Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Monday in Ibadan lashed out at Minister of State for Education Emeka Nwajiuba over what it described as a reckless and irresponsible comments that the Union is “mean and wicked for shutting down universities”.
ASUU chairman University of Ibadan Professor Ayo Akinwole in a release stated that lecturers in Nigeria have sacrificed their labour, sweat and health “only for parasites in government to come and destroy common heritage and collective patrimony”.
Nwajiuba in an interview with a national newspaper had said “there is nothing that they (ASUU) are doing or asking for that is wrong. What we’ve consistently asked is government and the people of Nigeria will continue to look into the matter because if you disrupt academic sessions because of one entitlements you would eventually get the entittlemen but we would have lost the time our children would have used in learning. You are being mean. There is no point in disrupting everybody’s life because you have not got your money”.
While reacting to this, Professor Akinwole said the Minister of State for Education represents one of the deceptive and insincere characters of the Buhari Administration.
According to him, it is a sign of acceptance of failure for a Minister to admit that they have consistently being irresponsible by pleading with a Union to bury the welfare of her members and not fight for infrastructure face-lift for the children of the masses and new salary for the welfare of her members.
The ASUU boss who challenged the Minister of State for Education to make public his salaries and allowances also asked him to tell Nigerians how much he is being owed by government since he became Minister.
According to Prof Akinwole, lecturers have been considerate of the plight of the students and the society and this is why it has taken the Union members show understanding with government owing her members 12 years of earned academic allowances and 13 years on old salary when likes of Ministers and Cabinet members in the Government of President Buhari enjoy periodic review of allowances and salaries.
Professor Akinwole said the Minister of State should cover his head in shame for heading a ministry where budget to Education has regressed since assumption of office saying “this government fails to realise that not funding education adequately is itself influencing insecurity in the country”.
“ASUU has become very tolerant and endure suffering for the sakes of student and Nigeria. We have showed understanding but this government has even failed to deliver on the timeline agreement we signed with this government. Nwajiuba’s claim is deceptive and unfounded. This is a deceptive government. They have set up up to 40 committees on our renegotiation since 2017 and the same government is now setting up another committee to look into what those ones did for almost four years? They are unserious, wicked and parasitic leaders”.
