ASUU: Those who carry out prolonged strikes for futile reasons are no less complicit in corruption
President Buhari suggested that some members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) were engaging in corrupt practices.
DailyTrust reports that the President implied this when he declared open the fourth National Corruption Reduction Summit organized by the Independent Commission on Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses (ICPC), the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) and the Joint Admission and Registration Board (JAMB) in Abuja on Tuesday 4th October.
According to the president, the ASUU is no less complicit in corruption in higher education. He said corruption in the education sector continues to undermine investment, while critics downplay funding by focusing only on budget allocations, calling for a more comprehensive reassessment of spending.
“This year’s summit will reflect how corruption undermines education policies, investments and creates a hostile learning environment for our young people.
Incessant strikes, especially those by higher education unions, often imply that the government grossly underfunds education, but I have to say that corruption in the education system, from basic to tertiary level, has undermined our investment in the sector and those who are on prolonged strikes. for trivial reasons are no less complicit.
The 1999 Constitution places a premium on education by placing it on the concurrent list, thereby assigning responsibility for budgeting and ensuring quality education to the federal and state governments.
The total education budget for each year therefore reflects both federal and state budgets and should be viewed as other financial commitments in their totality.
The allocation to education in the federal budget should not be seen as an allocation to the Federal Ministry of Education and also to academic institutions only, but should include the allocation to universal basic education, transfers to TETFUND and the Education Tax Joint Account Refund to TETFUND.
Corruption in the spending of internally generated revenue by higher education institutions is an issue that has surprisingly not captured the attention of higher education stakeholders, including trade unions.
I call on stakeholders to demand accountability in the administration of academic institutions and on unions to question the overstaffing and recurrent expenditures of their institutions. Let me also implore unions to work with government to put faces and identities on payrolls.
Due to dwindling resources, the government cannot bear the cost of financing education alone. I charge our scholars to attract endowments, research grants, and other grants for universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education similar to what exists in other countries,” the president said.
