education, I’m not so sure that is what we really need right now. But in order
to address that, we also must elevate the place of technical and vocational
education in our country so that we don’t see those that go for technical
education as inferior to those who go to universities.
“Our educational system should
focus on functionality rather than just certificates. I think this is what ASUU
and other drivers of change in our economy should be arguing for.
“Can we add more resources to
education budget? Absolutely we can. But when you have competing needs, you
cannot have everything that you want. And this is something ASUU needs to
know”.
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