The newly elected President of the Academic Staff of Universities Union (ASUU), Dr. Nasir Isa, has called for adequate budgetary allocation to education, to stem the quest of Nigerians to study in neighbouring countries.
Isa made the call in Abuja on Thursday when he led other executive members of the union on a courtesy call on the Executive Secretary of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Prof. Mahmud Yakub.
He said neighbouring Ghana had been dedicating 30 percent of its annual budget to its education sector, resulting in the excellent results that were evident.
He lauded the Federal Government’s efforts at overcoming the challenges facing the nation’s university education system and said that if the ongoing NEEDS assessment programme for public universities was sustained, it was capable of transforming university education in the country.
Isa, who said ASUU had contributed its quota to the development of education in the country, pledged to pick up the mantle from where his predecessor stopped.
He reiterated the union’s commitment to ensuring dialogue, collective bargaining and equity in its dealings with the government.
“We will always look at things critically before we take a decision. When we take a decision on a matter, be rest assured that we have taken all sides of the matter into consideration,” he said.
Welcoming his guests, Yakub expressed TETFund’s readiness to collaborate with the new leadership of the union.
He said that under its capacity development programme for universities, the fund had sponsored 624 Nigerian lecturers for postgraduate courses within and outside the country.
He said TETFund had also trained more than 5,800 lecturers via various conferences at home and abroad.
Source:Daily Times