A leading Civil Society Organization in the nation’s capital, Abuja, Forum For Good Governance, has slammed the Academic Staff Union of Universities ASUU for condemning President Bola Tinubu’s dissolution of university governing boards, accusing the union of gradually constituting itself into a clog in the wheel of national development and progress in the education sector.
The forum made this allegation in a statement issued by its head of Policy and Strategy, Osondu Emeka on Thursday.
“ASUU says dissolving governing councils of public universities is a setback. It is confusing. The union needs to explain to Nigerians why it is a setback because obviously the statement indicates that ASUU is running against public opinion.
“It is very confusing because other concerned stakeholders have applauded President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for the courage he has displayed in taking certain far-reaching decisions meant to rejig a number of the country’s vital institutions, including tertiary institutions whose Councils he dissolved, except ASUU which sees and has a different agenda. It is obvious ASUU is one of the groups working as a clog in the nation’s wheel of development and progress in the education sector. ASUU needs to explain why,” Emeka demanded.
The group wondered why ASUU has not identified the ineptitude and corrupt tendencies displayed by members of some of the councils as setbacks but instead pointed at remedial measures as setbacks.
According to the statement, the contradiction is a sign that ASUU has always been deceiving Nigerians with claims of being a voice for the underprivileged.
“A lot of the unsettling crisis in public tertiary institutions may have emanated from decisions taken by some of the governing councils backed by ASUU.
“As a body of intellectuals, should ASUU not have carried out a survey of the values that most of the Councils added or projects they attracted to their institutions in the face of economic hardships? Such findings would have buttressed their unguarded claim of unjust dissolution of the Councils. Yet ASUU did not point at them as setbacks but instead accused President Tinubu of taking steps to correct them as a setback.
“Something must be wrong somewhere and we demand that ASUU tells Nigerians what it is hiding,” Emeka noted.
Emeka added that the President’s decision is in line with extant constitutional provisions which gives him the authority to dissolve the councils.
“Section 2A, Subsection 1 of the Third Schedule gives the President the authority to dissolve the Councils. That he rightly exercised his authority, could that be ASUU’s setback?” The group queried.
