Ekiti State Deputy Governor Prof Modupe Adelabu has called on the Federal Government to adequately fund university education to arrest the drift in the marketability of Nigerian graduates.
She described as unacceptable that products of the Nigerian university system have become unemployable in both the local and international markets.
Prof Adelabu, who appraised the festering faceoff between the Federal Government and members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) in a chat with reporters in Ado- Ekiti, noted that the Ivory Towers have become shadows of their glorious past.
According to her, it is shameful that the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, which is the best in the country, occupies the eighth position in Africa.
The deputy governor urged the parties to return to the drawing board and come up with a lasting solution to the recurring issue of varsity under-funding by the Federal Government.
She said: “I am sure it will end very soon. It cannot go on like this. More so that our universities are no more competitive; our graduates are unemployable just because the universities now are shadows of themselves; instructional materials are no more there; the environment is no more conducive; the varsities are under-funded; we cannot go on like this.
“OAU that is number one in Nigeria is number eight in Africa. This is disturbing. There was a time that Nigerian universities would rank among the best internationally. I think it is better for the parties now to settle the matter ones and for all so that we will not go on again and again, revisiting the funding issue of varsities and some other issues.”
On allegations that the lectures have been pursuing their own agenda, she said: “I don’t think ASUU’s concerned is for selfish reason. It is for the future of the children that they are training so that they can go out after graduation and compete like others in the open market.
“Otherwise, we will continue to wallow in poverty because if our graduates are unemployable, then there is a problem and that is what we are saying. We can’t go on like this.
“Research has shown it that Nigerian graduates are unemployable, except those who are lucky to have very rich parents who can send them to school abroad or to private institutions. We want our public institutions to be well funded so that teaching will take place and learning will take place.”
The deputy governor said the way out of the impasse is for the Federal Government to settle with ASUU once and for all.
August 29, 2013 - 4:59am | By Mu'Sodiq Adekunle
http://www.dailytimes.com.ng/article/fund-varsity-education-ekiti-deputy-gov-tells-fg
Written by NEWSTRAWL ONLINE UPDATE
Sodiq Oyeleke is a Media, Human Resources, Project Management and Public Relations Practitioner
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