Abdulrazaq Mungadi, Gombe
The Gombe State Students’ Association (GOSSA) has called on the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to devise means of mending issues with the Federal Government (FG) other than embarking on strike action which has always been at the detriment of the Nigerian students.
The call was made by the GOSSA President, Aliyu Sa’ad Hassan. He lamented that the Nigerian students have always been at the receiving end of each face-off between ASUU and the FG, which he described as an academic setback to the poor and helpless Nigerian students.
The President stated this at a town hall meeting organized by Community for Youth Development (CYD) in Gombe. He appealed to the FG to see the possibility of addressing the lingering issue of inadequate funding of the education sector.
Also speaking at the meeting which was to discuss “the ASUU and FG Face-off, Students’ Dilemma and the Future of Public Universities in Nigeria,” Abubakar Inuwa Tata, an economist, and the founder of Abubakar Inuwa Tata (AIT) Foundation reveals that it would be difficult to adequately fund the Nigerian university system. “There is the need to develop a goal that is Specific Measurable Attainable Relevant and Time-bound (SMART).
I don’t think it will be possible for any government to invest over a trillion naira on education and don’t demand accountability. And I think introducing IPPIS is a way the FG is using to demand accountability for investing what ASUU is seeking for education,” Tata stated.
Founded in 1978, ASUU had been battling the FG on issues that have to do with its member’s welfare as well as upliftment of the country’s educational sector to meet the world standard that is according to Dr. Umar Adamu (TJ) the pioneer chairman of ASUU in Gombe State University (GSU).
He urging FG to do needful in addressing the issue of funding for universities TJ equally, enjoin the Nigerians to be fear to ASUU and join the struggle as it is for the betterment of education which is the backbone of every society.
However, Dr. Babayo Sule a lecturer with the Department of Political Science in Federal University Kashere (FUK) tasked the leadership of his union (ASUU) and the FG to do justice to the issue at hand as it affects the people and the overall productivity of the country.