With each Nigerian senator reportedly being paid a whopping N21 million monthly, while a whole university is given a paltry N5 million to run the affairs of the school in the same period, university unions are aghast at how insensitive the Nigerian government can be.
The President of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, raised this concern on Thursday during the opening of a two-day national conference organized by the union in Abuja.
According to him, universities receive only N15 million monthly from the federal government for all running costs, including electricity, a figure he claimed falls drastically short of the actual needs.
Osodeke questioned, “What the government gives you to run the system is N15 million, and you get a bill of N300 million for electricity alone. Where is the balance of the money coming from?”
He said to run effectively, universities must also cover costs for laboratory operations, diesel, and fuel for vehicles. Osodeke further criticized the government’s priorities, stating, “But you know what? A government that will give just N15 million for UNILAG to run, will in turn, give one Senator N21 million a month. That’s criminal, where is our priority?”
The ASUU President expressed frustration over the disparity in funding and warned that the unsustainable situation could soon lead to the collapse of many Nigerian universities if not addressed urgently.
