President Bola Tinubu has approved the appointments of new members of Governing Boards of 111 Nigerian universities, polytechnics and colleges of education.
Following his assent to a list of nominees selected by the Federal Ministry of Education, President Tinubu gave approval for the appointments of no fewer than 555 persons to serve as Pro-chancellors/Chairmen and members of governing boards of the 111 tertiary institutions across the country.
An advertorial by the Education Ministry, signed by the ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Didi Esther Walson-Jack, showed the appointment of a chairperson and four members for each of the institutions.
Walson-Jack stated in the advertorial that “The inauguration and retreat for the Governing Councils will take place on Thursday, May 30 and Friday, May 31, 2024, at the National Universities Commission, 26 Aguiyi Ironsi Street, Maitama, Abuja. Both events will commence at 9:00am daily.”
Confirming the list, PUNCH quoted President Tinubu’s Special Adviser on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, as saying that “This is from the Federal Ministry of Education, they make the nominations and forward them to the President to sign. But they are at liberty to release it from their end.”
This came a few days after members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) threatened to embark on a strike.
SaharaReporters had reported how ASUU on Tuesday had decried the failure of the Nigerian government to appoint governing councils for federal universities, and faulted what it described as the nonchalant attitude of President Tinubu-led Nigerian government to matters about academics in the country’s universities.
Issuing the strike threat during a press briefing at the University of Abuja, ASUU also rejected the Nigerian government’s 35 percent salary increment for professors and the 25 percent salary increment for other academic staff in Nigerian universities.