The national president of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, has rejected the federal government’s recent appointments to university governing councils.
Osodeke described the new list as “worse than the previous one,” lamenting the overwhelming presence of retired politicians.
“Go and look at the list again, you will see that most of them are retired politicians. They are honourable this and honourable that. What does that tell us?” Osodeke questioned.
Osodeke argued that appointing politicians to the councils is detrimental to the genuine development of Nigerian universities.
He contended that the current approach undermines the management and progress of higher education institutions.
ASUU had previously contested the legality of the federal government’s decision to form new governing councils while the tenures of the previous councils, which were dissolved over 10 months ago, had not yet expired.
The move, according to ASUU, violated the University Act, which specifies the duration of governing council tenures.
The union maintained that such political appointments do not align with the necessary academic and administrative standards required to foster real development in the country’s universities.
