The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has sounded the alarm over a perceived plot to undermine public universities in Nigeria.
ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, expressed concern about the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund’s alleged efforts to dismantle the country’s public education system.
During the 2024 ASUU Heroes Day commemoration in Abuja, Osodeke highlighted the ongoing delay in renegotiating the 2009 agreement with the Federal Government. Despite numerous Memoranda of Understanding and Action, the agreement remains unresolved.
The union further criticized the implementation of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll Information System (IPPIS) in public universities, even after the Federal Executive Council’s decision to exclude tertiary institutions from the system.
ASUU has condemned the Federal Government’s continued withholding of its members’ three and a half months’ salaries, along with arrears of wages, promotions, and the Earned Academic Allowance.
At the 2024 ASUU Heroes Day event, President Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke acknowledged the sacrifices made by ASUU members in their fight for improved public university education.
The union honored its “past and living heroes” and announced plans to award PhD grants worth N500,000 each to selected members from various public universities. The grants will be allocated based on the merit of research proposals evaluated by experts in relevant fields.
“Comrades, like in the past, this year’s celebration of our heroes also takes place as we continue the struggle to rescue Nigeria’s public universities from the suffocating clutches of the World Bank and the IMF, whose determination to destroy and bury our public university system has not abated.
“It is rather lamentable that we are still struggling to compel the renegotiation of our 2009 Agreement with the federal government, twelve years after it should have been concluded, and after four rounds of failed negotiations.
“It is most disheartening and egregious that despite the several Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) and Memoranda of Action (MoAs), the ASUU-FGN 2009 Agreement is yet to be renegotiated and finalised,” he said.
Osodeke alleged that at the state level, ASUU members “are still being punished for fighting for the interests of members and the university system.”
He added, “Let me re-emphasise that we stand with our members at Kogi State University, Lagos State University, Ebonyi State University, and Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University in their persecution for their principled support and solidarity in the struggle to defend the soul of public university education in Nigeria.
“As part of our Heroes Day celebration, this year, and in line with the NDC decision, the union will be offering PhD grants to some of our members across various public universities in the country.
“The grants, valued at five hundred thousand naira per recipient, will be based on the rigorous assessment of their proposals by experts in their respective disciplines.”
At the event, the union honored the following: Prof T. Uzodinma Nwala; Prof Bright Ekuerhare; Prof Oye Oyediran; Mallam Bashir Kurfi; Prof The Name Ikiddeh; Mr S.A. Fadipe; and Prof Sola Olukunle.
Others were Nasir Hussain; Tunde Oduleye; Prof Rasheed Abubakar; Akin Oyebode; Mustapha A. Danesi; A.T. Wins; and Dr Peter Ozo-son.
