A prominent Civil Society Organization based in Abuja, known as the Forum For Good Governance, strongly criticized the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) for its condemnation of President Bola Tinubu’s dissolution of university governing boards. The organization accused ASUU of obstructing national development and progress in the education sector.
In a statement issued by the head of Policy and Strategy, Osondu Emeka, the forum made the following allegation:
“ASUU’s claim that dissolving governing councils of public universities is a setback is perplexing. The union should clarify why it perceives it as a setback since the statement suggests that ASUU is out of touch with public opinion.
“It is rather confusing because other concerned stakeholders have praised President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for his bold decisions aimed at revitalizing crucial institutions in the country, including tertiary institutions whose councils he dissolved. ASUU, however, appears to have a different agenda. It is evident that ASUU is hindering the nation’s development and progress in the education sector. ASUU needs to explain why,” demanded Emeka.
The group expressed bewilderment as to why ASUU has failed to acknowledge the incompetence and corrupt practices exhibited by certain council members as setbacks, instead regarding corrective measures as setbacks.
According to the statement, this contradiction indicates that ASUU has consistently deceived Nigerians by claiming to be a voice for the underprivileged.
“Many of the unsettling crises in public tertiary institutions may have arisen from decisions made by some of the governing councils with ASUU’s support.
“As intellectuals, shouldn’t ASUU have assessed the contributions and projects brought to their institutions by most of the councils, despite economic challenges? Such findings would have substantiated their baseless claim of unjust dissolution of the councils. Yet, ASUU did not point to these as setbacks; rather, they accused President Tinubu of considering them setbacks while attempting to rectify the situation.
“Something is amiss, and we demand that ASUU reveals what it is hiding,” noted Emeka.
Emeka further stated that the President’s decision aligns with existing constitutional provisions granting him the authority to dissolve the councils.
“Section 2A, Subsection 1 of the Third Schedule grants the President the authority to dissolve the councils. By rightly exercising his authority, could that be ASUU’s setback?” questioned the group.
