Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational And Associated Institutions (NASU) has expressed concern over the deplorable condition of the State-owned Libraries in Nigeria, just as the union stressed the need for government to boost its funding of Examination Bodies to meet up with the UNESCO minimum recommendation of 26percent of the budgetary allocation to education sector
Deputy President of NASU who doubles as Chairman of the Examination Bodies And Libraries Trade Group Council of the union, Comrade Sunday Obabunmi raised the concern on Wednesday, during the 2023 quadrennial delegates conference of the trade group in Lagos, the country's commercial city
"The inadequate level of funding, under-staffing, decaying facilities in the libraries and non-constitution of functional Boards by the State Governments as provided in the Edicts establishing the libraries under the guise of reducing the running cost of the libraries at the detriment of nation building have contributed to the deplorable condition of the libraries",he decried
Obabunmi who is a staff of The West African Examination Council (WAEC), described the situation as more worrisome, considering the non-response from the affected States despite the relentless efforts made by leadership of NASU
Similarly, the union called for more financial resources by government to the Examination Bodies in the country to respond to yearnings of Nigerians who have shown more interest in education within and outside Nigeria, despite the harsh economic situation in the country
"In view of the interest in education being shown by the citizens there is the need for the Government to boost the funding of the Examination Bodies and recruit more staff to accommodate the expanding populace yearning for better education in our country", Obabunmi stated
He pledged the union's readiness to resist any punitive action of the Management against the Union Executives in the course of discharging their duties as union officers
On the security challenge, the union described the situation as alarming particularly with the resurgence of incidents of kidnappings for ransom, armed robbery and Boko Haram and Herdsmen attacks amongst others particularly in the North East zone of the country, which is affecting the economy of the zone
The NASU appealed to Government at
all levels to wake up to their responsibility of keeping Nigeria safe while commending the Nigerian Armed Forces who on daily basis, continue to resist the onslaught of the enemies and recapture most territories earlier held by the insurgents and released hundreds of the abducted victims mostly women and children
The union also called on the President Bola Almed Tinubu led administration to do everything possible to relieve the pains of Nigerians and allow Nigerians to breathe, following the fuel subsidy removal shock and its negative effect
The union equally asked government at all levels to address the high rate of corruption in the country by fighting corruption with all their apparatus, to enable government to fix roads and other basic social amenities who are currently in deplorable condition
Also speaking, Chairman of Lagos State Council of NASU, Comrade O.T Olaware in a welcome speech at the quadrennial delegates conference, lamented over the worrisome and devastating state of education in the country
The union identified inadequate funding,poor infrastructure, outdated curriculum amongst others as some of the challenges facing the sector, assuring that the union will always engage government "to ensure that things are done appropriately in this very important sector"
According to NASU, "citizens should not be denied of quality education through their obnoxious policies "
In another welcome speech, the NASU Chairman of WAEC Yaba Branch, Comrade Kayode Ogunyade described hosting the delegates conference as a privileged, lauding the outgoing Head of National Office, Mr. Patrick Areghan whom the union had exciting experience working with in the past six months
The union was full of praises to WAEC for the upward review of condition of service of NASU members as well as attention given to welfare of staff, particularly the staff bus scheme to alleviate the cost of transportation
Declaring open the delegates conference, Head of National Office of WAEC , Mr. Patrick Areghan represented by the Director of Finance, Mr. Ndubuisi commended the union, assuring NASU of commitment of WAEC management team to its growth even after his exit
NASU President, Dr Makolo Hassan, former Deputy President of the union, Comrade Adeleke and Chairman of the Lagos State Council of the Nigeria Labour Congress, Comrade Funmi Sessi in their respective goodwill messages urged newly elected branch Chairmen of the trade group to rise up challenges and be committed to the welfare of their members.
They urged them to prepare their members for the forthcoming nation wide strike to compel the Federal Government of Nigeria to do the needful by providing the necessary palliative packages to alleviate sufferings of workers and Nigerians arising from the removal of fuel subsidy
The Lagos Controller of the Federal Ministry of Labour, represented by Barr. Mary Ajibade assured the readiness of the ministry to ensure harmonious working relationship with the trade group
No comments:
Post a Comment