The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has voiced strong disapproval over the recent appointments to the governing councils of federal universities in Nigeria.
ASUU’s national president, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, expressed his concerns in an interview with the Nigerian Tribune, highlighting a troubling trend in the appointment process.
Prof. Osodeke stated, “Most of them are retired politicians. They are honourable this and honourable that,” questioning the suitability of such appointments for the strategic development of higher education institutions.
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He criticized the new list as worse than its predecessor, indicating a regression rather than progress in appointment policies.
“Go and look at the list again, you will see that most of them are retired politicians. That is how terrible the thing has become,” he lamented.
Beyond qualifications, ASUU pointed out procedural flaws and potential illegality in forming the new councils.
They added that the Federal Government had dissolved the previous councils over ten months ago, before their terms expired, contrary to the University Act.
“We can’t run our universities like this if we truly want genuine development to take place,” Prof. Osodeke stated, emphasizing that university education should not be subject to partisan politics for Nigeria to achieve real educational quality and economic prosperity.
ASUU is calling for a reevaluation of how university councils are constituted to ensure proper governance and development in the education sector.
