The Federal Government has been urged to increase the funding of educational and allied institutions to 26 per cent as recommended by UNESCO.
The Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions made the appeal at the end of its 6th Quadrennial Delegates Conference in Abuja on Tuesday.
NASU said: “We appeal to the Federal and State Governments to increase their funding of educational and allied institutions to conform to the 26 per cent recommended by UNESCO.
“There is a noticeable decline in the standard of education. This is attributable to poor funding leading to dearth of quality human resource in the sector”There is a noticeable decline in the standard of education. This is attributable to poor funding leading to dearth of quality human resource in the sector.
“The various tiers of governments should adequately fund the sector, retrain workers, resuscitate libraries and equip the laboratories since education remains the bedrock of any country’s development.”
The communiqué stated that the importation of fuel had taken the cost of petroleum products far above the affordability of average Nigerians.
According to NASU, Nigeria is one of the leading oil producing countries in the world.
It added: “The prices of petroleum products had risen from 9k to N87 per litre in the last 35 years and subsidy not only remained, but has continued to be elastic.
“Nigeria continues to rely on the importation of petroleum products thereby leading to continuous crisis with supply to its citizens and businesses against what obtains in other oil producing countries.
“Successive government has been subsidising prices of petroleum products which has unfortunately generated a lot of controversies in view of the alleged corrupt practices surrounding subsidy.
“We are concerned that the present day economic realities do not warrant fuel subsidy removal.
“This will translate into increase in pump prices that will trigger spiral inflation in the economy and unnecessary hardship on the people of Nigeria.”
The union also resolved to support the present administration’s fight against corruption in the oil and gas sector.
It said: “We call on the Federal Government to sustain the existing refineries and build new ones in order to take the country out of the perennial reliance on importation of petroleum products.”
The union said it supported the war against corruption by the present government and advocated due process in the anti-corruption war and bring culprits to justice.
It said: “Corruption is regarded as a hydra-headed monster that has destroyed the economic and political fabrics of Nigeria; contributing to impoverishing the citizens of the nation.
“It has opened the country to scorn and ridicule in the comity of nations and rubbished the vision of the founding fathers.”
NAN.
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