The Academic Staff Union of Universities have threatened to embark on a nationwide strike to protest the low allocation for education in the 2024 budget.
In an interview with The PUNCH on Monday, Prof. Emmanuel Oshodeke highlighted President Bola Tinubu’s pledge during the recent campaign and election to elevate the Education sector’s allocation to a minimum of 15 per cent or higher.
He also referenced the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation’s recommendation, urging member states to allocate at least 26 per cent of their budget to the education sector.
Expressing concern, Oshodeke pointed out that Nigeria has the lowest remuneration for professors worldwide.
However, he expressed disappointment on behalf of ASUU when the 2024 education budget was announced at N2.18 trillion, constituting only 7.9 per cent of the total budget.
He emphasized that this figure mirrored the previous budget allocation during the Buhari government, indicating that insufficient progress could be achieved in the sector without an increased budget.
Oshodeke strongly advised the government to convene with cabinet members and consider raising the budget allocation to 15 per cent or higher for significant advancements in the sector.
“With this seven per cent education budget, nothing will change in the sector, it is just as we had during Buhari’s time. Tinubu during his campaign promised to increase the education budget but nothing.
“However, there is still a chance for him, to change. But if no improvement on this and our other demands, by next year, we will mobilise our people and we can’t stay like this because Oyo State has 15 per cent and Enugu State budgeted 32 per cent for education, but FG is giving less than eight per cent.
“He can still increase it, they should liaise with the executives and come out with a budget that is not less than 15 per cent as he promised during the election.”
Also, the National president, The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Dr Anderson Ezeibe, also told The PUNCH “It is demoralising to see the allocation follow the same trend as in the past.
“The sectoral allocation for education is less than eight per cent and can barely provide solutions to the multifaceted problems in the sector. The allocation is inadequate and falls short of the expectations.”
Addressing the “japa syndrome,” which he attributed to a substantial brain drain within the university system, he recommended that the government raise the salaries of lecturers and settle the backlog of Earned Allowance and withheld salaries.
Osohodeke added, “They should increase lecturers’ salaries, and the increment of retirement age, will enable lecturers to produce more PhDs, but the government is not interested in the system. They should separate lecturers from civil servants.”
He also complained about the lack of international lecturers in the tertiary institutions in Nigeria, saying, “For you to be well-ranked, you have to get lecturers all over the world to come lecture in your system. We pay the least remuneration to professors, globally.
“Professors in Nigeria earn between $200 to $300 a month but when such a professor moves to Rwanda, he earns $3000.
“The government should allow universities to run on its own, they should sign the agreement with Nimi Briggs. They can do all these if there is willpower.”
Ezeibe, added, “The only way to stop the japa syndrome and save our sector from brain drain is to improve funding for the education sector, improve the wage structure to meet at least the African average, and restore governance in the sector to global standards. By doing these, our academics who are leaving will stay back as they will be better motivated.”
