ASUU Decries 4% Reduction In 2017 Budget For Education
By Victor Ernest with agency report
The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, has bemoaned the four percent reduction in the 2017 budget allocation to education sector.
He made the observation on Thursday in Abuja when he paid a courtesy call on the President of the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) Ayuba Wabba.
He said such reduction was capable of destroying the nation’s educational system.
According to him, the decline in funding education from 11 percent to eight percent in 2015 will do the education system no good.
”About six percent was proposed in 2017; about four percent was given at the end of the day.
”The decline will also destroy the country because destroying the educational system of a nation means destroying the nation,” he said.
Engaging govt.
He said education had been relegated to the background because political office holders, now own private universities at the detriment of government universities.
”The moment they destroyed government universities, Nigeria will have none again, because everything has been privatised,” he said.
According to him, the union has always engaged government on funding and provision of facilities to attract quality education that can bring development to the country.
He said the political class hardly recognised the essence of scholarship and funding for the development of the system, adding that all they think about was for them to take away what belong to the people.
Ogunyemi also called on Nigerians and Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) to support the fight for proper funding of education sector.