An educationist, Michael Dosunmu, has urged the federal government to end the ongoing nationwide strike by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) by first ensuring the provision of adequate funding for the education sector.
“ASUU may have a myriad of challenges, but they all have to do with money. Is the federal government rich and willing to solve ASUU’s problem is what I don’t know. However, the government should look into what goes to the sector regarding funding.”
Mr Dosunmu, the CEO of Westerfield College, was speaking on the sidelines of the 2022 graduation ceremony of the sixth-form learning institution, which has for the past 12 years since it was founded in 2011, served as a “training ground for the university experience”, helping over 2,000 students gain admission into notable universities abroad.
The educationist said that aside from meeting the university lecturers’ demands, the federal government should work on repairing ASUU’s trust that it has lost over the years.
“Another issue is, does the government enjoy the trust of ASUU? If the government does not have ASUU’s trust, then it must find a way to rebuild that trust. The government needs to reassure ASUU that it is working on solving the issues,” Mr Dosunmu said.
“ASUU members are carrier teachers. They’re not necessarily saying that government must solve their problems in one year because they’ve committed their lives to build ours, but maybe the government has lost their trust and needs to rebuild that,” Mr Dosunmu added.
Speaking further, he said, “Nigeria’s education system is fractured. The government needs to increase the education budget. There’s a budget size that should go to the sector. When done properly, the federal government will begin to gain ASUU’s trust.”
Principal of the college, Dare Falodun, said that “The federal government must fund the education sector. In countries like Germany, from the early years all the way to university, education is free. So, it is a duty of government, not their right, to fund education.”
Kicking against the argument of financial autonomy for universities as a means to develop the sector, Mr Falodun said that “If universities were allowed to fund themselves, it then means that poor Nigerians won’t be able to send their children to good schools.
“When you look at statistics, China has the highest number of students studying abroad, outside of China. Why do they do this? Government funds students to schools outside of their countries, to learn from others. Once they get that knowledge, they go back to apply it.”
