The National President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof Emmanuel Osodeke has urge Nigerians to vote for leaders that would prioritize education in Nigeria.
Prof.Osodeke declared that Nigerians should insist that leaders in the country must bring back their children to Nigerian tertiary institutions.
He also added that the 2023 election offers an opportunity for Nigerians to elect leaders that believe in the country and not those that have plundered our commonwealt.h’Prof.Osodoke who stated this during the weekend at the 14th Ralph Opara Memorial Lecture organised by the National Association of Seadogs( Pyr with the theme: “State of Tertiary Education in Nigeria”,Identifying Historical Issues and Misconceptions at the Akin Deko Auditorium;University of Benin,listed six challenges facing education.According to him,
these includes;
CHALLENGES MENTIONED ARE BELOW
- Poor funding
- Poor recruitment policies,
- Interference from various groups,
- Proliferation of universities,
- Poor remuneration of lecturers,
- Inferiority complex and the urge to send children to foreign universities.
Osodeke who digress into history pointed out the Structural Adjustment Programme tht has negative impact on the country by the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund,said ‘Members of the Council including the Pro-Chancellors are supposed to be people who can contribute in terms of knowledge and ability to source funds for the University,Appointments into Governing Council is now based on politics and the creation of jobs for jobless politicians.Today, members of the Governing Councils are more interested in honorarium, jobs for relatives and friends, and the awarding of contract”.
“It is sad and shameful that the appointment of Vice-Chancellors has become poliThe process is now influenced by sentiments, politics, religion, ethnicity, and “son-of-the-soil” syndrome, godfatherism, and regionalism;In the 1970s and 1980s, Vice-Chancellors were appointed without political and tribal considerations; hence Professor Kenneth Dike could be the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ibadan,Today, the appointment of Vice-Chancellors is ethnic-based and in most cases with political Godfather who dictates how the university fund should be managed to the detriment of the Nigerian people”.
He however advocated for fresh thinking in terms of funding, governance and non-interference from political groups and vested interest to allow the Universities to function optimally.In his welcome address, the NAS Capoon,Mr Abiola Owoaje said the Ralph Opara Memorial Lecture had become a rallying point for deep introspection on national and international issues.He disclosed that the choice of the theme reflects our deep concern for the decadence in tertiary education sector in Nigeria.
“Many of us were schoolling in Nigeria when our tertiary institutions were indeed citadels of learning, intellectually robust .ideological orientations were anchored on learning and making Nigeria progressively great.Our citadels of learning have become breeding grounds for gangsterism, extremist elements and criminality. Worse,successive Nigerian Governments have paid less attention to the development of nigerian education”.
