Seven weeks after the Federal Government announced that it has commenced
implementation of the agreement signed with the Academic Staff Union of
Universities, ASUU, by disbursing N100 billion to each of the 59 public
universities, the affected tertiary institutions have raised alarm that
they are yet to receive the fund.
The Governor Gabriel Suswan-led Presidential Implementation Committee on
Needs of Nigerian Universities was said to have sourced the fund within
16 days of its inauguration from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN,
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Nigerian Communications
Commission, NCC, and other government agencies.
The committee thereafter adopted a sharing formula for each of the
university based on student population and the depth of infrastructural
decay.
The money was meant for the refurbishment/renovation and provision of
new facilities such as hostels, lecture theatres and lecture rooms,
laboratories and libraries in the universities.
Reacting to report that the money has been released to the universities,
Vice Chancellor of one of the universities in the South East said “the
Federal Government has only sent us a memo through the Ministry of
Education that we are getting N650 million from the funds. Until we get
alert into the university’s account, we will know how sincere the
government is but presently we are yet to receive the money.”
Similarly, the Vice Chancellor of another university in the South West
disclosed that the N1.2 billion earmarked for his university has not
been paid either as cheque or cash into the university’s account.
It was gathered from the committee that 13 Federal universities have
been left out of the initial disbursement. They are Federal University,
Gashua; Federal University, Dutse, Jigawa State; Federal University,
Dutsin-ma, Katsina; Federal University, Kashere, Gombe State; Federal
University, Lafia, Nasarawa State; Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi
State; Federal University, Ndufu-Alike, Ebonyi State; and Federal
University, Otuoke, Bayelsa State. Others are FederalUniversity, Wukari,
TarabaState; FederalUniversity, Birnin-Kebbi, KebbiState;
FederalUniversity, Gusau, ZamfaraState; FederalUniversity, Oye-Ekiti,
EkitiState; and PoliceAcademy, Wudil.
It was learnt that these universities were left out because they have
just been established by the present administration between 2011 and
2013 which committed trillions of naira in their establishment and that
there was no need for additional funding.
Five state universities that were also unlucky are:
BukarAbbaIbrahimUniversity, Damaturu, YobeState; North-West University,
Kano State; Sokoto State University; Tai Solarin University of
Education, Ijebu-Ode; OgunState; TechnicalUniversity, Ibadan, OyoState.
Top five Federal universities that got the lion’s share of the money
were: University of Ibadan, UI, with students population of 33,481
which got N3.250 billion; University of Benin, UNIBEN, with students
population of 56,501 got N3.200 billion; Ahmadu Bello University, ABU,
with students population of 49,436 got N3.200 billion; University of
Port-Harcourt, UNIPORT, with students population of 53,288 got N3.050
billion; while University of Lagos, UNILAG, with students population of
49,179 also got N3.050 billion,
Also, the state universities that benefitted are: Ebonyi State
University, EBSU, with students population of 23,437 got N3.050 billion;
Niger Delta University, NDU, Wilberforce Island with 12,793 students
population received N2.800 billion; Umaru Musa Yar’Adua University,
Katsina with students population of 4,753 received N2.450 billion; Gombe
State University, GSU, with students population of 4,383 got N2.450
billion, whereas the Lagos State University, LASU, Ojo with the highest
students population of 90,885 among all the considered universities got
N1.300 billion.
Bryon Cage
Shana Wilson
Sonnie Badu
