June 21, (THEWILL) – The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Yusuf Maitama Sule University Kano (YUMSUK) branch, has condemned the growing encroachment of autonomy of the two Kano State-owned universities, describing the development as unacceptable.
The trend, the union said, contravenes the provisions of the Universities Miscellaneous Act (2003, 2012 as amended) and the law establishing the two universities.
The Chairman of the union, Dr. Mansur Said, stated this while addressing newsmen at the union’s secretariat at the YUMSUK campus on Friday.
“The Kano State Government has, with no recourse to the laws establishing the universities, dissolved the Governing Councils of Yusuf Maitama Sule University (YUMSUK) and the Kano State University of Science and Technology (KUST), Wudil, thus rendering them susceptible to flagrant abuse by the University administrators in connivance with political office holders,” Said stated.
According to him, the dissolution of the Governing Councils had paved the way for all sorts of illegalities such as unprocedural recruitments and breach of established procurement procedures.
The union, therefore, urged the State Government to reinstate “the arbitrarily dissolved Governing Councils” of the two universities to enable them to function properly.
The union then decried what it called the gross underfunding of the two state-owned universities.
It disclosed that the Kano State Government released only 30.3 percent and 46.2 percent of the budgeted expenditure for KUST and YUMSUK respectively, for 2023.
“ASUU YUMSUK, therefore, calls on both the Federal Government and the Kano State Government to adequately fund the universities to save them from imminent collapse.
“We also call on all patriots in the media, civil society, labour movements and student groups to support our altruistic struggle to reposition the Nigerian public universities,” the union added.
Abdullahi Yusuf is a seasoned journalist, communicator and was previously the Deputy Editor-In-Chief and Zonal Manager, News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, Jos, where he retired on December 15, 2021
