The Chairman of the Committee of Pro-Chancellors of State-Owned Universities in Nigeria (COPSUN), Malam Yusuf Ali (SAN), has said that the way Federal Government negotiates with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) without involving state-owned universities is abnormal and must stop.

He noted that the number of state universities is more than Federal Universities in Nigeria and that the Federal Government would negotiate and enter into an agreement with the staff union of the universities without engaging owners of the state universities whereas the agreement would be binding on the owners of the state universities.

Briefing journalists in Osogbo on Thursday about activities lined up for COPSUN’s sixth biennial conference billed to hold between March 21st and 25th in Osogbo in Osun State, Ali appealed to ASUU to end its ongoing strike and insisted that the ‘No Work No Pay’ law should be applied on workers who go on strike.

Ali said “COPSUN which I’m the Chairman has taken a position that it is not normal that a body like COPSUN with about 50 Universities is excepted when an agreement is reached between federal government and unions in the university system and they expect COPSUN members to be bond. It is not an ideal thing. We are already engaging with owners of state universities (Governors) on this issue.”

He said the COPSUN sixth biennial conference would address issues and challenges facing higher education in the country including issues of acute underfunding, disconnect between the curriculum and the demand and realities of the nation’s economy, graduate unemployment and employability, institutional instability leading to unstable academic calendar among others.

Others issues to be addressed during the conference include political interference in university governance, erosion of autonomy, poor infrastructural and research facilities, inadequate staffing, especially of academic staff, and weak linkages between universities and industries.

Ali said COPSUN which was established on 25th July 2005 came into existence out of the need to articulate and peer-review optimal governance practices to ensure effective and uninterrupted delivery of high-quality university education and other services among state-owned universities.

(Daily Trust)