NAAT seeks appointment of industrialists into governing councils of varsities

The National Association of Academic Technologists (NAAT) has urged the Federal Government to appoint industrialists into the governing councils of federal universities.

In a communiqué jointly signed by the President of NAAT, Sani Suleiman and General Secretary, Hamilton Iyoyo, at the end of the association’s 30th National Executive Council (NEC) regular meeting held at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, NAAT said such appointment will attract funding into the universities that will boost research and enhance academic excellence.

The communiqué read in part: “The truth is that most of our graduates are not employable because the lack exposure to the practical aspect of learning especially the science ones. The situations is not helped by governing council members that do not have anything to contribute to the growth of these institutions but are rather there to take from the institutions. In reconstituting the new councils early next year, government should consider industrialists that can attract funding to build new laboratories for learning.”

NAAT urged the Federal Government to dissolve the governing boards of federal tertiary institutions whose tenure had expired and boards that have shown gross incompetence and corrupt should also be replaced with competent members who are conversant with the inner workings of institutions.

NAAT also expressed its support for the Treasury Single Account (TSA) in the tertiary institutions saying the introduction has led to massive reduction of corruption in the system.

“Now, the Vice Chancellors have to list the projects they want to execute before they get money unlike before when they chose what project to implement and who the beneficiaries would be. The governing councils no longer get cheap money. The introduction of TSA has indeed led to sanity in the way allowances and other administrative spendings are done,” it stated.

While rejecting the planned sale of some national assets by the Federal Government, the association observed that national assets that had been sold did not yield positive fruits saying the whole idea of selling national assets is tantamount to mortgaging the future of the country.