&w=64&q=75)
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has debunked the notion that it wants the Federal Government to borrow money to meet its demands.
ASUU accused govt: Disclosing this, ASUU President, Prof.Emmanuel Osodeke, accused the government of remaining adamant to improving the education sector in the country, arguing that - contrary to the suggestions being propagated - the FG has money to fund its demands.
He said Nigerian tertiary institutions have suffered great setbacks over the years and it's high time the authorities woke up to its responsibilities.
Osodeke's words: The union chairman said, “Who is asking them to borrow? They (Federal Government) have the money. If they can release N400bn for trader money, did they borrow that? Is trader money more important than universities being closed?
“If they dedicate N200bn for feeding of children in school, which we don’t see; if they can be thinking of plea bargain with somebody who stole N80bn, they should let Nigerians know that they are not interested in education rather than giving flimsy excuses.
“We are not asking the government to borrow; we say they should fund education.”
What happened: The ASUU Chairman's comment comes amid the remarks made by Ebonyi State Governor, David Umahi, who argued that the Federal Government can't afford to borrow N1.1trn to meet the union's demands.
“There is no way the country will go and borrow N1.1trn to meet ASUU’s demand. It’s quite unreasonable. Are their demands genuine? Yes, but we can start little by little,” the Governor said this while receiving members of the Board of Trustees of the Nigeria Police Trust Fund in Abakaliki, the state capital.
Earlier, the State Minister of Labour and Productivity, Festus Keyamo, had made a similar comment.
While asking questions on a TV interview, Keyamo argued that ASUU's demands are unrealistic and unstainstanable for the government.
ASUU disagrees: Reacting to Umahi's comment, the ASUU president said, “Is he the spokesman for the government? We will not respond to him.”
NPTAN reacts: Meanwhile, President of the National Parents-Teachers Association of Nigeria, Mr Haruna Danjuma, has also expressed his disagreement with the Governor, saying he was speaking his own view.
He said, “I believe that’s Umahi’s view and he is not speaking for Mr. President or for the Federal Government. We also have a Minister of Education. So, I take it to be his view.
“Parents are not saying that the Federal Government should borrow such an amount to equip our university and I don’t think ASUU told the Federal Government to borrow money to fund the universities. It’s in the hands of the government to either borrow or not."