ASUU wants NUC probed …says no going back on strike

The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, yesterday called for the probe of the activities of the Prof. Julius Okojie-led National Universities Commission, NUC, over alleged fraudulent practices in the accreditation of universities.


ASUU National Treasurer, Dr. Ademola Aremu and the Chairman, University of Ibadan chapter, Dr. Olusegun Ajiboye, made the call while speaking with journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

They also called for the review of the Act establishing the NUC and the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board, JAMB.

Aremu said it was unbelievable that the Okojieled NUC could give a clean bill of health to universities which the Needs Assessment Committee set up by the Federal Government found to be deficient in human capital and infrastructure.

The ASUU treasurer, who alleged that the activities of NUC were tainted with fraud over accreditation, said the commission had outlived its usefulness owing to shoddy practices.

He said: “In NUC, there are so many frauds going on there. NUC, to us in ASUU, has outlived its usefulness. When government gives appointment, they know the kind of people they take and most of the time; they are people who can compromise anything.

“Recently, the Rivers State University of Technology conducted an examination under some fraudulent situations when the academic staff were on strike and NUC came out to say the examinations were conducted under normal conditions.

“The fraud going in NUC over accreditation of courses in Nigerian universities must stop. If JAMB is working well, there will be no need for post-JAMB and that is why we are saying the laws that established JAMB should also be reviewed.

“I will give you another example. There was a time we went to for an ASUU meeting at ABU and there is a university called Cross State University of Technology, CRUTECH, which was a fusion of a college of agriculture, polytechnic and college of education. They do not have the qualification to undertake a degree awarding status. When the state government said they would transfer the staff to the civil service if they failed to obtain PhD, they ran to ASUU to fight on their behalf but we told them that that was not possible. We cannot shortchange the system.

“But NUC went to this same university and accredited all their programmes. So, this is what the NUC has been doing.

“The need to amend the NUC Act is needed. When we have an NUC that accredited universities that the Needs Assessment Team found to be in rot, don’t you think there is need to review the Act setting up the commission, which is no longer working in the interest of Nigerians?”

Insisting that ASUU’s stand on full implementation of the 2009 agreement remained unshaken, Aremu stressed that government could not call for renegotiation without implementing the 2009 agreement.