…Described the scrapping of some courses in universities as erroneous

Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Ibadan Zone, has condemned the pronouncement by the Education Minister, Maruf Tunji Alausa, of setting aside the mother-tongue policy and encouraging the use of the English language in teaching early childhood education.

The Union described it as not only regressing but a way of fostering re-colonisation of the education sector and, invariably the minds of citizens.

The zone, through its Coordinator, Dr Biodun Olaniran, while addressing a press conference on Thursday, said that the policy was confirmed by the plan by the Federal Government to establish a campus of Coventry University in Nigeria under the Transnational Education (TNE) framework.

“Promoting the local education system is a way to break the Master-Servant relationship with the colonial master. TNE proposal is totally rejected because it is a way to undermine and underdevelop the education system and consequently the minds of Nigerian citizens.

The ASUU also condemned the pronouncement by the Education Minister to scrap some courses considered irrelevant by the minister with the notion that they are causing unemployment and aggravating the problem of youth restlessness in the country, saying that “it is not only wrong but very erroneous. ASUU, therefore, is strongly against this act.”

While bemoaning the lacklustre stance of the Federal Government towards the industrial agreement reached with them since 2005, the zonal ASUU “called the attention of Nigerians to the government’s apparent lack of will to implement the Agreement reached with our union since December, 2025.

Recall that after eight gruelling years of back and forth over a negotiation that should normally last a couple of months, the government eventually signed the agreement in December, 2025.

“Let us also put it on record here that the industrial actions and the disruptions that accompanied them were totally needless if the government had acted in good faith. It is unfortunate to note that five months after signing the agreement, reports from our universities, both federal and state-owned, indicated either partial or outright non-implementation of the agreement.

“This development, to say the least, is totally unfortunate and unacceptable to our members. This glaring lack of respect for the product of collective bargaining on the part of the government at every stratum is stretching the patience of our union to the limit.

“It is becoming clear that the Tinubu-led administration is not showing enough sincerity in addressing the crisis in Nigeria’s tertiary education sector.

“The non-implementation of the 2025 FGN-ASUU agreement is an invitation to industrial unrest in Nigerian universities. Despite the efforts of the Union to continue to keep the universities open for our students, the inaction of the FGN towards the full implementation of the Union could jeopardise the peace and industrial harmony in our universities.

“Since the government signed the agreement, it has only implemented to varying degrees the financial components, such as Consolidated Academic Tool Allowances (CATA) and Professorial Allowances (PA), but has left out components like Earned Academic Allowances (EAA) unattended. As of today, both the State and Federal governments have not paid several components of the agreement for up to four (4) months.

“Furthermore, the Union observed that the Federal government has also failed to inaugurate the Implementation Monitoring Committee (IMC) that is expected to shield the agreement from bureaucratic bottlenecks and give room for smooth implementation and actualisation of the signed agreement. However, the Minister of Education, Dr Maruf Tunji Alausa, has turned the signed agreement into a political campaign while paying less attention to how to genuinely resolve the underlying issues that will effectively bring lasting solutions to the lingering implementation crisis”.

Speaking on the state of the Nation, the zonal Chairman flanked by other leaders including Prof. Ademola Aremu, said “There can be no better alternative to development than human development, wasting human lives by way of banditry and kidnapping is the highest form of wastage that may ultimately ruin a nation. The recent kidnapping of teachers and pupils in Oriire Local Government Area of Oyo State is a reminder of the perilous state to which Nigerians are exposed which the leadership at the national and state governments must rise up actively to address instead of unrewarding commiseration messages”, the ASUU said.