ASUU: "We Are Yet To Receive N100bn From FG"

Seven weeks after the Federal Government announced
that it has commenced implementation of the agreement
signed with the Academic Staff Union of Universities,
ASUU, by disbursing N100 billion to 59 public
universities, the affected tertiary institutions have raised
alarm that they are yet to receive the fund.

The Governor Gabriel Suswan-led Presidential
Implementation Committee on Needs of Nigerian
Universities was said to have sourced the fund within 16
days of its inauguration from the Central Bank of Nigeria,
CBN, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC,
Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, and other
government agencies.

The committee thereafter adopted a sharing formula for
each of the university based on student population and
the depth of infrastructural decay.

The money was meant for the refurbishment/renovation
and provision of new facilities such as hostels, lecture
theatres and lecture rooms, laboratories and libraries in the
universities.

Reacting to report that the money has been released to
the universities, Vice Chancellor of one of the universities
in the South East said "the Federal Government has only
sent us a memo through the Ministry of Education that
we are getting N650 million from the funds. Until we get
alert into the university's account, we will know how
sincere the government is but presently we are yet to
receive the money."

Similarly, the Vice Chancellor of another university in the
South West disclosed that the N1.2 billion earmarked for
his university has not been paid either as cheque or cash
into the university's account.

It was gathered from the committee that 13 Federal
universities have been left out of the initial disbursement.
They are Federal University, Gashua; Federal University,
Dutse, Jigawa State; Federal University, Dutsin-ma,
Katsina; Federal University, Kashere, Gombe State;
Federal University, Lafia, Nasarawa State; Federal
University, Lokoja, Kogi State; Federal University, Ndufu-
Alike, Ebonyi State; and Federal University, Otuoke,
Bayelsa State. Others are Federal University, Wukari,
Taraba State; Federal University, Birnin-Kebbi, KebbiState;
Federal University, Gusau, ZamfaraState; Federal
University, Oye-Ekiti, Ekiti State; and Police Academy,
Wudil.

It was learnt that these universities were left out because
they have just been established by the present
administration between 2011 and 2013 which committed
trillions of naira in their establishment and that there was
no need for additional funding.

Five state universities that were also unlucky are: Bukar
Abba Ibrahim University, Damaturu, Yobe State; North-
West University, Kano State; Sokoto State University; Tai
Solarin University of Education, Ijebu-Ode; Ogun State;
Technical University, Ibadan, Oyo State.

Top five Federal universities that got the lion's share of
the money were: University of Ibadan, UI, with students
population of 33,481 which got N3.250 billion; University
of Benin, UNIBEN , with students population of 56,501 got
N3.200 billion; Ahmadu Bello University, ABU, with
students population of 49,436 got N3.200 billion;
University of Port-Harcourt, UNIPORT, with students
population of 53,288 got N3.050 billion; while University
of Lagos, UNILAG , with students population of 49,179
also got N3.050 billion.

Also, the state universities that benefitted are: Ebonyi
State University, EBSU, with students population of
23,437 got N3.050 billion; Niger Delta University, NDU,
Wilberforce Island with 12,793 students population
received N2.800 billion; Umaru Musa Yar'Adua University,
Katsina with students population of 4,753 received
N2.450 billion; Gombe State University, GSU, with
students population of 4,383 got N2.450 billion, whereas
the Lagos State University, LASU, Ojo with the highest
students population of 90,885 among all the considered
universities got N1.300 billion.