The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Chris Piwuna, has accused the Federal Government of not giving education enough attention. He said government officials do not see the problems in the education sector as national issues that require everyone’s effort.
Piwuna spoke on The Toyin Falola Interviews on Sunday during an online discussion titled “A Conversation with the ASUU President.” He said that the lack of interest from top government officials has made it hard to fix the country’s education system.
According to him, members of the Federal Executive Council often think that only the Minister of Education should handle education problems.
ASUU has frequently gone on strike to push for its demands. The union says these strikes are caused by the government’s failure to honour the 2009 ASUU–Federal Government agreement and by unresolved issues like unpaid promotion arrears, withheld deductions, poor funding, and bad infrastructure in public universities.
Piwuna explained:
“Government officials do not see education problems as their own. When ASUU goes on strike, the Minister of Finance thinks it’s only the Minister of Education’s problem. The Minister of Science and Technology feels the same way. But if the Minister of Finance understood that the economy depends on an educated workforce, he would care more about education.”
He also said that corruption and different ideologies within government make the situation worse.
“ASUU believes education is a public good, but government officials treat it like a business. Some of them even want TETFund to fund private universities. Self-interest and corruption have taken over public service, and TETFund is now like a marketplace,” he said.
The host of the show, Prof. Toyin Falola, a historian, reviewed ASUU’s long history of struggles with the government and the many strikes that have disrupted academic calendars. Other speakers included Prof. Francis Egbokhare of the University of Ibadan, economist Prof. Sherrifdeen Tella, Nigeria Labour Congress President Joe Ajaero, and journalist Grace Edema from The PUNCH.
Prof. Egbokhare said poor leadership, bad infrastructure, and lack of accountability are the main problems in Nigerian universities.
“Leadership failure is a big issue. Many buildings are poorly done, and we lack integrity in our university councils. We must fix leadership problems within our universities,” he said.
He added that universities could earn more money if government ministries used them for research, training, and consultancy services.
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“It’s not only about government funding; it’s about better funding models,” he said.
NLC President Joe Ajaero called for a complete and united approach to fixing education.
“It’s been tough for ASUU, but we must also look at the condition of primary and secondary education,” he said.
Prof. Sherrifdeen Tella said that the government’s neglect of research is part of the reason Nigeria remains underdeveloped.
“Good harvests come from research done by academics, but our system ignores research,” he said.
Speaking about ASUU’s ongoing meeting in Taraba State, Piwuna said discussions with the Federal Government were almost done.
“We’ll soon make a statement, but the salaries the government is offering are not acceptable. We’re ready to fight for better pay,” he said.
He added that the poor working and living conditions of lecturers make it hard for them to focus on innovation Some lecturers sleep in their offices with their families. How can such people do world-class research? We’re still struggling to catch up with centuries past,” he said.
