The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has criticized President Muhammadu Buhari’s policy on education as anti-masses, while accusing the Federal Government of a deliberate plan to starve public education with funds in order to deny Nigerian youths the right to know and challenge misrule.
ASUU in a statement released in Ibadan and signed by the Chairman, University of Ibadan Chapter of the union, Prof. Deji Omole, noted that if President Buhari did not increase funding for education, all the sacrifices of understaffed and underpaid Nigerian academia would be in vain.
Omole added that it was clear that education was not the priority of the Buhari government, citing the University of Ibadan as an example of an institution presently groaning due to paucity of funds, insufficient staff, decayed infrastructure and bad laboratories.
According to him, the paucity of funds has denied over 500,000 Nigerian children who desire public university education, adding that they were rejected annually due to decayed infrastructure and reduced manpower.
He, therefore, stated that unless urgent steps were taken to cater to the needs of children of the Nigerian masses, many of them would fight back with crime.
The statement reads part: “Education is not the priority of this government. Due to paucity of funds, many universities including the University of Ibadan, the nation’s premier university, cannot admit many qualified candidates into the universities.
“This is dangerous to the society as the rejected qualified and brilliant candidates may eventually take to crimes because the country has rejected them. The policy is not only wicked but criminal.”