University problems are due to a bad financial model, according to the president of ASUU
Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, has stated that one of the issues responsible for the declining grade of tertiary education in the country is the construction of universities with the incorrect template for finance.
This was one of the points that he made while presenting a paper at the 14th Ralph Opara Memorial Lecture, which was held in Benin over the weekend and was themed “State of tertiary education in Nigeria: Identifying historical issues and misconceptions, contemplating solutions.” The lecture was put on by the National Association of Seadogs.
The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) mentioned another factor that has contributed to the issue, which is the manner in which the government appoints and recruits faculty members for state-owned universities.
According to Osedeke, the decline in the quality of university education in the country began during the administrations of Shehu Shagari and Babagida, at the time when those two men allegedly handed over control of the country to the Brethren Wood Institutions, which include the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund.
He pointed out that prior to the two administrations, the nation’s postsecondary education system was considered to be among the very best in the entire world.
However, the President of the Academic Staff Union of Institutions (ASUU) indicated that there needs be a paradigm shift in terms of finance, governance, and meddling from political organizations and vested interest in order for Nigerian universities to regain their place of pride.
“The construction of universities without a model for financial support is one of the most significant challenges confronted by higher institutions.
“In addition, the process that the government uses to appoint and recruit faculty members at state-owned colleges has also been a source of contention.
He made the following statement: “This intellectual platform keeps evolving as a versatile crucible for cerebral and stimulating discourses geared towards expanding the frontiers of knowledge and interrogating complex socio-political and economic formulas while championing informed, radical, and bold solutions for the good of the community of humanity.”
“The theme for this year’s lecture reflects our deep worry for the decadence that tertiary education has become in Nigeria,” the organizers of the event said in a statement.
“Many of us had our education in Nigeria during a time when the country’s higher institutions were genuinely citadels of learning, when intellectual fervor was raging, and when ideological orientations were rooted in learning and making Nigeria increasingly great.
“The current state of affairs is pitiful. Our academies, which were once bastions of learning, have descended into the status of fertile stomping grounds for criminals, gang activity, and extremist ideology.
“Also, successive governments have paid lip service to the development of education and are focused on destroying postsecondary institutions like they did to primary and secondary education,” he pointed out. “Also, education has been a political football for the past many decades.”
In his address of welcome, the Chairman of the event, Professor Temi Akporhonor, stated that addressing challenges impacting tertiary education is a good development, particularly at this time in the history of the nation. He was speaking as the Chairman of the occasion.