Ibrahim Oyewale in Lokoja
A varsity don and current Vice Chancellor of Salem University, Lokoja, Professor Alewo Johnson Atabor, has urged the federal government and the striking lecturers Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) shift grounds in the interest of the future of students, parents and guardians, who have been at receiving end in past seven months.
He stated that Nigerian educational system was on life support ,adding that the federal government and other critical stakeholders must rise up to revive the dying sector now for benefit of future generation because if the situation persists it might cause a generational gab.
Professor Alewo, who made passionate appeal while fielding questions from journalists over the protracted FG/ASUU face-off on funding and other critical issues bordering university education system in Nigeria and the inability of the federal government to compromise in Lokoja at weekend .
Alewo, who is a professor of sociology, also lamented that it is becoming more worrisome for the students to continue to stay at home while nothing concrete has been achieved in the past seven months from the prolonged negotiations
He, however, decried the lackadaisical attitude of the heads of Ministries and agencies saddled with responsibility to negotiate with ASUU with aims to resolving the grey area of the demand, accusing them of insincerity for allowing the situations to degenerate to this level.
He therefore, tasked the federal government and its agencies in education sector to show high level of committment and sincerity , arguing that the government should not always look at ASUU demands as how is it possible to feed a hungry man in one day .
While sympathising with members of the ASUU over the ordeal , however, advised them to show concerns for the students and parents guardians who have been at a disadvantage to shift grounds .
According to him, the consequence of the protracted face-off is a disaster waiting to waiting to happen in University system in the country as many lecturers may be forced to seek greener pastures elsewhere around the globe.
He lamented that no nation makes progress when the university education is permanently shut down as result of strike actions and such will always produced half baked graduates
He admonished the management of the public universities to look inward and prepared their minds toward joining the private universities fending for themselves as the federal government may not be able to continue to fund university education because the present socio -economic structures in the country.
On whether private universities should benefits from Tertiary Education Trust Fund TETFUND, Alewo explained that there nothing wrong if the private universities are benefitting from TETFUND. He noted that since the private varsities are contributing to educational development in country and that such funds are from the nations commonwealth, they should benefit.
He said that Salem University has come of age, noting that it is private faith based and fast growing university that had produced no fewer than over 4,000 change agents in line with vision and mission of the founder in the past 16 years of it existence.
The VC posited that the institution is currently running programmes in six faculties ,stressing that all the programmes are fully accredited and just recently the law programme was accredited while the Council of Legal Education visited the institution to approve the law graduate into the Nigeria Law school.
