Nigeria/March 26, 2022/By Shina Abubakar/Source: https://allafrica.com/

THE Conference of Pro Chancellors of State-Owned Universities in Nigeria, COPSUN, yesterday, lamented that incessant industrial action by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, remains an impediment to improving quality of education in the country’s higher institutions.

COPSUN said this at its 6th biennial conference held at the Osun State University main campus, in Osogbo.

A communiqué by its Chairman, Mallam Yusuf Alli, SAN, stated that strike action cannot proffer needed solution to the already traumatised higher institutions of learning in the country.

The communiqué reads: “With the current strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the consequences for the prospects of the already traumatised institutions of higher learning in the country, the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State-owned Universities, COPSUN, restates its long-standing position that STRIKES cannot be a solution to industrial problems. It was observed that it was high time ASUU sought alternative ways of venting grievances and demonstrating that lecturers were equal stakeholders in the Nigerian project.

“There is a need to recognize that both COPSUN and ASUU are partners in progress with similar goals, even if there may be divergence in the strategies adopted to achieve the same objective of developing the university system in the country. In the same vein, the Federal Government needs to do more to reassure ASUU/lecturers of its commitment to fulfilling agreements voluntarily entered into.

“Since the future of any nation depends on the quality of its education and the recognition accorded it internationally, the current state of our universities leaves much to be desired. Therefore, greater attention should be devoted to improving the fortunes of the university education system in the country.

“There is a need for strict regulation and control, and if possible, a moratorium should be placed on the establishment of private universities in the country. This recommendation is borne out of the reality that the creation of new private universities that currently stands at 91 has not added any value to the enrolment of students or access of the same to university education in Nigeria.

“Also, the establishment of state-owned universities has become a ‘constituency project.’ Every local government and state seeks to establish and own a university. The proliferation of state universities at the same time that the existing ones are not adequately funded runs against the grain. State governments should, therefore, support their institutions to deliver quality education. Adequate funding will facilitate and promote research development and position the university as the real engine for knowledge generation, innovation, and overall national development.”