The Bauchi State coordinator of Academic Staff Union of
Universities (ASUU) Prof Nanmwa Voncir, has warned against what he called the
satanic plan by the Federal Government to privatise public universities in the
country, reports The Guardian.
Voncir, who urged Nigerians to resist the plan, said, “We
shall do everything within our powers to stop the drift towards privatisation
of public universities in Nigeria,’ warning that the ‘current industrial peace
in the universities should not be endangered by the planned action of the
Federal Government.”
Addressing a press conference yesterday at the ASUU
Secretariat, in Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University (ATBU), he said federal
universities are currently facing the challenges of inadequate funding,
especially personal and overhead cost.
“The Federation Government has continued to cut down the
funding of universities, especially the capital and over-head cost, leading to
dilapidated infrastructure, equipment and facilities,” he said.
The don restated that but for Tetfund, public universities
and indeed public tertiary education, would have been a forgotten issue, or at
best become glorified secondary schools.
The university teacher lamented that inadequate funding,
have made it difficult for universities to pay the monthly salaries of their
staff, as and when due. “We view this as an attempt by federal government to
start the privatisation of the Universities,” he added.
According to him, the closure of all university staff primary
schools, and the sacking of staff in the affected schools, was a direct
confrontation with the union.
He said the union would soon react to that, because the
schools were established based on negotiation and agreement with the union in
1992, urging government to abide by the agreement.
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