Some lecturers not qualified – ASUU speaks on recruitment

Prof. Biodun Ogunyemi, National President, Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), on Sunday decried the recruitment system in the universities, regretting that many people not qualified to teach had found their way into the system.
Ogunyemi who made this known to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), on Sunday said some lecturers have no business in the classrooms but they found their way in due to political interference.
“You find that some lecturers probably have no business being in the universities but you know politics has done so much damage to us that sometimes merit is sacrificed on the altar of mediocrity and political connections.
“We hope that we shall restore the credibility of the system as we have been trying to argue over the years. A key step to achieving that is for government to create the enabling environment for us to go back to the renegotiation table.
“We need to talk more so that we can come up with a new agreement package that will help us in addressing our universities shortcomings in no time,’’ he said.
He noted that such recruitment had done a lot of damage to the university system as not all people in the class are able to teach.
“Teaching is all about passion and not about preference of any sort. It is something natural.”
He added that ASUU would continue to advocate for restoration, resuscitation and repositioning of the university system in order to reclaim its enviable position.