ASUU Sounds Strike Alarm for 2024 Over Education Underfunding
Prof. Emmanuel Oshodeke expressed disappointment over the 2024 education budget, which was announced to be N2.18tr or 7.9% of the total budget. During his campaign and election earlier this year, President Bola Tinubu promised to increase the education sector’s budget to at least 15% or more.
Chukwuebuka Aniakor 
Universities across Nigeria may face strikes in 2024 due to the limited budget allocated to the education sector and poor remuneration, warns the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
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In an interview, Prof. Emmanuel Oshodeke expressed disappointment over the 2024 education budget, which was announced to be N2.18tr or 7.9% of the total budget. He noted that this figure was the same during the Buhari government and warned that not much progress would be made in the sector if the budget was not increased.
During his campaign and election earlier this year, President Bola Tinubu promised to increase the education sector’s budget to at least 15% or more. This figure aligns with the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation’s recommendation for member states to allocate a 26% benchmark for the education sector.
However, Oshodeke criticized the government for not fulfilling this promise, stating, “With this seven per cent education budget, nothing will change in the sector, it is just as we had during Buhari’s time.”
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He urged the government to meet with cabinet members and increase the budget to 15% or more, warning that if there is no improvement on this and other demands, ASUU will mobilize its members for a strike next year.
The National president of The Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, Dr Anderson Ezeibe, echoed these sentiments, describing the allocation as demoralizing and inadequate to provide solutions to the multifaceted problems in the sector.
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Oshodeke also addressed the ‘japa syndrome’, which has led to a significant brain drain in the university system. He advised the government to increase lecturers’ salaries, pay the backlog of Earned Allowance and withheld salaries, and separate lecturers from civil servants to curb this trend.
