The committee of Vice-Chancellors of the Nigerian university has stated that the federal government lack of fund to finance Nigerian universities is disheartening.
Chairman of the committee, Samuel Edoumiekumo during an interview stated the demands of ASUU are not for the union but for the betterment of Nigerian universities.
Samuel stated “This issue of saying we don’t have money to put into the university system shouldn’t be. It is like the NEEDS assessment fund; it was not given to ASUU, it was given to the universities.
“When they say we don’t have funds, what they are saying is that ‘these universities are our own but we don’t have money to give. We don’t have money to pay for overhead to run the universities.’
Samuel revealed that he and other VCs in Nigeria are not pleased about the closure of universities. He, hence, called for a quick resolution and intervention.
Recall that the minister of State for Labour and employment, Mr Festus Keyamo had earlier stated that the Federal government had no resources to meet ASUU demands and would not resort to borrowing.
Samuel Further started “I will not take whatever Keyamo says as the position of the government. We are not happy that our universities are closed down. I plead with both parties to amicably resolve the issues on the ground. I know the government and ASUU, especially the Ministry of Education, are working with national leaders of ASUU, but they have not finalised the reason they have not come out publicly,”
