Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Kano University of Science and Technology (KUST), Wudil chapter, on Tuesday staged a peaceful protest to demand improved funding for universities, better conditions of service for lecturers, and the renegotiation of the long-overdue 2009 ASUU-Federal Government agreement.

Speaking during the protest, the Chairperson of the KUST-ASUU, Comrade Ali Yusuf Ahamed, said Nigerian lecturers can no longer be proud of the state of education in the country.

“If at any international gathering, the President can boldly tell his colleagues that professors in Nigeria earn less than $300 a month, then we will stop this struggle. But he cannot, because it is nothing to be proud of. Our union will continue to fight for dignity in the system,” he said.

He stressed that no country can build a strong educational system without adequately funding universities, granting institutional autonomy, ensuring proper working conditions for lecturers, and creating a conducive learning environment for students.

According to him, ASUU has exercised patience in engaging the government but has been met with indifference.

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“For over two years now, we have repeatedly called on the government to come to the negotiation table, but it has refused. If the issues are not resolved in the coming days, we cannot guarantee that our campuses will remain open for academic activities,” Ahamed warned.

SolaceBase reports that the union’s major demand, he explained, is the renegotiation of the 2009 agreement, which has remained untouched for 17 years.

“We are workers with integrity, not slaves. The government must sit with us to review our conditions of service, improve funding, and guarantee university autonomy. It is unacceptable that for nearly two decades, nothing has been done,” he said.

ASUU also reiterated its position that education should remain free and accessible to all Nigerians, arguing that students should not be subjected to loan schemes that would burden them after graduation.

The KUST-ASUU further appealed to the Kano State Government to communicate their demands to the Federal Government and ensure immediate implementation of any agreements reached.

“We have seen that the state government has the capacity to listen and commit to issues, and we hope it will do the same when it concerns our university. We pray not to be disappointed,” Ahamed added.

Receiving the letter, which contained the demands of the union and was presented to him, the Vice Chancellor of the university, Professor Musa Tukur Yakasai, said he had received it and would forward it to the appropriate authorities.

He also told the KUST-ASUU members that he too is a victim of the system and assured them that he would do the needful by forwarding the letter to the relevant quarters.