Vice President Yemi Osinbajo stated that the Federal Government plans to review the university autonomy laws in light of recent protests by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
This occurs just after ASUU ended an eight-month strike during which its members demanded, among other things, enhanced welfare, the revitalization of public universities, and academic autonomy.
Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, represented Osinbajo at a celebration of the National Universities Commission’s (NUC) 60th anniversary and the introduction of the Core Curriculum Minimum Academic Standards held in Abuja (CIMAS).
According to the vice president, one of the main problems affecting higher education in Nigeria is the constant strikes by different unions at public universities.
“The most recent strike actions by the university-based unions have necessitated a revisit on the issues and scope of university autonomy by government,” he said.
“This will lead to a review of the university autonomy laws to appropriately address funding, including staff remuneration, institutional governance, and administration, as well as issues relating to internally generated revenue.”
He claims that the university system has lost more than 50 months as a result of ASUU strike actions since 1999.
“I doubt if there is any country that has lost such amount of time to strikes in its university system.
“From the first strike in 1978 to date, all the issues have remained the same. The agitations have been primarily on funding, university autonomy, and remunerations.
“I need to stress here that government alone cannot fund education in the country. It is therefore imperative that a sustainable model of funding university education must be developed,” he said.
Discussion about this post