Three months after the end of the strike of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) which kept Nigerian universities shut for over five months, another round of crisis is brewing over the sharing formula of the yearly N2000 billion funding by the Federal Government.
Worst hit in the sharing of the fund appears to be state universities who are crying that they have not only been short-changed in the sharing formula, but also that the promised money had not been released to them. Some state universities are said to have been completely left out in the sharing.
The Niger Delta University, Bayelsa State chapter of ASUU, on Thursday kicked against the sharing formula adopted in the disbursement of the N200 billion promised public universities.
Addressing news men in Yenagoa, the ASUU Chairman, Dr. Beke Sese, described as unacceptable, a situation where 80 per cent is given to federal universities, while 20 per cent would be given to state universities.
He argued that since education in the country is the exclusive responsibility of the Federal Government, it was proper for state universities to benefit more from the fund to bring them on the same level with the federal universities which have advantage over their state counterparts in terms of infrastructural development.
According to him, since the money is not statutory allocation due to the federal universities, but a special intervention fund, the money is supposed to be shared in a fair and equitable manner to all the universities, whether state or federal.
He argued that all the public universities contributed equal measure of support and solidarity in the strike that brought about the money, stressing that there is no justification for the federal universities to benefit more.
The ASUU chairman said the sharing formula was a deliberate attempt by certain individuals in the country to divide ASUU along federal and state universities line, adding that such a situation would not augur well for the union.
A reliable source told our correspondent that the sharing formula was fashioned out by the Federal Ministry of Education, especially based on the position of the Minister for Education, Nyesom Wike. The source quoted the minister as saying that “This money is coming out of Federal Government’s share of the Federation Account which does not include the state.
Based on the NEEDS Assessment Report, there are 27 federal universities as against 34 state universities. Some states have two universities. If you have two state universities, we will take one. We cannot fund the two simultaneously.
The state governors must know that the Federal Government cannot run their universities. The Federal Government is not supposed to run the state universities. The bulk of the money will go the federal universities and the sharing formula will be worked out based on the NEEDS Assessment Report on universities.”
But the President of ASUU, Dr. Nasir Fagge, expressed shock at the development, saying state universities had agreed to the sharing formula at their National Executive Council meeting held after the strike.
Fagge, who spoke with our correspondent on Thursday on phone, said the state universities agreed without any objection, especially based on the reason that their proprietors/owners would supplement their own share of the funding.
However, another twist seemed to have developed around the brewing crisis as some states, including Benue State University, are yet to access their allocations in the funding.
Chairman of Benue State University chapter of ASUU, Dr David Ikoni, said ASUU and the Federal Government had agreed that money should be released in batches to universities whose projects have been approved by the implementation committee.
Benue State University, which was allocated N950 million Needs Fund, cannot access the fund because project proposals have not been submitted to the implementation committee.
Ikoni said money may not be released to BSU until its project proposals have been scrutinized and approved and explained that the delay should not be blamed on the Federal Government.
He said ASUU and the Federal Government took the decision to monitor the utilization of funds released to universities for their needs so as to bring in accountability in the running of universities.
“We are not against the process because it brings about transparency and accountability; the method is that if a university submits project proposal, it has to be properly looked at and approved before the implementation committee releases money,” he emphasized.
Corroborating ASUU chairman’s statement, Vice Chancellor of the institution, Professor Charity Angya, told newsmen that no money has been released to the school by the Federal Government.
Angya, who spoke on the occasion of the state’s 2014 budget breakdown, said she would speak on the issue when the money gets to her.
Even as she did not give reason for the delay, it was gathered that the stringent conditions attached to the release of the N950 million may have slowed down the process of accessing the fund.
Follow Us
