Chairman of the University’s Branch of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Dr. Biodun Badmus, has declared that given the lean purse and prevailing economic challenges in the Country, an average Nigerian University can never be self-sustained. Fielding questions from callers on an interactive programme recently, the Associate Professor of Applied Geophysics pointed out that no government-owned University in Nigeria could generate internal revenue that could take care of its needs. He disclosed that what the Universities had been generating internally was too paltry to augment statutory allocations.
Citing FUNAAB as a reference point, Dr. Badmus commended the University administration for being able to impact on its public through the additional efforts made at increasing the internally-generated revenue. Dr. Badmus said he was not unmindful of Nigerian government’s financial commitment to Universities, especially, through the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFund), but noted with dismay, the low level of commitment to education when compared with what obtains in smaller African countries like Ghana and South Africa. Dr. Badmus therefore appealed to government to rapidly increase the budgetary allocation to education, as well as its financial commitments to Universities.