The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) on Tuesday, asked the Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajuiba, to resign and go into farming.
The minister had on Monday told the union not to dictate to the Federal Government on how their salaries should be paid.
He advised the varsity lecturers to resort to farming if they were not pleased with the present arrangement.
However, Chairman of ASUU, University of Ibadan chapter, Prof. Ayo Akinwale, in a statement, described Nwajiuba’s remark as a reflection of his shallow understanding of the academic profession and the low premium the current administration placed on education.
He said the minister has “displayed his naivety on educational matters.”
Akinwale said: “If the Minister of State for Education is interested in farming, he should resign his appointment and stop displaying his cluelessness of the problems in the education sector.
“We are on a just fight to ensure that those in public offices become responsive and responsible to the masses they swore to serve. They must fund public education. We have been on the same salary since 2009. That is no longer sustainable.
“The universities are being run with personal sweats of lecturers while politicians siphon monies for personal aggrandisement. We cannot accept IPPIS that is against the laws of the land and which fails to recognise the uniqueness of the academic profession and culture.
“We have brought an alternative using our members’ money. People like this Minister of State mirror the disdain of ruling class for the workers and people of the country.”
