Business Post Contributor
By Ashemiriogwa Emmanuel
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has expressed concerns over the failure of Governors in funding state universities across the country.
The Chairman of the union, Calabar Zone, Mr Aniekan Brown, said this on Wednesday. He said most state governors now rely on Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) in improving their universities structure.
According to him, such funds are sometimes diverted to establish a new university, which is not encouraged.
He urged state governors and university administrators to put all hands on deck to avert an impending crisis in the state-owned universities.
In addition, Mr Brown said that the union was also worried about the establishment of universities by state governments without backing the same with laws, noting that the university system should be without politics.
“This is worrying that only seven state-owned universities have their laws in conformity with the Universities Miscellaneous Provision Amendment Act of 2012, while 26 are partially compliant,” he said.
Urging them to follow the laws as recorded in the Universities Miscellaneous Provision Amendment Act of 2012, he cited that the autonomy of the universities is trampled by usurping the powers of Governing Councils and the Senate.
“Evidence of this could be gleaned from the manipulation of the composition or non-constitution of Governing Councils. For instance, the Yobe State University law stipulates a five-year single tenure but it was repealed and replaced with a four-year renewable tenure for the position of vice-chancellor.
“In Ebonyi State University, there is no chancellor and the state government is yet to constitute a new Governing Council since it was dissolved in November 2020. At Enugu State University of Science and Technology, the vice-chancellor has acted for 15 months.
“Currently, the autonomy of the Kaduna State University is under intense threat as it is placed under the supervision of both the state Ministry of Finance despite the existence of governing council,” Mr Brown explained.
He said ASUU, therefore, calls on all concerned stakeholders to immediately set in motion necessary steps for the domestication of the Universities (Miscellaneous Provision Amendment) Act to allow for the exercise of autonomy in these state universities in line with the national and global standards.
