Following the increase by the Senate Wednesday of the retirement age of professors from 65 to 70 years, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has urged Nigerians to prevail on the Federal Government to increase the funding of universities.
ASUU National President Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie, in a telephone interview with our correspondent yesterday, said increasing the retirement age was not the topmost priority of the union’s demands.
“Increment of retirement age was seventh on our list. If you have seven items on a list and somebody only agrees to implement item number seven, what becomes of the first six?”
According to him, adequate funding of universities is the topmost priority of the union to enable them compete with other universities across the world.
“We are not asking that the money be put in our pockets. Fund the universities adequately by providing facilities, research grants, among others. We appreciate the step taken by the Senate, which is meeting one of our demands, and that leaves six others unattended to”, he said.
On the ongoing strike by the union, Awuzie said no negotiation was ongoing with the Federal Government, “as that had been done in the past. We only want the implementation of the 2005 agreement the government reached with the union”.
Similarly, ASUU Chairman for Ekiti State University Ado-Ekiti, Dr Ayan Adeleke, said, “If you go through the amount allocated to education from 2010, you would have noticed that the Federal Government is funding the sector retrogressively and there isno way we can meet the UNESCO recommendation of 26 percent of theannual budget to the education sector.”
Source: dailytrust news
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