The National Universities Commission (NUC) has distanced itself from the stoppage of funding of staff schools established by federal government agencies.
The NUC says the decision to stop funding of staff schools is a directive from the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission which was only communicated to all federal universities by the National Universities Commission.
Addressing a news conference in Abuja, the Director of Information and Public Relations of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Mr Ibrahim Yakasai, said that staff schools are established as private enterprises which can only be funded from the Internally Generated Revenue of the affected universities.
Mr Yakasai advised the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) to stop misleading the general public on the true position of the matter of funding of staff schools established by federal government agencies.
He noted that some of these agencies have transferred the burden of their wage bill to the federal government.
The Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) had threatened to paralyse activities at the universities to protest the alleged plan by the Federal Government to lay off teachers teaching in staff schools owned by its universities.
The Chairman of SSANU in Unilorin, Adeleke Alfanla, made this threat at a protest held at the University of Ilorin, Kwara State.
The protesters, joined by some teachers at the University of Ilorin Staff School, stated that an agreement had been signed with the government six years ago for the total funding of the schools to be from the university’s budget. They wondered how a statement would now be issued categorising them as ghost workers.
The SSANU Chairman, Adeleke Alfanla, called on President Muhammadu Buhari to intervene in the matter to guard against a collapse of the education sector, warning that federal universities will be grounded if the decision is not changed.
