Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has raised an alert, claiming that most Nigerian universities are on the edge of closure due to exorbitant administrative costs.
He chastised the Federal Government for continually questioning the deployment of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from public universities, claiming that such amounts are insufficient in comparison to the enormous costs incurred for electricity supply, security, and accommodation, among other administrative expenses.
Prof. Osodeke made the troubling remarks on Thursday in Abuja while answering reporters’ queries at the ASUU State of the Nation Conference, with the topic “Nigeria in a State of General Crisis: The Search for a New Path to Development”.
He claimed that most public institutions receive only N15 million per month in government overhead but must pay electrical bills of N300 million or more.
Lamenting the deplorable circumstances of some academics in the country, the ASUU President stated that farming has become even more attractive for academicians, especially when a professor is forced to earn less than N300,000 per month while also supporting his family and publishing journals.
Osodeke also criticized the country’s proliferation of universities, warning that they were only staffed with skeletons because the majority of the lecturing staff had left the country in pursuit of greener pastures.
He described the situation within the university system as very disturbing, stressing that most of their members are dropping dead.
His words, “We are so challenged. But let me give you a quick example, University of Lagos, University of Ibadan Amadu Bello University, and University Nigeria, Nsuka, what they get from the government account for overhead running of the university in a month is N15million. Meanwhile, the University of Lagos needs about N200 million naira to pay electricity bill. It is this IGR that you talk about that is used to pay for the electricity.
“One of the universities today is closing down because they have been given electricity bill of N300 million naira.
“What government gives you to run the system is N15 million, and you get a bill for electricity alone of 300 million naira. Where is that money coming from? You have to run the laboratories. You have to run the diesel. You have to run the fuel for vehicles.
“That is where the IGR is going into today. Not being able to run the system, to buy books in the library, to run your library, to earn those things. They are all part of their so called IGR, and that is what they talk about it.
“But you know what? A government that will give just N15 million for UNILAG to run, will in turn, give one Senator N21 million a month. The government gives a system N15million, but an individual gets N21million. That’s where our priority is.
“For whatever reason, they have refused to fund the university systems as it was in the earlier part of our history.
“From the way we are going, if nothing is done, many universities will close up because they can not afford the so called band A and Band B”.
ASUU also disclosed how rigging is perpetuated by the political class, prompting their members to boycott voting procedures following the 2015 general elections.
According to Osodeke, academicians who still preside over elections do so in their private capacity rather than as ASUU members.
He claimed that politicians bring figures from voting stations to the presiding officer, who announces them.
He stated that rigging will be abolished if ASUU members are involved in all stages of the electoral process, from ward levels to local governments to national.
His words, “ASUU was asked to help conduct the election. That first election went well, though they were still issues. When the elections were over, we called for a meeting, put up a committee together to study what happened.
“By time they finished, they came with a report that even though our colleagues are involved in the election, rigging are done at the polling booths and local government collation centres.
“What our colleagues do is just collating what they have been given. They gave you a report, and you just write it down. So we found out that rigging is done there, and given to our members to collate.
“We went to INEC and asked that we participate from the polling unit up to the final stage and they refused. We wrote to them that ASUU, as a body, will not participate in any election.
“If you recall, before any election in this country, we will come out with a statement that we are not part of the election, but our members are Nigerians. They have their freedom, and they can go and do anything”.
