Posted by The Ondo State Government’s decision to build a new university in the state has been criticized by the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, or SSANU, as being reckless.
The SSANU chapter of Adekunle Ajasin Institution, Akungba-Akoko, AAUA, criticized the idea of starting a new university and asserted that the current ones are underfunded and owe their employees more than ten months’ wages.
Comrade Tayo Ogungbeni, the SSANU-AAUA Chairman, emphasized in a statement released on Thursday that, four years after the New National Minimum Wage was introduced in Nigeria, none of the state’s higher institutions had done the same for their workforce.
Last week, the administration headed by Governor Oluwarotimi Akeredolu revealed plans to convert the state-owned Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo, RUGIPO, into a university.
The state administration emphasized that the action is dependent on the Federal Government’s directions that all polytechnics either be converted to universities or be linked with existing ones after appointing a seven-member committee to look into the modalities for the upgrading.
The SSANU Chairman, who disapproved of the action, questioned, “Is our issue the establishment of new universities or increasing support for those that already exist? Our Governor ought to support the current universities in their efforts to compete favorably with their international sisters’ universities.
“Underfunding is the trademark of all higher institutions in Ondo State, which consists of three state-owned Universities and a Polytechnic,” Comrade Ogungbeni continued. “Yet, the establishment of a fourth University is almost a done thing.
Because government officials can easily send their wards to private institutions and even abroad, the government is doing everything in its power to “kill” public universities at the federal level. Why would a decent government penalize the workers by depriving them of work and salary if it had failed in its duties? It is unfortunate that higher education is on explosive ground.