We Will Continue To Embark On Strike Until Right Thing Is Done – ASUU

The Academic Staff Union of Universities ((ASUU) has vowed to continue to embark on strike until the right thing is done in Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.

ASUU President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, made this known on Wednesday, as he kicked against the plan by the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to include private universities as beneficiaries of its projects.

Osodeke aired ASUU’s position at a two-day interactive session between TETFund and all unions of beneficiary institutions in Abuja.

Osodeke said that the move to include private varsities in the fund’s project would lead to proliferation of private universities devoid of quality.

He charges TETFund to work more on its project monitoring method saying that the level of performance by the beneficiary institutions are not in tandem as some of them receive the same amount of money.

He called for sanctions against non-performing institutions while also advocating for the abolition of what he referred to as “stakeholders fund”.

“ASUU will continue to embark on strike until the right thing is done in our tertiary institutions. Stakeholders fund should be abolished,” Osodeke averred.

In his address, the Executive Secretary of TETFund, Sonny Echono, said the interactive session was conceived as a proactive engagement against the backdrop of the prevailing challenges in the subsector.

Echono said that the engagement was also for the purpose of sustaining steady growth and development of tertiary education.

He stressed the need to consistently engage and challenge one another on how best to improve the situation.

“It is our fervent hope that this interactive session will provide an enabling environment for us to understand some of our challenges and difficulties in the delivery of quality education in our institutions.

“Thereby making meaningful contribution to the successful execution of the objective of the fund.

“As you all know our primary mandate is to rehabilitate, restore and consolidate tertiary education in Nigeria, using funding alongside project management.
“The session is also expected to serve as a platform to discuss and mitigate incidences of industrial disputes in the tertiary education sector and look at ways to prevent and avoid their occurrences,”