Former Minister of Health and former Vice Chancellor of the University of Ibadan, Professor Isaac Adewole, on Wednesday, called for an honest dialogue and realistic fiscal planning to resolve the lingering crises between the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and the Federal Government.
ASUU had issued a strong warning to the Federal Government, calling attention to what it described as a looming and entirely avoidable industrial crisis in Nigeria’s public universities.
Also, some chapters of the union embarked on peaceful awareness protests and rallies against the delay in signing the renegotiated agreements with the Union by the President Bola Tinubu-led Federal Government.
Weighing in on the warning strike threats, Adewole called for an honest dialogue and realistic fiscal planning, saying: “It’s not just ASUU. It’s a national problem. We all need to adjust our expectations and work toward increasing productivity.”
Adewole made these remarks during a live television interview on “Guest of the Month,” a current affairs programme aired by the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State (BCOS) in Ibadan.
The former VC, therefore, proposed a flexible university admission for students under 16 with exceptional academic performance, free maternal delivery and subsidised Caesarean sections in public hospitals, subsidised family planning and population control in line with national policy, reinvestment of fuel subsidy savings into education and healthcare, expansion of free primary healthcare to cover 80 per cent of common medical complaints, and economic reforms that promote equity, transparency, and productivity.
