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Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, National
President, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), has decried the
recruitment system in the universities, regretting that many people not
qualified to teach had found their way into the system.
Ogunyemi disclosed this in Abuja on Sunday.
“Some lecturers have no business in the classrooms, but they
found their way in due to political interference.
“You find that some lecturers probably have no business being in
the universities but you know politics has done so much damage to us that
sometimes merit is sacrificed on the altar of mediocrity and political
connections.
“We hope that we shall restore the credibility of the system as
we have been trying to argue over the years. A key step to achieving that is
for government to create the enabling environment for us to go back to the
renegotiation table.
“We need to talk more so that we can come up with a new
agreement package that will help us in addressing our universities shortcomings
in no time,’’ he said.
He noted that such recruitment had done a lot of damage to the
university system as not all people in the class are fit to teach.
“Teaching is all about passion and not about preference of any
sort. It is something natural.”
On why students do not have access to current publication by
lecturers, Ogunyemi said that facilities for conducting cutting edge research
were in a shambles.
He, however, said that lecturers were doing their best.
“Concerning the publications, Nigerian academics are still doing
their best within the limit of their environment. The student population is
equally a distraction from research and, without research, you cannot publish.
“ Talking about research, one must have access to current
materials which is becoming increasingly difficult because our libraries are no
longer stocked as regularly as it used to happen in the past.
“The laboratories are bereft of chemicals and reagents. Modern
facilities for conducting cutting edge research are hardly there.
“So, when you talk of publications, our colleagues are still
publishing, but, may be, you do not see as many books as we used to have in the
past.
“And for those who are actually conscious of the implication of
what they put into paper, nobody wants to write junk books. We have limitations
which we are trying g to overcome,’’ he said.
He said that ASUU would continue to advocate for restoration,
resuscitation and repositioning of the university system in order to reclaim
its enviable position. (NAN) ピークファンドリアとは
