ASUU President bemoans godfatherism in Nigerian Universities

By Daniel Kelechi

The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke has bemoaned the problem of godfatherism which has crept into the Nigerian University system.

Prof. Osodeke, decried this horrible situation while speaking during an event held Monday in Abuja to mark 60 years anniversary of the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU).

Osodeke said universities should be run like they were during the 60s and 70s when there was little or no interference from government officials. He noted further that we must take our universities to the uni-versatility of universities not to region universities.

The ASUU chairman explained that the university’s first-generation lecturers were those with first class and second class upper who sought to be lecturers even when they had opportunities to be in banks.

He said we must take our universities to the uni-versatility of universities not to region universities.

The ASUU chairman explained that the university’s first-generation lecturers were those with first class and second class upper who sought to be lecturers even when they had opportunities to be in banks.

He further said the third-generation lecturers were those with third class and HND who went for post graduate diploma to enter the university system through godfatherism while the fourth one are those who want to make money from the system.

“Unfortunately, when the first and second generation of lecturers are retiring and leaving the country, the system is being dominated by third and fourth generation of lecturers,” he said.
He said universities no longer follow the process of advertising and letting people apply for the position and get interviewed to get into the university but rather they come in through godfatherism.

“Today, before a vice chancellor can employ any lecturer he has to go and get permission from the head of service and when he employs, he has to go to the Accountant General office to beg for people employed to be paid salary,” he said.

“How can we run a system like that? We should be sad, there is nothing to celebrate. Our job as vice chancellors is online, there is need for unbundle of the stranglehold of the bureaucrat in
Nigerian university system, let them run the way they are run in 60s and 70s, now we are in big crisis, we must take our universities to the uni-versatility of universities not to region. universities,” he said.

Osodeke also decried the state of inadequate lecturers and funding in the system, saying, the least budget for education in Africa is 12 per cent but in Nigeria it was 3.8 per cent last year.
Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman, noted that the Federal Government has been making efforts to improve the state of Public Universities.

“Government approved payment of salary increase of 35 percent to academics and 25 percent to non-academics as further commitments to the welfare of the staff, the payment for the
revitalization of the tertiary institutions is also underway”, the Minister said