Funding universities your constitutional obligation – ASUU to FG

• ASUU emphasized that the Federal Government cannot halt its funding of universities in the country
• He argues that the provision of funds to federal universities is a constitutional obligation

Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, the President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has emphasized that the Federal Government cannot halt its funding of universities in the country.

He argues that the provision of funds to federal universities is a constitutional obligation. Osodeke made this statement in response to remarks made by the Minister of Education, Professor Tahir Mamman, who suggested that the government will grant universities full autonomy to seek alternative sources of funding for their operations.

He said: “There is no way the Federal Government of Nigeria would say they would not fund public universities because it is there in the law. It is there in the Constitution. Look at Section 18 of the Constitution; it says university, primary, and secondary are free.

“The only problem is that it is not judicable; that’s the only problem. So I said, I don’t think this government, from what we have seen, is going to say we are going to hands off from university. If you check the ratio of Nigeria’s education budget to our GDP, it’s one of the lowest in the world.”