The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), University of Ibadan (UI) chapter, has literally cried out to President Bola Tinubu that the hardship being faced by public university workers is getting unbearable.
Chairman of the chapter, Professor Ayoola Akinwole, said this in a statement to mark Nigeria’s 64th Independence anniversary. The statement was titled: “Nigeria at 64; a State in need of deliverance from the leadership of perpetual have-nots”.
He argued that the Union has shown understanding by issuing ultimatum to government, while the Federal government has been lackadaisical to it, adding that another 14-day ultimatum is about to end within which government should meet the demands of the union to preserve the relative peace on public university campuses in the country.
According to Professor Akinwole, “many (lecturers) ran away to other countries; many died as a result of financial debility; those who cannot run away got into debt just to survive while many resigned to take another job in private sector.”
The ASUU boss stated that “in the sixty-four years of the Nigeria’s independent existence, education and the state of the nation are both in downward spiral, owing to the dwindling fortunes in the quality of politicians steering the ship of the country’s government”.
Political leaders and holders of executive positions be it at local government, States and Federal levels, whose answers to any request from workers especially in the education sector (and the Nigerian citizens) has always been “government have not the resources to meet the demands of the unions”.
While noting that the problems of Nigeria are due to the major neglect of its educational sector, Professor Akinwole maintained that without the necessary tools, improved welfare package for lecturers and a conducive work environment, the university system will be unable to deliver on its mandates.
The ASUU chairman admonished President Tinubu “to desist from singing the unpleasant and baseless “have-nots” song, but brace up to resolve the outstanding issues pertaining to university education as raised by ASUU, inject funds into the education sector for revitalization, improve the remuneration of academics, and address the economic crisis in the country”.
He warned that if the trend of hardships facing Nigerians is not halted, it will culminate in multi-dimensional insecurity, adding that it is “more worrisome that amidst these economic woes of the people, the government is channeling its expenditure to areas like purchasing new Presidential jet and presidential Cadillac Escalade”.
“The quality of lives of the ordinary Nigerians has precipitously declined, and the gap between the haves and the have-nots is daily expanding; the rich continue to get stupendously richer while the poor are absolutely getting poorer.
“The so-called middle class has since been wiped off by the increasing weight of dependents in a society that prioritizes ‘palliatives’ over and above the empowerment of the poor. So, while the masses suffocate from the adverse consequences of the neoliberal socio-economic policies of the government, members of the ruling class revel in questionable wealth that makes nonsense of the anti-corruption crusade.
“If the trend is not arrested, part of the imploding consequences will be that Nigerians can no longer eat well or sleep well, and the pervasive poverty will have entrenched a multidimensional insecurity with the associated consequences.
“While the Nigerian masses are in multi-dimensional poverty government spent billions on cars for Senators and house of representative members, awarding white elephant projects, a fraction of these questionable spending will solve most of the problems of the education sector and lay the foundation for Nigeria’s economic growth.”