𝐄𝐝𝐮𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐬 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞 𝐅𝐆 𝐧𝐞𝐠𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐬𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐨𝐫 — 𝐀𝐒𝐔𝐔

The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Chris Piwuna, has accused the Federal Government of failing to prioritise education, saying its officials do not view the sector’s problems as national concerns demanding collective effort.

Speaking on The Toyin Falola Interviews on Sunday, in a virtual session titled “A Conversation with the ASUU President,” Piwuna said the indifference of top government officials has hindered reforms and left the system in decline.

According to him, members of the Federal Executive Council often treat education issues as the exclusive burden of the Minister of Education, rather than a shared responsibility that affects all ministries.

“When ASUU declares a strike, the Minister of Finance sees it as the Minister of Education’s problem. But if the Minister of Finance understood that economic growth depends on a knowledgeable workforce, he would take that problem as his own,” Piwuna said.

He criticised the Federal Government’s approach to education, arguing that corruption and self-interest have overtaken public service ideals.

“We in ASUU see education as a public good, but those in government treat it as a capitalist venture. That is why even TETFund has become a marketplace,” he added.

Other panelists on the show — including Prof. Francis Egbokhare of the University of Ibadan, economist Prof. Sherrifdeen Tella, and Nigeria Labour Congress President Joe Ajaero — echoed concerns over poor leadership, weak accountability, and disregard for research in Nigeria’s universities.

Egbokhare said the decay in university infrastructure and governance shows a “failure of leadership,” while Ajaero urged both ASUU and government to “adopt a holistic approach” to address the broader education crisis across all levels.

Piwuna also disclosed that discussions from ASUU’s ongoing National Executive Council meeting in Taraba State were nearing conclusion but insisted that the government’s current salary proposal was “unacceptable.”

“Our salaries are nothing to write home about. All the billionaires have private universities, and none of them support public ones,” he said, lamenting that poor living conditions have forced some lecturers to sleep in their offices with their families.