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The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has cautioned the Federal Government against its recent approval for telecom operators in the country to increase their tariffs by 50 percent, warning that the hike in telecom tariffs will worsen university education in Nigeria.
The President of the union, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, expressed this position in an interview with Nigerian Tribune when asked about the likely effects of the hike on the nation’s universities if implemented.
He said it is disturbing that the current government only focuses on increasing various tariffs without considering the effectiveness of the services concerned or the ability of people to pay.
He argued that what is even more concerning is that these tariff hikes primarily benefit the rich at the expense of the poor, who form the majority of the population.
He said, “You want to increase VAT, you want to increase telecom tariffs, you want to increase this or that, without considering that the same set of people are already under financial pressure.
“You just want to increase tariffs to generate more revenue to finance the rich at the expense of the poor. Meanwhile, when it came to increasing the minimum wage for workers, it was like a war for the government, and even when it was eventually approved, it took several months.
“Yet, the same government took only a few weeks to approve a 50 percent tariff hike for telecom operators.
“For those of us in public universities, we cannot afford the new telecom tariffs. It is that simple. We cannot run our education system like this and expect to make meaningful progress as a country.
“There is no way we can effectively conduct e-learning or research when we lack a conducive telecom environment in our universities, and yet the government keeps increasing costs.
“At the moment, internet connectivity in our universities is poor, and many students cannot even afford data, let alone the necessary equipment.
“Some of them barely have enough to eat and are already burdened by increased school fees and accommodation costs.
“So, how will they survive if this new tariff is implemented?”*
Osodeke emphasized that the government needs to prioritize education at all levels.
According to him, if universities had a functioning system where Wi-Fi was installed and students could access it without having to buy data, they would be able to participate effectively in virtual learning, as is the practice in well-organized societies.
Referencing the situation in Ghana, the ASUU president said, “In Ghana, a neighboring country, every department in their universities has its own internet facilities, allowing students to access the internet on campus without purchasing data.
This is possible because the country operates a working system.”
When asked why Nigerian universities cannot shoulder such a responsibility, he explained that it is simply because the subventions they receive from the government are almost insignificant.
Citing the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Akoka, as an example, he stated that the Federal Government’s monthly subvention to UNILAG is just N15 million, questioning what such an amount could achieve.
He continued, “Can N15 million even fuel the vehicles of principal officers in any public university?
Can it cover the transport costs of a vice-chancellor who is frequently summoned to Abuja—whether by the Minister of Education, the Minister of Finance, or the Senate and House of Representatives committees—without any consideration for where the university will get the resources to fund these trips?”
Osodeke, therefore, urged the government to rethink its approach and focus on developing university education rather than worsening it.
