TUNBOSUN OGUNDARE, in this report, highlights what would have been the grave consequences should the Federal Government had insisted on the automatic 40 percent deduction from the internally generated revenue of public tertiary schools in the country.
It did not surprise many that the Federal Government made a dramatic U-turn on its recent decision to commence automatic 40 per cent deduction from the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) of the public universities and other partially-funded institutions in the country.
Sunday Tribune believes that was the only option in order to prevent the impending crisis that would have erupted should the Federal Government had insisted on the policy despite the widespread condemnation that trailed it.
Recall that on Friday, November, 17, at the University of Ibadan, the Minister of Education, Prof Tahir Mamman, who represented President Bola Tinubu at the university’s Founder Day celebration, announced the cancellation by the Federal Government on the premise that this was not the right time to formulate such policy, let alone implement it.
Since October when the Federal Government initially announced the policy and fixed November 30 as commencement date, till its cancellation two days ago, there had been a series of condemnations from the observers and other tertiary education stakeholders in the country, particularly all the stakeholders within and outside the university community.
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), its breakaway faction, which is Congress of Nigerian University Academics (CONUA), the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP), the Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU), the Senior Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (SSANU), the Non Academic Staff Union (NASU) and other workers’ unions in tertiary schools did not hide their feelings about what they described as a bad policy. The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), the National Parent-Teacher Association of Nigeria (NPTAN) and civil society groups also opposed the decision in its entirety.
Even for the Committee of Vice-Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (CVCNU) to have publicly expressed its rejection both verbally and in written form speaks volume about how bad the policy was. This is because CVCNU, which comprises eggheads in the country, hardly comes in the open to oppose government decisions, no matter how directly such would affect them and their operations. It was indeed a complete rejection. They believed that the decision was not only ill-timed, but also totally unwise and unthinkable.
For example, ASUU, speaking through its National President, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, in an interview with Sunday Tribune, expressed great displeasure at the policy.
He argued that universities, and particularly the government-owned, are service-providing, and not revenue-generating entities and therefore cannot be forced to remit money they did not generate.
According to him, it is common knowledge with concrete evidence that as far as Nigeria is concerned, public tertiary institutions, owned by either federal or state government, are all struggling to survive. This was simply because public universities are social service-providing, and not revenue-generating entities.
According to him, government-owned universities are only collecting user charges on such items like ID card, hostel accommodation, lab coat and few others from students and all at subsidised rates.
He said it was surprising, in the first instance, that the government could think of collecting 40 percent of such charges from the universities.
Citing an example, he said if a university charges N1,000 for student Identity Card, and the government is now demanding 40 percent of that amount, how thinkable would that be on the part of the government?
He said every Nigerian knows that lack of funds has always been one of the major problems confronting public universities in the country and wondered why the government that has been starving them of funds would demand 40 per cent from the little amount that would come to them.
Despite the cancellation of the policy, ASUU’s position was the same and similar to the concern raised and shared by other workers’ unions as well as the CVCNU.
Sunday Tribune reports that long before now, Nigeria’s public universities are confronted with a myriad of problems. The challenges include poor funding, non-payment of outstanding salaries, poor infrastructure, poor working conditions, poor remuneration and lack of motivation, among other concerns.
Even the yearly budgetary allocation of the Federal Government –the proprietor of the institutions– has been abysmally low.
Observers believe that without the intention of the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND), the federal government intervention agency, most of the public tertiary institutions would have long gone. The agency has turned out to be the major provider of infrastructure and research funds for tertiary schools in the country.
The alumni associations and endowment funds have equally been other sources of funds for tertiary schools in the country.
It was also observed in the recent past, especially since May 29, when the incumbent president announced the removal of fuel subsidy, there was hyperinflation in the country which has forced a substantial percentage of Nigeria’s lecturers, especially in the medical fields to move out of the country to Ghana, Kenya and Togo, among other countries, in search of greener pastures, while many left behind are not working with a settled mind. They also do not mind leaving the country.
And the adverse implications of this kind of development according to observers would rub off greatly on the education system and the country’s economy at large.
On their part, both the students and the parents did not only raise concern about the policy, but also expressed deep worry that should the Federal Government have its way, they would suffer greatly for it. They knew, just like ASUU and other workers’ unions including CVCNU, that they were the prime target of the policy. They knew they would be the ones that the schools would pass the implementation of the policy on in the form of high tuition fees in order to raise IGR.
A cross section of the students, who spoke to Sunday Tribune just prayed that the policy must not stand and now it did not.
The South-West coordinator of NANS, Alao John, recalled that students in various campuses rejected the recent hike in their obligatory fees just because many of them are from poor homes and that to now ask the schools to charge new fees again would be tantamount to taking life out of them.
According to him, “we all know the economic hardship most Nigeria’s families are currently going through.”
Aside from that, he explained that about 50 per cent of Nigeria’s public school students in higher institutions are actually self-financing.
“Many of us don’t depend on our parents again because we know they don’t have money. We rather engage in various kinds of menial jobs to survive and sustain ourselves and studies in schools.
“Some are into barbing, some are into online marketing, others are selling shoes, clothes and some other items.
“And the little proceeds we get from those activities, we use to sponsor ourselves in school,” he said.
That is why if the government had insisted on implementing the 40 percent deduction of the non-existing revenue from schools, it would have spelt doom for the country.
Apart from the fact that many students would now drop out of school, some may resort to cybercrime and all sorts of evil practices just to raise money and the implication of those two issues alone on education and society alone would be unquantifiable.
“Social unrest, insecurity, lawlessness, social ills, and so forth would be on the increase in and across the country,” he observed. “And that was why we saw the policy to be anti-progress.”
On his part, the National President, Parent-Teacher Association of Nigeria (NPTAN), Alhaji Danjuma Haruna, also condemned the move, saying it would not do Nigeria and its people any good.
According to him, government at all levels, is about people, to make them happy and not the other way round as the successive governments have been doing in Nigeria.
Mr Danjuma explained that the majority of parents, who have children in public tertiary schools as far as Nigeria is concerned, are indigents that live from hand to mouth.
He said that was why most parents were unhappy when various universities recently increased their so-called obligatory fees and stood against it.
Even at the moment, according to him, how many parents have adjusted to the new fees regime let alone fresh charges.
“If there will be any, they will be very few. And now to push them to more financial burdens will be suicidal,” he said.
Danjuma said what the government is supposed to give to people is free and quality education at all levels and not hardship and suffering as successive governments have done.
He argued that over the years, Nigerian citizens did not enjoy any good from the government, except hardship.
He, just like every other critic of the policy, is of the opinion that stakeholders should always rise up to stand against any obnoxious and unfriendly policy of government at all levels in the country.
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