Dr Oby Ezekwesili, a one-time Minister of Education, has said in an interview in Ibadan, Oyo State, that the demands of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) were unrealistic given the nation’s current economic situation.
“Money is not limitless and yet everyone must acknowledge that investment in education is crucial and it is key. There are, however, some fundamental reforms that the sector needs in order to ensure that it is not about the size of the funding but about the productivity of the funding.
“You cannot simply express a desire, it must be founded on reality and that means you must know what can be achieved within a given period.
“If you remember, the ASUU negotiation started in 2007 when I was the Minister of Education and we constituted a government negotiation team, led by the late Gamaliel Onosode.
“Even though that period was short, one of the major issues for me was for us to make sure that we were being evidenced based in the way we were solving the problem.
“We considered issues like the existing model in countries similar to us in emerging economies,’’ she said.
The ex-minister who urged both warring parties to return to negotiating proferred a solution to the recurring crisis, stating that only a strong analysis of the issues raised by ASUU and evidenced based policies could help.
The latest indefinite ASUU strike has lasted 6 days. Among other things, ASUU is pressing for increased funding for universities and the implementation of an agreement signed between it and the Federal Government years ago.
