The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has lashed out at the Governor of Ekiti State, Kayode Fayemi for “lying that Nigerian University professors earn same salary of N500, 000 as him or even more”.
Governor Kayode Fayemi had in Paris stated that the strike embarked upon by ASUU was needless as the Muhammadu Buhari’s government has done more for education than any other previous government.
But in a swift reaction on Wednesday ASUU noted that Buhari education policy has brought disaster to education.
According to the Union, Education budget before President Buhari took over in 2015 was above 10percent but Buhari has worsened this by retrogressive allocation that took 2018 education budget to six percent.
ASUU in a release signed by the Chairman, ASUU University of Ibadan, Dr Deji Omole stated that while the union will not like to be distracted in her struggle for the revitalisation of Public education by political opportunists like Governor Fayemi.
While challenging Fayemi to publish salary and allowances that he collects monthly to back up transparency and accountability claims of the ruling party, Dr Omole noted that no newly promoted professor earns N500, 000 a month.
Omole noted that a newly promoted professor in slave enclave called Nigerian Universities earns below N400, 000 and will only be able to receive N500, 000 monthly after ten years of becoming a professor and this includes all allowances.
ASUU said it will be proud if President Buhari during his many diaspora trips will be able to attract any foreign scholar with the poverty wages he pays Nigerian lecturers.
“It is sad that someone is living on the state resources with his families and countless aides with juicy salaries will not be circumspect in thought. Fake news and propaganda have been the trade mark of the ruling APC. Fayemi’s utterances revealed the mental state of those ruling us. We challenge him to publish what a university professor earns as salaries and allowances and what governors earn and allowances. If lecturers earn more than governors why did Fayemi run away? ASUU has not made monetary issue the main but her members are entitled to allowances owed them since 2010. We are more concerned with a revitalised university that is adequately funded to attract foreign scholars. Fayemi should attract an international professor and offer to pay him $1500 per month and let us see how many of them he can bring to Nigeria. A person who bought nomination form for N22.5million to become governor and spent billions to campaign with his party listed among those who bought votes, Fayemi should tell lies to his partymen who are not discerning. Fayemi with his PhD should tell the world how much he spent on capital grants to EKSU during his first sojourn in office. EKSU as it is now is more of tetfund university which was a product of ASUU struggle. He should rather be grateful to ASUU for the regular bailout from tetfund. Fayemi is one of the brain drain the struggle is trying to address because if the university learning environment are conducive enough, Fayemi would have stayed in the academia rather than playing politics of destruction. Nigerians should asked him why he failed to pick up the appointment offered him as an associate lecturer by university of ibadan Senate”
