According to Osodeke, the Constitution makes it clear that the federal government must provide funding for public universities.
According to Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the Federal Government cannot completely stop supporting universities.
Osodeke noted on Thursday’s episode of Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily that the Federal Government’s obligation to support public colleges is expressly established in the Constitution.
He was responding to a story in which the Minister of Education, Prof. Tahir Mamman, was reported as saying that the Federal Government would start new initiatives for funding tertiary education by giving universities the liberty to find new sources of revenue for their operations.
“There is no way the Federal Government of Nigeria would say they would not fund public universities because it is provided for in the law,” the ASUU leader declared. University, basic, and secondary education are all free, as stated in Section 18 of the Constitution, according to Osodeke.
While Osodeke remained wary of speculating on the government’s intentions, he pointed out that there wouldn’t be much of a financial concern if the law is followed to conduct university business without interference from bureaucrats.
“The only issue is that it is not judicially sound, therefore I indicated that I don’t think this administration will declare that we are going to stop supporting universities based on what we have seen. However, autonomy already exists and was sparked in 2003; if we abide by that law and let the bureaucracy run its course, the university system will be fine.
He continued by saying that universities would have adequate funding to support their operations if Nigeria increased its allocation to education, as other European nations do.
According to the ASUU don, a successful higher education system in Nigeria might result from enabling universities to operate independently while abiding by the law.
