The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has asked the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajuiba to resign and go into farming by following his criticism of the union. The Minister told the striking lecturers to consider farming as they cannot dictate how they should be paid to their employers.
Nwajiuba had said “Government is actually not holding anyone to ransom. It says ‘this is how I want to pay and it has to be through IPPIS (Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System)’ You can leave the employment. You can opt out of it and say ‘I no longer want to teach’. You can find other professions. What we need now are probably more farmers.
“You cannot keep forcing your employer and tell him, ‘I will like you to pay me my money through my pillow. Or, ‘I will like you to pay it through this mailbox’. ASUU has a lot of complaints and dissipation around”
Hitting back at the Minister, Chairman of ASUU, University of Ibadan chapter, Prof Ayo Akinwole said Nwajuiba’s statement is a reflection of his “shallow understanding of the academic profession” and the low premium the government the Minister is serving places on education.
Akinwole who stressed that the scarcity of farmers is a reflection of the failure of government to make farming secure for legitimate farmers, added that they have decided to continue to fighting parasites like Nwajiuba who preside over a Ministry where no Nigerian university is ranked among the first 100 in the world.
Photo Credit: Getty
