• NANS wants education, pilgrimage expenditures probed
The Emmanuel Alayande University of Education (EAUE), Oyo Town branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), yesterday, called on President Bola Tinubu to rescue the Nigerian universities system, which it said is bleeding to death.
The branch chairman, Dr Michael Ojo, appealed while speaking with journalists on the deplorable situation of the nation’s public university education and the conditions of service, which squeeze lecturers.
Ojo stressed that one of the ways to address the bleeding was for the President to sign renegotiated agreements with the union. He noted: “Salary awards are no substitutes for a negotiated agreement. Each negotiated agreement between the government and ASUU is a comprehensive package that captures not just salary components, but also a gamut of requirements for bench-marking a competitive university system designed to address the developmental challenges of Nigeria. The last FGN/ASUU Agreement was in 2009.”
SIMILARLY, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has sought an investigation into the utilisation of education funds in the country. It also expressed concern over the recent revelations regarding the “poor handling” of this year’s pilgrimage by the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria (NAHCON).
The body, therefore, called on the Federal Government to review funding to the commission, noting that the N90 billion subsidy by the government could significantly impact the education sector.
NANS said: “The money has been misused, and it could have been better spent improving the nation’s educational infrastructure and the amount could cover the Universal Basic Education (Commission) budget for four years, indicating the scale of potential misallocation.
The students’ body said giving only $400 to pilgrims could not sustain them for approximately 40 days, despite each pilgrim paying N8 million, highlighting the severe mismanagement within NAHCON.
President of NANS Senate, Akinteye Babatunde Afeez, stated that the misallocation of resources has led to unnecessary hardship for many Nigerian pilgrims and raises serious questions about the operational efficiency and accountability of the commission.
