Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has blamed the Nigerian government, World Bank and International Monetary Fund (IMF) for the severe economic hardship in Nigeria.

The union said the longstanding partnership between Nigeria and foreign financial institutions had resulted in destitution and suffering among the Nigerian populace.

ASUU’s Zonal Coordinator, Stanley Ogoun, disclosed this during a press conference at the University of Port Harcourt (UNIPORT), yesterday, condemning the Federal Government and the financial institutions, as well as alleging that their policies were designed without any consideration for steering poor nations out of economic hardship.

He said some of the policies underscored the union’s deep concern about the adverse effects of the already burdened Nigerian citizens. He also noted that the unplanned subsidy removal and the implementation of a floating exchange rate as policies vigorously advocated by the World Bank and the IMF had made a detrimental impact on the Nigerian economy.

He said: “It is on record that no country has moved up the development index based on either the World Bank or IMF policies. All countries, who relied on their policies, are grossly indebted and have remained pauperised.

“The examples from the Asian nations are obvious pointers to this reality. Over the years, our union has persistently warned that the policies of these so-called development partners are never intended to lead any of the poor nations out of poverty.

“One of their targets is to destroy the education system in Nigeria, as
they know that the removal of the right and access to education from the critical mass of a country’s citizenry renders them vulnerable to perpetual slavery”.

The ASUU zonal coordinator added that the collaboration between Nigeria’s ruling class with the financial partners had not only impacted negatively on the economy but was also responsible for the deficit in Nigeria’s public universities.

“The university system has continued to face an unrelenting onslaught from these so-called development partners with their Greek gifts that mean no well for the nation.

“Sadly, their co-conspirators within the ruling class appear not to have learned any lessons from their previously sponsored failed economic policies, including the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP), which our union resisted.

“Regrettably, they have continued to form an unholy alliance with these institutions towards the realisation of the neo-colonial agenda of pauperisation and continuous emasculation of our national development aspirations to keep us perpetually as a feeder economy,” he said.

MEANWHILE, Kano Zone of ASUU has warned President Bola Tinubu that the country is drifting towards anarchy and chaos due to untold hunger and starvation among citizens.

The union warned that the government’s adoption of the neo-liberal policies of the IMF and World Bank would in no time plunge the country into serious anarchy and uncertainty.

The coordinator of ASUU, Kano Zone, Dr Abdulkadir Muhammad, stated this during an emergency press conference at the end of a zonal meeting, comprising the seven universities in the zone, yesterday, in Kano where contentious issues were discussed. He said: “We, as intellectuals, will not join in the current protests across the country, but rather, we will team up with civil society organisations and NGOs to compel the government to drop the policies.

“We will use all available legal means to compel government to drop these anti-people IMF-World Bank policies, because the nation, whether you like it or not, is drifting gradually into anarchy while the President and his teams are making excuses.”