President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, has voiced disagreement with the Federal Government’s move to remove fuel subsidies on Wednesday.
He argued that the initiative was riddled with insincerity and corrupt practices.
Osodeke, during his address at the inaugural public lecture and ground-breaking ceremony of the Alex Ekwueme Federal University Ndufu-Alike Ikwo (AE-FUNAI) ASUU Branch’s Secretariat, highlighted the government’s refusal to renovate the country’s refineries.
He stated that this neglect was the reason why the petroleum sector isn’t benefitting the majority of Nigerians.
He argued, “You can’t be exporting crude oil for more than 70 years and still can’t refine crude oil and sell to your people at the Nigerian rate, not at a dollar. Then, something is wrong. There is no subsidy. It’s not rocket science to build a refinery. They deliberately refused to maintain the ones they have.”
Osodeke also expressed concern about the country’s education sector. He emphasized that the current state of affairs was due to a lack of attention given to education by the leaders in the past two to three decades.
“Any country that doesn’t prioritize education is set for crisis; where we are today is because our leaders in the past 20 to 25 years had not taken education seriously and that’s why we are where we are today,” he said.
Following the lecture titled “Reinvesting Nigerian Universities for Research and Development: The ASUU Perspective”, the immediate past ASUU President, Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, joined the call for the Federal Government to reevaluate its approach to the education sector.
He said, “We have several reports on the ground that have not been implemented. ASUU was negotiating with the government on how to arrest brain drain, how to restore quality, and how to revamp the facility. We did it for more than six years, Dr. Chris Ngige aborted it.”
Ogunyemi emphasized the necessity of resuscitating the negotiation process, condemning the government for abandoning the discussions after six years.
He also criticized the current conditions for university workers, students, and intellectuals, deeming them hostile and unfriendly.
“We need to rethink our approach to education,” Ogunyemi concluded.
