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Cruelty To Students, Poor Info Management And Partisanship Hurting ASUU – Farooq Kperogi

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3 years ago

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On Thursday, Education Minister Adamu Adamu told news reporters that the federal government had resolved all outstanding disputes with ASUU and that the federal government’s insistence on withholding the salaries of lecturers for the period they’ve been on strike was the only reason ASUU said it won’t call off its strike.
It has turned out that Adamu lied about his first claim. (I’ll return to this shortly). Curiously, however, ASUU, ignored Adamu’s first claim and reacted only to the second claim.
In responding to the second claim, ASUU’s president basically confirmed what Adamu said and then directed viciously unvarnished cruelty to poor, lowly, helpless, and traumatized students who did ASUU no wrong; most of whom, in fact, support ASUU.
He told Channels TV that if lecturers aren’t paid salaries that they didn’t earn during the period they’re on strike, they’ll punish students by making them repeat the academic session all over again (many universities were on the cusp of completing their sessions when the strike started) and that the admissions granted to new students will be rescinded.
This threat would have made partial sense if the children of ministers and politicians were enrolled in public universities. But none of Adamu’s children is enrolled in a public university. His daughters attend private universities in Abuja and his son, I understand, attends an Iranian university.
Neither Adamu nor any high-ranking bureaucrat would be affected by ASUU’s planned cruelty to students. These monsters of depravity in government couldn’t care less if public universities are closed forever.
So, why would ASUU propose to punish innocent, powerless, and defenseless students because of the actions of thoughtless, out-of-touch government officials?
That was where I drew the line, and my attitude toward ASUU changed. My sympathies are always and will always be with the oppressed and the underdog. Punishing students with undeserved “spillovers” and arbitrary cancellation of admission is cruel, unusual, tyrannical, cowardly, and unjustifiable. I’ll oppose it with every resource I have.
For far too long, undergraduate (and postgraduate) students at Nigerian public universities have been treated like expendable rags by their lecturers. It’s this knee-jerk, age-old derision for students that the ASUU president betrayed in his outburst.
Well, if ASUU is able to convince the federal government to make exceptions for it—like it always did in the past—and exempt it from Section 43 of the Trade Disputes Act, which says, “where any worker takes part in a strike, he shall not be entitled to any wages or other remuneration for the period of the strike,” that’s fine. But they shouldn’t punish students if they fail.
Nonetheless, after the publication of my column yesterday, ASUU members said, contrary to Adamu’s claims, no agreement had been reached between ASUU and the federal government, and that the federal government merely told ASUU that it would add an additional 60,000 naira to the salaries of professors and 30,000 to those of others, which won’t materialize until next year when the life of the current government would have expired.
That’s unacceptable, and I wholeheartedly support ASUU’s opposition to this fraud and condescension from the government.
But why didn’t ASUU immediately disclaim Adamu’s lie that the government had resolved all disputes with it instead of being hung up on making the case for why its members should be paid for work they didn’t do and threatening to punish innocent students?
For me, it betrays both incompetence and defective prioritization on the part of the ASUU leadership. A union of academics should have mechanisms for real-time, rapid-fire responses to issues that concern it in moments like this.
I read an article by Abdelghaffar Amoka Abdelmalik, an ASUU member, bemoaning the absence of ASUU on social media.
ASUU has no official handle on any social media platform, and people have taken advantage of this to crowd the space with fake ASUU handles.
The union periodically issues press statements saying it has no social media presence. Who does that in the 21st century? And we’re talking about a union that has among its members professors of communication!
When I wanted to write my column, I searched the internet for ASUU’s reaction to Adamu’s claim that the federal government had resolved all disputes with ASUU. I didn’t find anything.
All I saw was the ASUU president sulking because Adamu said lecturers won’t be paid for the period that they’re on strike.
Based on my knowledge of Adamu as someone who isn’t flippant, who isn’t given to lying—and the fact that ASUU hadn’t denied his claim—I chose to believe him. Now, I’m as disappointed with Adamu’s disgraceful, undignified lie as I am with ASUU’s 24-hour silence over the lie.
I have a strong suspicion that Adamu’s recent viciousness toward ASUU is inspired by the ASUU president’s venture into partisan politics.
On August 12, for example, he said to young people on AIT: “For all those who have subjected them to this [strike], they should vote them out. It’s their right. They should use the Permanent Voter Cards (PVC).”
“We are mobilising [the] Nigerian people,” he continued. “We are educating [the] Nigerian people to know that the present set of leaders have no feelings for Nigerian students and have no feelings for Nigeria as a country.”
Many people, including the Premium Times, interpreted this as a call to not vote the APC in the forthcoming 2023 election. Honchos of the Buhari regime also now see ASUU as politically partisan and are treating it like they would treat opposition politicians.
That’s why although I agree with the ASUU president’s sentiments, I think his political partisanship is counterproductive to ASUU’s cause. ASUU should steer clear of partisan politics.
The ASUU president also said people should not vote for people whose children either live abroad or went/go to school abroad. But that’s an impossibility. There is hardly any Nigerian politician running for office today who can pass this muster.
Most of Atiku Abubakar’s children went to school abroad. Bola Tinubu’s children went to school abroad, too. And Peter Obi’s children went to school abroad and live there.
Just like Bola Tinubu’s APC has allowed ASUU strikes to linger, Atiku Abubakar’s PDP was no different. Months-long ASUU strikes took place when Atiku was Vice President.
And, as governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi allowed a strike by lecturers at the Anambra State University to last for more than 5 months and even sacked the school’s vice chancellor “because of his alleged romance with the striking workers of the university,” according to the Daily Sun of January 19, 2011.
So, the top three contenders to the presidency all have the same attitude toward university lecturers, which makes the ASUU president’s partisan recommendations pointless.
Finally, it’s now clear that the government is both unable and unwilling to fund public universities. We must find alternative sources of funding them.
There are not many countries in the world where universities are closed for more than half a year because of a strike. That isn’t sustainable. There has to be another way.
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LASG SHUTS ILLEGAL NURSING COLLEGE IN IKORODU

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2 months ago

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November 8, 2025

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Lagos State government has sealed Tower College of Health Sciences in Gberigbe, Ikorodu, for operating an illegal nursing program.

 

A joint enforcement team on Thursday, comprising officials of the Lagos State Ministry of Health through the Directorate of Nursing Services (DNS), the Nursing and Midwifery Committee of Lagos State, and the National Association of Nigerian Nurses and Midwife (NANNM), Lagos State branch, with men of the Rapid Response Squad (RRS), stormed the school premises to enforce the closure.

 

During the operation, the Director of the college, Femi Ajekigbe was arrested and has been taken into custody for questioning and further legal action by the State.

 

Speaking to journalists after the closure, Mrs Sola Aketi, the Director of Nursing Services, Lagos State Ministry of Health noted that the institution had been notified of the imminent closure after an inspection team from the Nursing and Midwifery Committee of the state had earlier visited the institution in January 20, 2025, to assess its compliance with standards but several irregularities were uncovered.

 

According to her, the team led by Dr. Oladapo Olawale, alongside Nurse Ilawole, Comrade Ayobami Amusan and Comrade Idowu Osuntuyi reported that Tower College of Health Sciences failed to meet basic academic and infrastructural requirements for nursing education and consequently lacked accreditation from the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria, NMCN.

 

She confirmed that Tower College is just one of many unaccredited institutions operating in Lagos and vowed to extend the clampdown to other illegal nursing schools as the State will no longer condone such dangerous death traps.

 

Aketi said, “As a result of this closure, the illegal institution will cease all nursing training and educational activities with immediate effect.

 

“We have several of these schools across the state, and we will not stop until they are all shut down.

 

“Any further operation of the college is be considered unauthorized and dangerous to the people of Ikorodu and Lagos in general,” she added.

 

She warned that activities of these unapproved health institutions are dangerous and inimical to the well-being of any society and weaken the state healthcare delivery system.

 

Dr. Olawale Oladapo, who led the team in January 20, 2025 had advised the Association and the state government that the school lacked basic requirements needed for accreditation and so included in his report the immediate closure of the illegal school for the safety of the people.

 

In his report, he observed that, “the school had no demonstration room, no hospital affiliation for clinical postings, and no hostel accommodation for students who shockingly were already in their 300 level without undergoing any clinical training and resource verification from the nursing council.

 

“The inspection committee, however, recommended the immediate closure of the school, withdrawal of all students, and also the licenses of individuals parading themselves as nursing tutors without approval,” Oladapo noted.

 

Following the report, the Nursing and Midwifery Committee of the State and the Lagos State Ministry of Health issued a formal closure notice dated 20th February 2025, signed by Dr. Olawale Oladapo, Secretary of the Committee.

 

The letter stated that the decision to close the institution was due to failure to meet the minimum standards for accreditation as outlined in NMCN regulations, non-compliance with repeated warnings to correct identified deficiencies and evidence of substandard training and education, posing risks to the health, safety, and wellbeing of students and the public.

 

The premises have since been sealed and placed under surveillance to prevent any further unauthorized operation of the college as contrary action will be considered unauthorized and may result in legal action.

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Education

Student Loan Application Hits One Million – NELFUND

Published

2 months ago

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November 2, 2025

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The Nigerian Education Loan Fund (NELFUND) on Sunday said that the student loan scheme has crossed one million applications on its official portal.

 

The organisation noted that this marked one of the biggest uptake levels for a government-backed social scheme since the start of President Bola Tinubu’s administration.

 

NELFUND, in a statement by the Director, Strategic Communications, Oseyemi Oluwatuyi, stated that the milestone comes barely one year after the programme’s launch on 24 May 2024, describing it as proof that the student loan initiative is gaining strong national traction and public trust.

 

It said that over ₦116bn has so far been disbursed to students across universities, polytechnics and colleges of education in Nigeria, covering institutional charges and upkeep allowances.

 

The Managing Director of NELFUND, Akintunde Sawyerr, said the development reflected the impact of the President Tinubu Renewed Hope policy drive on access to higher education.

 

The statement explained: “Crossing the one-million mark represents more than data; it represents renewed hope for a generation of Nigerians determined to rise above financial barriers to education.

 

“It is a testament to visionary leadership, sound policy design, and the collective efforts of all stakeholders driving this transformative agenda.”

 

NELFUND reiterated that it is committed to continuous process improvement to make sure “every qualified Nigerian student, regardless of background or location, can access education funding with transparency, efficiency, and dignity.”

 

The agency described the programme as non-discriminatory — saying it benefits Nigerians across religions and ethnic backgrounds — and is helping to unify national aspirations through equal learning opportunities.

 

It said it remains focused on ensuring “no Nigerian is denied the opportunity to learn, grow or contribute to national progress because of financial limitations.”

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Education

Just In: ASUU Suspends Two-Week Warning Strike

Published

3 months ago

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October 22, 2025

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The Academic Staff Union of Universities has announced the suspension of its ongoing two-week warning strike.

 

The National President of ASUU, Prof. Chris Piwuna, made this known in an ongoing press briefing in Abuja on Wednesday.

 

According to Piwuna, the decision stemmed from the meeting of the National Executive Council meeting which was held overnight and ended by 4:00 am on Wednesday.

 

Piwuna noted that the union decided to embark on the strike due to the failure of the government to meet its demands on time.

 

“We’ve had useful engagements with representatives of the government to consider the response to the draft renegotiation of the 2009 agreements. However, we are definitely not where we were prior to the commencement of the strike.

 

“The union acknowledged that the government returned to the negotiation table. While noting that a lot more work is still required, NEC came to the conclusion that the ongoing strike should be reviewed. The decision to review the strike action was a result of efforts by our students, parents, and the Nigeria Labour Congress.

 

“Consequently, NEC resolved to suspend the warning strike to reciprocate the efforts of well-meaning Nigerians.”

 

Recall that ASUU declared a total and comprehensive warning strike starting from Monday, October 13.

 

ASUU is currently demanding the conclusion of the renegotiated 2009 FGN-ASUU agreement, the release of the withheld three and a half months’ salaries, sustainable funding of public universities, revitalisation of public universities, and cessation of the victimisation of lecturers in LASU, Prince Abubakar Audu University, and FUTO.

 

Others are payment of outstanding 25-35% salary arrears, payment of promotion arrears for over four years and release of withheld third-party deductions (cooperative contributions, union check-off dues).

 

 

 

 

 

 

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