• Raises alarm over proliferation of varsities in Nigeria
Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has renewed its call for the reconstitution of the long dissolved governing councils of universities ahead of the expiration of their statutory tenure.
ASUU’s President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, who did so during a press briefing, yesterday, at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture Umudike, Abia State, described the dissolution of the governing councils about six months ago by the Federal Government as illegal.
It said: “Today, university vice-chancellors, in connivance with the federal and state ministries of Education, are illegally running the universities.”
The ASUU leader, who said that its National Executive Council (NEC) condemns this anomaly in strong terms, accused the said federal and state ministries of Education of taking over the functions of the governing councils through illegal contract awards, approval of promotions, and recruitments without due process.
He said that the press briefing was an aftermath of its NEC meeting, held at the Niger Delta University, Wilberforce Island, Bayelsa State, between February 10 and 11, 2024.
MEANWHILE, ASUU has condemned the mass establishment of universities in the country, describing the development as ‘reckless and excessive.’
This is even as the union has advised the Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO), Prof. Nnenna Oti, to withdraw the Professorship, which the institution conferred on Isah Pantami, the immediate past Minister of Communications and Digital Economy.
The National President of ASUU, Osodeke, made the union’s position known at Michael Okpara University of Agriculture, Umudike, yesterday, while briefing the press on the outcome of ASUU’s recent NEC meeting.
