Politicians corner 70% recruitment into tertiary institutions, says TETFund

• ASUU opposes inclusion of private varsities as beneficiaries
Executive Secretary of Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), Sonny Echono, yesterday, lamented interference by politicians in recruitment of staff into tertiary institutions.

This came as Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) declared that without intervention by TETFund, Nigeria’s higher institutions could have become glorified secondary schools.

Echono spoke during an interactive programme with the leadership of both ASUU and Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) on emerging issues regarding TETFund’s interventions in Abuja.

He was responding to a complaint by SSANU President, Ibrahim Mohammed, over alleged marginalisation of non-academic staff in TETFund’s intervention.

Mohammed also faulted the process of recruiting staff in universities, lamenting that vice chancellors had to pass through the Head of Service of the Federation, ministries, the budget office, and others before getting approvals.

He called for removal of such bureaucratic bottlenecks and appealed to TETFund to extend its intervention to non-academic staff.

Echono explained: “We must restore discipline in the system, and the same will apply to recruitment. I can assure you that more than 70 per cent of these so-called recruitments are based on politicians’ requests, and that is why they are not bringing academic staff that will contribute to growth. They are just putting on the payroll; people that have little or nothing to offer.

Speaking, ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke, faulted insinuations that strike by the union was halting growth of universities. He said, rather, industrial actions have been effective in drawing the government’s attention to development of education in Nigeria, adding that even TETFund was the product of a strike.

The ASUU president also kicked against any plan by TETFund to include private universities as beneficiaries of the agency’s projects.

According to him, such a move will lead to proliferation of private universities devoid of quality.