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Tag: ASUU

  • FG’s offer: ASUU should suspend strike – Suswam

    FG’s offer: ASUU should suspend strike – Suswam

    The Chairman of the Universities Needs Implementation Committee and Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam on Tuesday maintained that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) should call off its strike base on the N130 billion government’s offer.

    Speaking with State House correspondents in Abuja, he said the Federal Government has decided to inject N100 billion into the infrastructures of 61 universities in the country and N30 billion for staff allowances.

    ASUU had asked for N87 billion for the cumulated earned allowances of staff based on the agreements reached with the Federal Government in 2009.

    For shifting ground from no money to agreeing to assist the Governing Councils of universities with the N30 billion for the earned allowances, Suswam said that ASUU should reconsider its stance.

    According to him, the federal government will meet the universities’ councils and vice chancellors this week to update them on the decisions taken so far and to certify those that are really entitled to the N30 billion to be released for the earned allowances.

     

  • Strike continues as Federal Govt, ASUU talks stalled

    Strike continues as Federal Govt, ASUU talks stalled

    The strike by university teachers will continue. The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the federal government again failed to reach an agreement yesterday.

    The two sides continued to hold on to their different positions on the crucial issue of funding.

    Even as the grey areas are yet to be cleared, the Federal Government agreed to release N130 billion to tackle the issues of infrastructural decay and pending allowances in the universities.

    Chairman of the Presidential Universities Needs Implementation Committee and Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam, at the end of about four-hour meeting between the two sides in Abuja told reporters that the negotiation would continue.

    According to him, progress was made in the area of tackling the infrastructural deficit in the Nigerian universities with the release of N100 billion, which will be distributed next month.

    He said: “The Federal Government has been able to harness about N100 billion, which Mr. President has agreed. that will flag of the project and starting from the first week of September in virtually all the universities. The process of achieving that is ongoing at the Centre and due process for it at various universities”

    “The infrastructure deficit will be addressed like hostels, labs and libraries. Some will be renovated while others will be brand new. Every university will be affected and each of the hostel will accommodate 1,200 students.”

    The Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Senator Anyim Pius Anyim maintained that all issues have been resolved except the unpaid allowances.

    He said the Federal Government had agreed to release N30 billion for that purpose which must be paid according to the verifiable claims by each University Council.

    He reiterated the position of Finance Minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, that the N92 billion being demanded by ASUU as wages could not be met.

    He said the responsibility of settling the pending arrears now rests with the University Councils, who will be supported with N30 billion.

    ASUU President Nasir Isa Fagge said the team will report back to their National Executive Council (NEC) to decide appropriate response to the Federal Government’s offer.

    He maintained that ASUU’s position has not shifted from the 2009 agreement.

    He said: “The union is talking about the implementation of 2009 agreement and not renegotiation. If you remember the objective of going on strike is to get government to implement the 2009 ASUU and FG particularly to implement the provisions of the memorandum of understanding we reached with the government in 2012.”

     

  • FG Vs. ASUU: The game goes on

    What has consistently escaped most Nigerians in this entire travesty is the fact that mediocrity destroys the very fabric of a country…ushering in all sorts of banality, ineptitude, corruption and debauchery. That…is precisely where Nigeria finds itself today! —Chinua Achebe

     

     

    Since the beginning of yet another strike embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities ASUU last month, which not surprisingly has entered its second month, one wonders when we as a nation would remove ourselves form this wanton mortification of making the education a laughing stock among comity of nations. The question all stakeholders enmeshed in this opprobrium should be asking is whether something fundamental is not wrong with our collective consciousness, else, how come that in every two to three years, the news of ASUU demanding that its overlords in Abuja implement an agreement both entered into and which in turn leads to a painful strike, reverberates the whole nation?

    Are we lacking in foresight as to understand that the Nigerian universities are dying gradually? Have we looked around to ask ourselves why the nation, whose youth out-numbers the old and very young, cannot remove itself from the shackles of societal malfeasance and hold forth the appellation: “we are the future leaders of tomorrow” by taking their destinies into their hands? For as long as the Nigerian youth accepts redundancy, fails to think for himself, cannot see where the rain began to beat him or take the bull by the horn, like many of their counterparts in developed nations, then it will be succinct to claim that the education sector which is supposed to train, build, inculcate, mould and educate vibrant youths against the morrow have failed in its entirety to bequeath such for a people who will take up the reigns of leadership from the old guards, a fault which is not theirs anyway.

    If ASUU once again and for the umpteenth time has called for a strike, it is not because they do not see the peck in their own eyes, as it is evidently known that their own house is also not in order, but because from the very first day government whose responsibility is to pay very good attention to the education sector keeps faltering and reneging on agreements she entered into. For many who are of the belief that ASUU has no reason or justification to embark on this strike which has become one too many in recent times, they must understand that though it may look more like Oliver Twist asking for more, in the situation our education sector finds itself, once and for all, drastic measures ought to be taken in ensuring we do not become a pointer to ridicule anywhere in the world anymore.

    If we have to look well enough the reason ASUU had decided embark on this strike and we feel the shame our universities have put up with, especially if we have to balance it with the education the likes of our parents had in the 60s, 70s and 80s and the pitiable ones our children have today, we then must understand ASUU’s pain and anger. Nobody likes to strike, nobody wishes to allow it take so long, in fact, it is not a good story to tell in our nascent democracy. Yet when a country is bequeathed with leaders who have no foresight, lack understanding of the socio-political terrain, remain clueless in tackling simple political arithmetic, and is occupied with how to remain in power until 2090, then strike becomes an option and a weapon to bring such government to its senses.

    Many Nigerians cannot understand how we practice democracy in the country. Democracy and good governance go hand in hand and therefore, policies embarked upon by one government or the other must necessary be a continuum and should not shift unless necessary. One finds it very difficult to grasp well the story peddled by this government that the agreement it voluntarily entered into in 2009 with ASUU should be re-negotiated. It is the worst of arguments this writer has heard in decades and one wonders if this government is truly committed to transforming the education sector, if the so called campaign promise in 2011 is anything to go by. One would have thought the government of the day should have put forward the same argument during negotiations with the Nigerian Labour Congress NLC in the last subsidy protest. Perhaps, the vast majority of Nigerians wouldn’t be where they are today looking weary, fatigued and hopeless in the midst of plenty.

    Even if government in its usual volte-face had thought the agreement needed to be re-negotiated, why didn’t it bring it to ASUU’s table long before the latter deemed it fit to embark on its ignoble strike? From this, there is no disputing the fact that there is so much insincerity among those in power and it is the reason the vast majority of Nigerians do not trust their leaders.

    It is an irony that the education sector, more than ever, faces this type of humiliation, especially when the president of this country was once a university teacher and his minister of education, a professor in a vibrant field of academic study. No country in its right senses would have such individuals in power and watch as rot engulfs their education sector. With leaders like that who cannot engineer viable transformations within the sector they once held sway, we cannot but feel sorry for the entire country.

    Our universities are no more role models for other countries to follow. Even the so called first generation universities have lost it, while mediocrity reigns supreme in the new ones. Individuals who lack the capacity to teach or engage in ground-breaking discoveries now fill our faculties and departments. Students who lack the intellectual vigour to learn now fill our departments with little or no capacity to communicate, write or engage their lecturers in intellectual debates. Most worrisome is the fact that one cannot find viable tools to hold experiments in our respective laboratories, reminding one of the total neglect in our secondary school laboratories. The structures which the Sardauna, Azikiwe and Awolowo had patriotically erected over 48 years ago still stand rickety today with nothing to show for a better one or even critical repair of the old. One could count the number of ICT-driven universities in the country and if one is lucky to find any, the structure is not enough to train students who are supposed to have pre-requisite knowledge of the ICT world like their counterparts elsewhere.

    Our classrooms have become a national embarrassment where students now sit on windows and outside to receive lectures. University libraries are littered with books the like of Isaac Newton had used during his time yet librarians are employed year in and out without any innovation coming from them to transform their departments into world class. It is most saddening that more than 80 Nigerian universities cannot boast of a state-of-the-art library where students can get up-to-date books to embark on their research. It is no wonder that even reference materials used for PhD thesis today are as old as the country itself, when new materials have been churned out by the same author over five times. Most PhD thesis today appears unconstructive, lack coherence and almost adds nothing to problem-solving. A don once pathetically noted that there are a lot of questionable PhD’s today in Nigeria.

    We seem to forget that strikes in our ivory towers have lasting implications for the future direction of the country. A medical student who is supposed to spend seven uninterrupted years in medical school suddenly faces a three month strike in his quest to become a medical doctor. At the end, he spends about eight to nine years for a seven year medical programme and is in turn given license to practice thereafter. If we do not know, we have bred a murderer and with his shaky training as a medical doctor in the murky world of medical school as a result of incessant ASUU strikes, we are bound to find our loved ones at their mercy. God help us if they survive with the way things keep going in this country!

    If we continue to pretend as if all is well, we will only find ourselves to blame if not now then tomorrow, as the future does not even hold anything to cheer about.

    • Oluwafuminiyi, writes from Lagos.

  • Strike: ‘ASUU will wait till FG gets money’

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities will sustain its ongoing strike until the Federal Government gets the money to meet its demands, an ex-officio member has said.

    The immediate past chairman of the union at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, Prof. Aloysius Okolie, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Nsukka, Enugu State on Friday that the government should not allow a total collapse of tertiary education in the country.

    Okolie said that no country had attained enviable height economically and technologically without adequate funds for the education sector.

    He said the sector remained the engine room of national development.

    “The National Assembly and some executive members are paid jumbo salaries but when it comes to education funding the government has no money.

    “How will the country be able to achieve its vision 20:2020 of being among the 20 leading economies if the education sector is not well-funded,’’ he asked.

    The former chairman solicited the understanding of the students and their parents, saying the union’s demand was to ensure quality teaching and learning in the universities.

    “It is unreliable that in some universities student receive lectures under the trees and in stadium.

    “Books, laboratory equipment in our libraries and laboratories are outdated while some politicians and government officials are wasting money in building houses in every state capital and buying fleets of exotic cars.

    “The demands will enable the universities to produce quality graduates employable in any part of the world,’’ he said.

     

  • Imoke commissions VC’s lodge

    Amid fanfare, lecturers and students of the University of Calabar (UNICAL) welcomed the governor of Cross River State, Senator Liyel Imoke, to the campus for the commissioning of the renovated Vice-Chancellor’s lodge. The building, which is located along MCC road in Calabar, was abandoned 13 years ago.

    The event started by 4:30pm with the Public Relation Officer of the university, Mr. Eyo Bassey, welcoming dignitaries to the occasion, among dignitaries who included former pro-chancellor, Dr Rolland Ehigiamusoe, ex-Vice-Chancellor, Prof Kelvin Ita, Cross River State Commissioner for Education, Prof Offiong Offiong and former coordinator of Centre for General Studies, Dr Ndubuisi Osuagwu.

    Others were members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), led by its chairman Dr James Okpiliya, their counterparts in Non-Academic Staff Union of Universities (NASU) and Students’ Union Government (SUG) officials led by the president, Bassey Eka.

    The Deputy Governor Effiom Cobham, who represented Imoke, was welcomed by the cultural troupe of UNICAL International Secondary School.

    After prayer by Dean, Students’ Affairs’ Division, Prof Eyong Eyong, Vice-Chancellor Prof James Epoke gave the opening remark by thanking members of the immediate past Governing Council of the institution for their support and approval of the reconstruction of the lodge. He also commended members of the present council for ensuring the project was completed on time.

    While cutting the ribbon to officially open the building, Cobham noted that the reconstruction project was a mark of true and exemplary leadership of the university authorities. After the commissioning, Prof Epoke led dignitaries into the building.

    The white one-storey building is a seven-bedroom duplex. Attached to the main building at the back are two chalets with one bedroom flat each. On the side is a guest quarter for visitors. The lodge sits on about three plots of land.

    Prof Florence Anijobi, Dean of the Faculty Education, said she was excited by the renovation of the facility.

    The Director of Works, who oversaw the reconstruction project, said: “It is a comfortable place for the VC to stay. It is a product of collaboration of the Works department and the Physical Planning Unit. It is not my own effort. The status of the university has been elevated to the level it ought to be”.

    Prof Epoke said: “The council felt that this kind of edifice the university owns could not be left fallow as it has been for 13 years. When the last council sat, we decided that there was no need to rent an apartment for the VC when the university has an official house. This place is like the government house of the university and I believe that it will dignify the university.”

    Bassey noted that the VC lodge was a product of a good intension. The union praised the VC for carrying students along in the scheme of things.

  • Okonjo-Iweala: Govt can’t pay N92b ASUU wages request

    Okonjo-Iweala: Govt can’t pay N92b ASUU wages request

    •61 varsities to get N100b

    THERE seems to be no way out of the teachers’ strike that has crippled the universities.

    The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is pushing for, among others, better pay, but Finance Minister Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iwela said yesterday that the Federal Government has no resources to meet the union’s demands.

    The strike is five weeks old. Mrs Okonjo-Iwela said the lecturers were asking for N92 billion in extra allowances, but maintained that the government has no such cash.

    Speaking in Minna at the yearly National Council on Finance and Economic Development (NACOFED) with the theme: “Restructuring Nigeria’s Finances”, the minister said the ASUU demand was coming when government was making efforts at reducing the structure of public expenditures.

    Her words: “At present, ASUU wants the government to pay N92bn in extra allowances when resources are not there and when we are working to integrate past increases in pensions. We need to make choices in this country as we are getting to the stage where recurrent expenditures take the bulk of our resources and people get paid but can do no work.”

    If the demands of the university lecturers are met and “we continue to pay them salaries and allowances, we will not be able to provide infrastructure in the universities”, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala said.

    The minister argued that when she assumed office, “the share of recurrent expenditure in our total budgets had increased astronomically”.

    “In fact, recurrent expenditures accounted for about 77.2 per cent of the federal budget and we are now working to re-balance this ratio,” She said.

    Maintaining that Nigeria is still suffering from the effect of the 2010 increase in salaries, Mrs Okonjo-Iweala asked “if we want to get to a stage in this country that all the money we earn is used to pay salaries and allowances?”

    She lamented also that Nigeria’s over dependence on oil has resulted in deterioration of non-oil tax, noting that in 1970 non-oil taxes accounted for 74 per cent of the country’s revenues, but by 2012 it had declined to only 30% of Federal Government revenues.

    “Many states and local governments are also dependent on monthly revenue allocation from the central government. On average, only 11 per cent of sub-national revenue was obtained from internally generated sources.”

    She said the volume of external and internal debts of the country had been increasing. “In fact in August 2006 when I left office, we had a total of $17.3bn, comprised $3.5bn in foreign debt and $13.8bn in domestic debt.

    The minister went on: “By 2011 when I returned to office, the total debt stood at $47.9bn and the domestic debt had grown to about $42.3bn’.

    The minister, however, said the Federal Government had taken measures to revamp the economy, adding that these measures had started yielding fruitful dividends in direct capital investment in the country and in establishment of industries and agro-based firms.

    Niger State Governor Muazu Babangida Aliyu, represented by his deputy, Ahmed Ibeto, asked the Federal Government to plug all the areas of wastages in the oil sector of the economy and check pipeline vandalisation across the country.

    Aliyu suggested that Nigeria should put more emphasis on the non-oil sector, particular agriculture, now that many countries have discovered and are now refining oil.

    The Federal Government Committee on the needs assessment report in Nigerian Universities yesterday reached an agreement with representatives of ASUU on the decaying infrastructure in universities. This follows the adoption the Technical Committee’s report.

    The Committee chaired by Benue State Governor Gabriel Suswam which rose from a long meeting at the Benue Governor’s lodge Asokoro, Abuja, last night said it had reached an agreement with ASUU to deploy N100 billion for provision of infrastructure on the campuses of 61 universities covered in the needs assessment report earlier carried out by a committee of the Federal Government.

    Based on the agreement therefore, the only matter in contention is the issue of the earned allowances which Governor Suswam assured would be dealt with on Monday. since the Federal Government has made substantial offer to the striking lecturers.

    The Technical Committee chaired by Dr Banfa, a nominee of ASUU had proposed in it’s report that the N100billion be shared to all the 61Federal and state universities for intervention in the areas of rehabilitation and construction of lecture theatres and lecture halls; renovation and construction of libraries and laboratories and rehabilitation and construction of hostels.

    According to Dr Banfa, the 61 universities were categorised into four based on the size of students enrollment.

    Suswam said President Goodluck Jonathan had agreed to flag off the construction of projects under the N100billion stimulus package in a University to be selected to symbolise the commencement of construction work in all the universities. He said the new projects to be undertaken would be standardised such that all the Universities will enjoy similar facilities in terms of the new projects.

    “I am confident that very soon the students will resume. As a leader in this country, I am worried about the strike, Mr President is absolutely worried and everybody is concerned that the students should not stay at home more than necessary” he stressed.

    The Implementation Committee meeting was attended by the Ministers of Education, Labour and Productivity, and other education funding agencies of the Federal Government including the Central Bank of Nigeria, NNPC, PTDF, NITDA, NCC, TetFund among others as well as the President of ASUU.

     

  • Civil Society groups protest ASUU strike in Lagos

    A coalition of civil societiy organisations under the aegis of the Joint Action Front (JAF) marched yesterday in Lagos, calling for the implementation of the 2009 agreement the Federal Government signed with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

    The protest’s theme was “Save public education in Nigeria”.

    Besides, JAF is calling on governments to implement the 26 per cent (of budget) allocation to education as recommended by the United Nations (UN).

    The protesters, who got public applause sang solidarity songs and displayed placards, some of bore inscriptions, such as No education, no future; We want free education; Students and Workers unite to save our education; Education is a right; and Enough is enough.

    At Idi-Iroko and Jibowu on Ikorodu Road, the protesters stopped the convoy of the Zamfara State Governor, Abdul’aziz Abubakar Yari.

    Mr Abiodun Aremu, the JAF Secretary, who led the protest, threatened further showdown with government, should there be no impact after the protest.

    He said: “Arise, Nigerians and save public education. The federal and state governments must implement the 2009 ASUU agreement or else will shut down this country. It is either education or nothing.”

    JAF was represented by other unions, including ASUU, Non-Academic Staff Union and Allied Associations (NASU); National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT); College of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU); Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU); Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Polytechnics (SSANIP); Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT); and Senior Staff Union of Colleges of Education of Nigeria (SSUCOEN), National Association of Nigeria Students (NANS) and parents, among others.

    The protest started at the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) office in Tejuosho, Yaba at 8.00 am, passing through ever-busy Ikorodu Road. It then coursed through Ojuelegba, Jibowu, Obanikoro, Anthony and Maryland resulting in a heavy gridlock.

    At Maryland Roundabout, Aremu told a large crowd of students and unionists who came from Osun, Ondo, Oyo, Ogun, Lagos and Ekiti to participate in the protest that next week, Kano, Ibadan, Owerri, Calabar and the Federal Capital Territory will begin their own rallies.

    ASUU National Treasurer Mr AdemolaAremu said the rally was to bring the authority’s attention to the poor state of public schools from basic up to tertiary levels. He said the scenario had remained because Nigerians seem to have developed apathy for such development in the past.

    The Chairman NANS (Zone D), Comrade Monsurudeen Adeyemo of the Emmanuel Alayande College of Education, Oyo State said Nigeria could only drift from abject poverty to opulence, if governments are committed to total education of the masses.

    “If we embrace education, there will be a total migration from poverty in Nigeria,” he added.

    ASUP National President ChibuzorAsomuga said the best schools in those days were public schools, adding: “Why can’t our children have the same education we had. It is time to put education on life support in Nigeria, especially technical education.”

     

  • ASUU Strike: Negotiations continue Monday

    A common ground is yet to be reached between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government as negotiations towards calling off the ongoing ASUU strike action will continue on Monday.

    The Chairman of the Universities Needs Implementation Committee and Benue State Governor, Gabriel Suswam made this known to newsmen in Abuja ON Tuesday  after a three-hour meeting between ASUU and the government team.

    According to him, the grey areas would soon be resolved going by the progress made so far.

    He said “Well the meeting continues next week Monday. We made some progress, we had very fruitful discussion with ASUU and we have agreed we are to meet again on Monday at about three o’clock. When we meet again we will be able to arrive at some decisions.”

    Reminded that he had made same promise last week, before, Suswam said “No, I said between one and two weeks. There is nothing wrong; you know we introduced some new faces, the minister of finance; you agree with me she is attending the meeting for the first time and also the Director General Budget. Now that Finance is coming, we are getting close to resolving it because the strike is about settling some debts and also intervening in the universities and so she is here and she also has contributed.”

    “We believe that when we meet next week Monday with ASUU we would have moved from where we are to the next stage. I can assure Nigerians that the President has taken this seriously as you can see the Minister of Finance and two ministers of education, Distinguished Senator, DG Budget, Minister of Labour, every person who should be here is here to show concern.”

    He went on: “I have spent so much time as governor being part of this which shows the seriousness which the President attaches to what is happening in the education sector. As I leave here, we are going to the second meeting which is on the Needs Assessment. We want to make sure that we solve this problem so we are holding meetings round the clock.”

    “We are making progress in the negotiations and we hope that we will be able to solve this problem soonest. The stage that we are now we are hoping that when we meet next week, we should be able to conclude on the discussion.”

    “The fact that we were unable to conclude today does not mean that the meeting is deadlocked; very fruitful meeting and I believe that when we meet next week, we will arrive at some conclusion. That is what I can tell you.” He stated.

    The ASUU President, Comrade Nasir Isa Fagge, however, declined to comment on the agreements so far reached at the closed door meeting.

  • FG to ASUU: We can’t meet your demands

    FG to ASUU: We can’t meet your demands

    Hopes of quick resolution of the present face-off between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities were dashed on Tuesday as the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, said the government has no resources to meet the union demands.

     

    Foreclosing possible truce to the five-week old industrial action that has paralysed academic activities in the nation’s ivory towers, Okonjo-Iwela said the striking university lecturers were asking for #92 billion in extra allowances, maintaining that government lack means of picking the bill.

    Speaking in Minna at the annual National Council on Finance and Economic Development meeting, the minister said that ASUU demand was coming at a time government was making efforts at reducing the structure of public expenditures.

    The theme of the meeting is: “Restructuring Nigeria’s Finances.”

    She said, “At present ASUU wants the government to pay N92 billion in extra allowances when resources are not there and when we are working to integrate past increases in pensions. We need to make choices in this country as we are getting to the stage where recurrent expenditures take the bulk of our resources and people get paid but can do no work.”

    She declared that if the demands of the university lecturers are met and “we continue to pay them salaries and allowances we will not be able to provide infrastructure in the universities.”

    The minister argued that when she assumed office “the share of recurrent expenditure in our total budgets had increased astronomically. “

    “In fact recurrent expenditures accounted for about 77.2 per cent of the federal budget and we are now working to re-balance this ratio,” the minister added.

     

     

  • ASUU’s agitation not about salary reward – Odekunle

    A lecturer at the University of Abuja, Prof. Femi Odekunle, said the current Academic Staff Union of Universities’ strike is not about salary or benefits but about ensuring an effective university system.

    Odekunle, who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Friday in Abuja, said the claim by the Federal Government that some of the agreements reached between the union and government were not implementable was untrue.

    He said, “I do not believe that any agreements reached are not implementable, otherwise they would not even have been reached in the first place.

    “And these issues that ASUU is fighting for have to do with infrastructure, funding and conducive environment for learning and all capture such nuts and bolts that drive the system.

    “So the claim by anyone to say that certain aspects of the agreement are not implementable is fraudulent.

    “If the Federal Government can put funds into the National Assembly in terms of salary and allowances, why can’t it do the same for education that produces the manpower for the development of the nation.’’

    Odekunle accused the Federal Government of employing tactics that were creating division between ASUU and management of universities by its sudden increase of vice-chancellors’ salaries and allowances.

    The don, who noted that some lecturers were also culpable in contributing to the sector’s decay, noted, however, that majority of the lecturers were serious and committed.

    He said that government should address issues, including the misuse of resources, corruption of the political and government class, high cost of governance and other issues that had continued to have adverse effects on the country’s development.