Vote more funds to education sector, vice chancellors beg FG

The Association of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Universities (AVCNU) has appealed to the federal government to vote more funds to the education sector in the nation’s budgetary allocation, saying the call has become imperative in order to save the nation from a bleak future.

Making the call in Ede, Osun State, during the 33rd annual conference of the association, the chairman of AVCNU, Professor Debo Adeyewa, said “Without adequate investment in education, we are deliberately sentencing ourselves to a bleak future where our children and our economy are weak, unprotected and vulnerable.”

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Adeyewa, who is also the vice chancellor of the Redeemer’s University, Ede added:”It is imperative to state the fact that education is not just a preparation for life; it is life itself. We need to deliberately come up with a blueprint on adequate funding of education to secure the future of present and future generations of our dear country.

“We need to encourage ourselves by stating the fact that Nigerian education system is not beyond redemption. We only need a purposeful leadership, absolute commitment from all key stakeholders and a sense of urgency to turn around the education sector. We are glad the current headship of the NUC is resolutely committed to this.”

He noted that the annual conference of AVCNU is a meeting place for vice chancellors, stakeholders and key management personnel in the nation’s higher education sector to identify challenges and exchange ideas in a bid to find lasting solutions.

Describing academic corruption as a bane of the nation’s university system, Adeyewa emphasised that “as vice chancellors, we must turn spotlight on our universities and our role in combating this scourge. We must lead the way in applying necessary sanctions in accordance with statutes governing our institutions”.

In his remark, the executive secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Abubakar Adamu Rasheed, stated that there should be healthy collaboration between universities in Nigeria.

“Signing of MoU with foreign universities is not bad, but there is need for universities in our country to work together and chart effective course to solve Nigeria’s problems,” he said.

Professor Rasheed also called for the establishment of more universities in the country, pointing out that the existing 164 public and private universities are not enough.