Following the continued strike by Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), concerned Nigerians have called for an alternative resolution of the dispute, saying negotiations between the Federal Government and ASUU have failed over the years.
A lawyer and public analyst, Dr Charles Omole, said both parties have been negotiating for over 30 years and nothing had come out from all the negotiations.
According to him, the negotiations failed due to the Federal Government’s inability to meet up with the funds required to address the myriads of challenges confronting the nation’s university system.
The United Kingdom-based analyst said government must hands off 60 per cent of its involvement or give a moratorium of a-10 year withdrawal plan from university funding, while also appointing vice chancellors who are going to get grants and endowments for their institutions.
He said: “For a country that wants to maximise its university education system, government’s contribution cannot be more than 35 per cent at most. We are in trouble with our university education in Nigeria, because we make the institutions totally dependent on government for its revenue and running cost.
“We need a complete reform of our university education system. What we have always lacked is a leader with the political will to take tough decisions devoid of political correctness.” He lamented that the failure to reform the public university system gave rise to private universities.
“That’s why private/individually-owned universities are not popular in countries with solid public university system. In these places, the rich give grants to universities instead of thinking of starting their own.
A retired director from the Federal Ministry of Education, Monday Nwankpa, and former vice chancellor, Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago Iwoye, Prof Olusoga Sofola, said government should look inwards in proffering lasting solutions to incessant strikes in public universities.
For instance, Nwankpa said federal universities could be made to operate at full autonomy, with the governing council of each institution taking firm control and ensuring smooth running of the universities. He advised the government to also consider changing the nomenclature of the Federal Scholarship Board to Federal Students Loan Board.
“Poor students who cannot afford school fees could apply for students loan and pay back when he or she begins work upon graduation. With this, the Federal Government will be freed from huge wage bills running into billions of naira.
Education is capital-intensive and requires cost-sharing. Therefore, ASUU and other staff unions will, under this arrangement, discuss with their employers, in this case, the governing councils.
“Government has come to a realisation that there is no point in lecturers abandoning their responsibilities of teaching students and coming to Abuja all the time for negotiation on issues that could be effectively handled by the councils.