The Academic Staff Union of Universities ASUU has warned that the proposed #350,000 tuition fee for public tertiary institutions may not be affordable for the citizens and could have a negative implication on the educational development of the country; it therefore call on the Federal Government to renege on the plan.
The Zonal coordinator of the Ibadan zone of the union, Dr Ade Adejumo made this known while speaking with newsmen at the Correspondent Chapel, Mokola, Ibadan. He further warned of an impending crisis due to the breakdown of negotiations with the Federal Government and possible industrial action to drive home their protest against such development.
According to him “The union is again constrained to draw the attention of Nigerian public to an impending Labour crisis in the Nigerian universities as a result of the insensitivity of the Nigerian government to issues critical to the survival of the educational system in Nigeria.
“It is no longer news that the renegotiation, which the Minister of Education, Mallam Adamu Adamu, promised was going to last for only six weeks, has broken down. “The reason for this very unfortunate development will appall most Nigerians. First, the leader of the government team, who was supposed to be an arbiter between the parties, assumed an arrogant attitude that sought to foist a predetermined mindset of government on the union.
“The union was confronted with a situation where the government is bent on imposing tuition fees, beginning from N350, 000, on students in the Nigerian public-owned tertiary institutions. On the question as to how the students will raise such money, the answer that government has is that it will establish an Education Bank, where students will access credit facilities and payback on completion of their studies.”
The academic body further affirmed that access to education is the right of every Nigerian child and should therefore not by priced away from the reach of the common man through the proposed policy of the Federal government.
Reports by Victor Alagogooko for IbadanCity ANNOUNCER
