Continued #ASUUStrike Underscores the Need to Revisit Nigeria’s Tertiary Education Financing -By Chima Christian

The inability of the Federal Government and ASUU to come to a compromise, even after President Muhammadu Buhari gave members of his team a clear implementation timeline underscores the point that has been long emphasised. Which is that Nigeria’s tertiary education funding model has to be revisited. I agree with ASUU that their working conditions be improved and that more funding should be ploughed into tertiary education generally.

I’m however advocating for Nigeria’s public universities to generate a substantial part of their own funding. They can do this through their alumni network, partnerships with the private sector, endowments from NGOs and high networth individuals, commercialisation of research ideas, phased increase in tuition, investment of university funds in relatively stable instruments, etc.

The idea of universities running to Abuja every now and then to sort out their basic needs, just like we have state governments reliant on the FG for allocations, has made them lazy. It makes no sense that someone in Abuja will unilaterally decide what a lecturer in Awka will be earning and what platform he/she is to be paid on.

I agree with ASUU that the the IPPIS payment platform is not working for them. Universities should however generate their own resources and then have the autonomy to spend as they deem fit. What the government should owe them is subventions not more than 30 percent of their funding needs and then periodic audit of their accounts.

This, if done, I believe, will permanently resolve the now too frequent disagreements between the Federal Government and ASUU.

Chima Christian