ASUU: FG’s Constitutional Responsibility is to Fund Universities

Cursory: ASUU President Emmanuel Osodeke stated that government funding for Nigerian universities is constitutionally mandated, in response to a statement by the Minister of Education. Osodeke cited the constitution to prove his claim, expressing doubt that the government would completely withdraw funding.

Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, who currently holds the position of President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has asserted that it is impossible for the Federal Government to discontinue its financial support for universities in the nation.

He explained that government funding for federal universities is mandated by the constitution. Osodeke made these comments in response to a statement attributed to Minister of Education Prof Tahir Mamman, who had recently indicated that the Federal Government plans to provide universities with full autonomy to seek alternative methods of financing their operations.

He said: “There is no way the Federal Government of Nigeria would say they would not fund public universities because it is there in the law. It is there in the Constitution. Look at Section 18 of the Constitution; it says university, primary, and secondary are free.

“The only problem is that it is not judicable; that’s the only problem. So I said, I don’t think this government, from what we have seen, is going to say we are going to hands off from university. If you check the ratio of Nigeria’s education budget to our GDP, it’s one of the lowest in the world.”

Source: DailyPost

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