*Says its regrettable that Nigeria spent N1.6trn as school fees to foreign countries in 2021
*Condemns FG for spending money on politics but refuses to release N100bn for varsities
The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof Emmanuel Osodeke, has disclosed that the union’s long strike would have been resolved earlier if the children of Nigerian political class attend public universities in the country.
The ASUU boss stated this during an interview on Channels Television on Tuesday.
ASUU has been on strike for five months, following the Federal Government’s inability to honour an agreement on funding of universities, salaries and allowances of lecturers.
President Muhammadu Buhari had earlier on Tuesday directed the Minister of Education, Adamau Adamu, to resolve the ASUU strike within two weeks.
Reacting to Buhari’s directive, Osodeke said the two-week ultimatum is “too long”.
He added that ASUU can suspend its strike in less than two days if the Federal Government honours its agreement with the union.
Osodeke said, “Two weeks is too long. The issue of renegotiation has been completed by both sides, which means that one is gone. They should just come back to us and say ‘we have agreed, sign it’. That should not take two days.
“If you have a crisis in your house, you will source for money to resolve that crisis — the way they are sourcing for money to do all kinds of things.
“We were told they spent billions to feed children in schools. Is that correct? How many children have you seen being fed? They released N200 billion for entrepreneurship programmes.
“Your universities are closed for five months, you did not release N100billion, but you released money to share in villages because the election is coming. It is the priority you place on education.
“Government should prioritise education as the number one priority in the country, because all of us here, wherever you are, must pass through the school. Now that you have killed it, we are wasting our money on foreign countries.
“Last year, according to CBN, Nigerians spent N1.6 trillion as school fees to other countries. N1.6 trillion will turn around all the universities in Nigeria and bring them to standard and people will come from outside. We go outside; nobody comes in.
“For this strike, universities are shut down. Those who run the affairs of Nigeria – National Assembly and executive arm – they do not have any problem. Their children are not here. If the children of all the ministers and senators are all in our public universities, this will not last two days.
“When the aviation people wanted to shut down, the National Assembly called them immediately and settled them overnight because fear could not allow them pass through roads. They quickly resolved it.”
