The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has blamed the dilapidating condition of Federal Universities to the two major political forces in the country, APC and PDP.
In a statement on Monday by Dr. Deji Omole, the Chairman, ASUU, University of Ibadan chapter, said ex-President Goodluck Jonathan after the 6 months strike in 2013 injected N200 billion for the revitalisation of public universities.
“Public Universities are grossly underfunded leading to serious pressure on the available resources which have been stressed beyond elastic limits. Many qualified candidates cannot be absolved into the system due to lack of adequate facilities. Children of the masses are housed in zoo-like condition. Laboratory, lecture rooms, light are worse-off now.”
According to Omole, the failure of the ruling party to inject revitalisation fund into public universities is highly detrimental on the posterity of the nation as children of the masses are not opportuned to access qualitative education.
He also decried the state of public primary and secondary schools in the country.
ASUU alleged that in terms of education funding, all parties, whether Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) or All Progressives Congress (APC) have failed Nigerians.
“The union and the Federal Government agreed that N1.13 trillion would be injected into public universities for six years, but the Federal Government only paid N200 billion in 2013,” he said.
Omole condemned the incumbent government for not changing anything in the area of revitalisation of public universities, even after the industrial action the union embarked on last year.
He alleged that infrastructure in public universities were worse today than when the Federal Government conducted the NEEDS assessment on public universities in 2012.
Rather than investing in youths, the union said the government was committing more money to fighting insurgency, kidnapping, cybercrimes, robbery, rape, among others.
”Despite agreeing with ASUU to pump in N1.3 trillion spread out in six years – 2013 (N200 billion); 2014 (N220 billion); 2015 (N220 billion); 2016 (N220 billion); 2017 (N220 billion) and 2018 (N220 billion); only the Jonathan administration released N200 billion in 2013 and that was all! Not even a kobo for revitalisation has come from the Buhari government since 2015,” the union said.
