The Vice Chancellor, Crawford University, Prof Rotimi Ajayi, has called on the Federal Ggovernment to expedite action in resolving the striking dons demand for efficient funding of universities in the country.
Ajayi made the plea in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) while commenting on the protracted strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on the sidelines of the faith-based university’s 10th Convocation in Igbesa, Ogun.
He said that what the lecturers’ demand was in line with the minimum requirement for education as laid down by international standards.
NAN reports that the President, Academic Staff Union of Universities, Prof Biodun Ogunyemi, had said that the Federal Government failed to implement three areas in the Memorandum of Action it signed with the union on Sep. 14, 2017.
The ASUU president identified some of the grey areas as failure on the part of the Federal Government to carry out the Forensic Audit of the earned academic allowances of the lecturers since 2017 and the payment of N20 billion out of an agreed N220 billion annually.
The vice-chancellor said that government should not allow politics to undermine education in Nigeria, adding that the sector had been grossly underfunded in the past.
“The lecturers are right to have demanded for the proper funding of the universities. This is not an issue of personal achievements. What they want is the quality of education in the country improved.
“It is an increase in the condition of service and they deserve that according to the minimum requirement laid down in the international standard.
“Universities education holds a lot for the fortune of any country; they produce what is needed for the future by all the sector of the economy.
“If we want economic prosperity, the education system needs to be well-funded. The skill and manpower needed for the country and the world at large are produced within the university,’’ he said.
Ajayi said that the agreement between ASUU and the government was not far from an achievable target which the government could not cater for, hence, there should be a good bargain.
“The agreement between ASUU and the government is just within the minimum requirement as laid down, so government should bargain with ASUU.
“It was an agreement that should be respected; government needs not to be negotiating much on the demands. The situation now is that it is an agreement binding on both parties.
“Maybe, what ASUU is asking for is within the power of the government but consultation with them should solve it,’’ he said.
NAN reports that Crawford University is a Faith-Based University owned by the Apostolic Faith Church West and Central Africa (WECA). (NAN)