The General Assembly of the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities has called on the Federal Government to be proactive and embrace dialogue in a bid to resolve the ongoing crises between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities.
The committee also added that Nigerian universities will not be able to withstand the consequences of a prolonged strike.
These, among others, were resolutions reached by the general assembly at the end of its 80th Meeting held on the 10th of March 2022 which was contained in a communique it issued after the meeting.
The PUNCH reports that ASUU on Monday, February 14, 2022, had embarked on a four-week warning strike following the failure of the government to implement the agreements it signed with the union.
The union had also said it would go on a total and comprehensive indefinite strike should the government fail to honour its demands before the end of the four-week warning strike.
However, the vice-chancellors communique partly reads, “Members expressed regret that the nation’s public Universities are witnessing another strike action resulting from a trade dispute with the Unions. It expressed the need for the Federal Government to be proactive and dialogue with the leadership of the Union to ensure an amicable resolution of the crisis.
“At the heart of the dispute is the public universities’ funding, which members noted is grossly inadequate by the Government at the Federal and State Levels. The Meeting noted that the Public Universities might not absorb the consequences of another prolonged strike by the Union if the outstanding issues are not quickly resolved.
On the issue of fake admissions, the committee decried the high rate and resolved to schedule a meeting with the registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculations Board.
“Members decried the issue of illegal admissions into our Universities. CVCNU resolved an urgent meeting with the JAMB Registrar to draw his attention to this matter and see how this can be curbed.
“The Meeting noted that the way Vice-Chancellors are summoned by various committees of the National Assembly was improper. The Meeting suggested that a meeting with the leadership of the National Assembly was necessary to find a better process of engagement.
“The Committee saluted the efforts of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors in raising this matter with the Visitor. It advised that there should be constant follow up to ensure that Mr. President grants the request to lift the embargo.
“The 36th CVCNU Conference and CVC @ 60 celebrations- The two events are being planned in Abuja sometime in October 2022. The Secretariat also plans to organize a befitting send forth and welcome dinner party in honour of some former and new vice-chancellors. The Meeting urged the Secretariat to give wide publicity to the event.
“The Meeting commended the Secretariat on the implementation of the Eaglescan Plagiarism Detection Software. It also applauded the thesis digitization programme by Tetfund and noted that this would add value to the knowledge bank of Nigeria.
Source: PUNCH
