Falana tells Buhari to fund higher education and stop his insincerity
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Muhammadu Buhari’s repeated insincerity in his latest call on the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to end its strike without meeting its genuine demands has been punctured by human rights activists Femi Falana, SAN.
The President dished out his latest hypocrisy on Monday, expressing concern the strike will have generational consequences on families, the educational system, and future development of Nigeria.
Buhari says the treasury does not have the N200 billion ASUU has requested for the upgrade of tertiary institutions to bring them at par with global standards.
ASUU has previously countered that Buhari’s officials are stealing the treasury dry, without him prosecuting them to recover funds, citing the latest alleged N170 billion heist by suspended federal Accountant General Ahmed Idris.
ASUU National President Emmanuel Osodeke, a professor, told The PUNCH in an interview published today that Nigerians should ask the government when it would attend to the demands of ASUU.
“We are waiting for the government after the renegotiation meeting. We have not heard anything from them.
“It will be a month on July 16, 2022 since they met with us. Nigerians should ask them when they will ask us to come and sign the report/agreement of the renegotiation meeting,” he said, in reaction to the latest Buharispeak.
“After all the promises they made, by July 16, 2022, this month, it will be one month and these young Nigerians are languishing at home doing nothing.
“On our withheld salaries, if we decide to take them to court, they will mock us by getting their smart lawyers, and the case will be adjourned for years, then it will go to the Appeal Court.
“On the issue that concerns our members, this government will leave and we will be in court for years.”
Falana issued a statement which detailed how Buhari has neglected to properly fund education even as he allocates billion of naira to other sectors.
He cited how Buhari sidesteps the issues raised by ASUU and also fails to fulfil the agreement the government signed with the lecturers.
Falana put the ball in Buhari’s court and urged lawmakers, parents, civil society bodies, and other stakeholders to prevail on him to do the needful so as to end the current strike that began in February.
His statement titled, “Time to end ASUU strike by President Muhammadu Buhari”, is published in full below:
Binding agreement between Abuja and ASUU
Four months ago, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) commenced the current strike to compel the Federal Government to comply with the FG/ASSU Agreement on funding of all federal universities in Nigeria.
According to the binding Agreement the total fund which the Federal Government ought to have provided to revamp the universities is N200 billion in line with its obligation under the Agreement.
Before then, the warning strikes embarked upon by ASUU were ignored by the Federal Government.
Thus, the ongoing industrial action which has paralysed the federal universities has lingered on due to the refusal of the Federal Government to meet its commitment under the FG/ASUU Agreement.
However, in justifying the unwarranted breach of the Agreement the Federal Government has complained of lack of fund.
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Buhari fails to deal with the core issues
Instead of addressing the outstanding grey areas in the prolonged negotiations, President Muhammadu Buhari, who is the Visitor to all federal universities in the country, has urged ASUU to consider the long-term effect of the strike on students and the generational consequences on families, the educational system and the future development of the country, Falana added, per reporting by Channels Television.
While lamenting that the strike was already taking a toll on the psychology of parents, students and other stakeholders, throwing up many moral issues that already beg for attention, the President said that
“We hope that ASUU will sympathise with the people on the prolonged strike. Truly, enough is enough for keeping students at home. Don’t hurt the next generation for goodness sake.”
Buhari fails to prioritise higher education
The claim of the Federal Government that it lacks the financial resources to fund university education has been taken with a pinch of salt by the Nigerian people.
Having regard to the way and manner huge public fund has been expended on other projects it does appear that the Federal Government has not prioritised higher education.
For instance, the electricity sector and the counter insurgency operations in two regions in the country have consumed not less than N6 trillion without any tangible result.
The Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) claims that N5.4 trillion is owed by a section of the comprador bourgeoisie whose toxic debts were bought with public fund.
Even though N443 billion was spent on the importation of fuel from January to June 2022, the National Assembly has approved N4 trillion for the same product from July to December 2022 due to the comatose status of the nation’s refineries.
The Federal Government has also made available N100 billion for revamping the textile industry; N850 billion for rice production; N250 billion for autogas vehicle conversion and N228 for school feeding programme.
Apart from its annual budget of N40 billion the Independent National Electoral Commission has received N100 billion as the first tranche of the 2022 budget to conduct the 2023 general elections.
Stakeholders to prevail on Buhari to fulfil agreement
A government that can afford to spend trillions of naira on the aforesaid projects cannot afford to ignore the funding of higher education.
Therefore, the Federal Government should adopt concrete measures to end the ASUU strike without any further delay.
Instead of lamenting over the strike, Buhari should urgently submit a supplementary budget to the National Assembly for the appropriation of the sum of N200 billion required to revamp the federal universities.
This demand is in accordance with the FG/ASUU Agreement whose terms are binding on the Federal Government.
The National Assembly, concerned parents, progressive civil society bodies and other relevant stakeholders should prevail on Buhari to do the needful with a view to ending the strike without any further delay.
Femi Falana SAN,
Interim Chair,
Alliance on Surviving Covid 19 and Beyond (ASCAB)
July 12, 2022.