The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has once again raised serious concerns about the deteriorating state of Nigeria’s education system. According to its President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, the education crisis persists because FG neglects sector, emphasizing that the Federal Government’s failure to prioritize education has left the nation’s universities in a state of perpetual decline. Speaking during The Toyin Falola Interviews on Sunday, Piwuna stated that government officials treat the challenges of the education sector as isolated problems rather than collective national concerns requiring urgent and unified attention.
In a statement released, Piwuna stressed that the education crisis persists because FG neglects sector and that members of the Federal Executive Council often view the struggles within education as solely the responsibility of the Minister of Education. He lamented that this narrow perception has weakened the government’s ability to implement sustainable reforms, leaving the system underfunded and poorly managed. ASUU, over the years, has resorted to strikes to press home its demands, mainly due to the government’s continuous breach of the 2009 FGN–ASUU Agreement and its failure to address issues like promotion arrears, withheld deductions, and infrastructural decay.
According to the ASUU President, the education crisis persists because FG neglects sector, as key government officials fail to recognize education as the backbone of national development. “When ASUU declares a strike, the Minister of Finance sees it as the Minister of Education’s problem. The Minister of Science and Technology feels the same way,” he said. “But if they understood that economic growth depends on an educated workforce, they would see education as a shared responsibility.”
Piwuna further attributed the government’s poor response to education issues to corruption and ideological differences. He explained that ASUU views education as a public good, while government officials approach it as a profit-driven, capitalist venture. He cited examples where politicians advocated for the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund) to begin supporting private universities, a move he described as a reflection of self-interest and misplaced priorities. “TETFund has become a marketplace where contracts and personal gains take precedence over true educational advancement,” Piwuna added.
The program host, Prof. Toyin Falola, highlighted ASUU’s long-standing struggle with the Federal Government, emphasizing how recurring industrial actions have crippled academic calendars for decades. Among other panellists were Prof. Francis Egbokhare from the University of Ibadan, economist Prof. Sherrifdeen Tella, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) President Joe Ajaero, and journalist Grace Edema.
Prof. Egbokhare identified poor leadership, infrastructural decay, and weak accountability structures as the main problems plaguing Nigerian universities. “What is happening is a failure of leadership,” he said. “We must fix leadership selection and integrity issues within governing councils. Universities can’t complain about problems they also help to sustain.” He also noted that universities could improve their funding if government ministries patronized them for consultancy and research services, rather than relying solely on federal allocations.
NLC President Joe Ajaero urged both ASUU and the Federal Government to pursue a holistic solution, pointing out that the challenges go beyond university autonomy and include the deplorable state of primary and secondary education. Economist Sherrifdeen Tella also argued that the disregard for academic research has contributed greatly to Nigeria’s underdevelopment. “Every breakthrough in agriculture, science, or industry begins with research, but in Nigeria, research is constantly ignored,” he said.
Commenting on the ongoing ASUU National Executive Council meeting in Taraba State, Piwuna revealed that negotiations with the government were nearing conclusion, though disagreements remain over salary structures. “What the government is offering is unacceptable,” he said. “Our salaries can’t sustain us, and many lecturers are living in survival mode.”
Piwuna painted a grim picture of the conditions facing Nigerian academics, saying some lecturers are forced to sleep in their offices with their families due to poor living conditions. “How can such individuals be expected to produce groundbreaking research or attract endowments?” he asked. “We are still struggling to move out of the 17th century.”
Ultimately, the education crisis persists because FG neglects sector, and unless urgent reforms are made to prioritize education as a national asset, Nigeria’s future generations risk inheriting a broken academic system. The message from ASUU is clear: only when education is treated as a collective responsibility can the nation truly progress.