Professor Abubakar Rasheed, the Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), says the Commission would not allow public universities to run six weeks semester crash programme to make up for the lost period of the prolonged strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Prof Rasheed issued the warning in Abuja on Wednesday at an interactive session with the media as part of the programmes marking the 60th anniversary of the Commission.
According to him, the ASUU strike has been the biggest threat to the stability of the nation’s university calendar, noting that the disruption caused by the union’s strike has led to federal universities not having the same calendar.
He frowned at the attempt by some Vice-Chancellors to six weeks Semester instead of the prescribed 17 weeks Semesters, disclosing that the Commission has held a meeting with the Vice-Chancellors and directed them the directive to ensure that a semester lasts 17 weeks and not to complete semesters in six weeks.
The ASUU, on October 14, finally suspended the strike it embarked upon on February 14 over the government’s failure to implement its demands on salaries and allowances of lecturers, improved funding for universities, as well as the adoption of the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), against the federal government’s preferred payment platform — Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) among others.
The lecturers also spent almost 11 months at home, in 2020, in one of the longest strike actions in Nigeria by ASUU. This, coupled with the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to the loss of accumulated academic sessions, which the institutions are trying to make up for.
But the NUC Executive Secretary said the Commission would not compromise on the quality of teaching and learning in the University System, adding that the Commission would set up a panel to visit affected Universities to ensure that no University goes against the directive.
He said what the Commission is doing was to protect the integrity of the certificates issued by Nigerian Universities.
On the appointment of VCs, he said the Commission has no hand in the selection and appointment of a Vice-Chancellor, noting that it is the responsibility of the Governing Councils to appoint Vice-Chancellors.
According to him, “even the Minister of Education or the President of the Federal Republic has no hands in appointing Vice-Chancellor of any University.
On the issue of illegal universities, Rasheed said that the commission was in collaboration with Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Offences Commission (ICPC) to check the proliferation of illegal degree mills.
“We have set up a committee to look into that, and I can tell you that we are doing a lot to end the ugly trend of the illegal degree mills”, he said.
He urged public members to assist in reporting illegal universities as safeguarding the quality of the university system is not only that of the NUC.
According to him, the commission is facing severe challenges from the universities, even as he called for a concerted effort to ensure that the system continues to thrive.
