ASUU Rejects FG Plan to Establish UK’s Coventry University Campus in Nigeria

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has rejected the Federal Government’s plan to establish a campus of the United Kingdom’s Coventry University in Nigeria, vowing to resist its implementation.

 

ASUU President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, made the union’s position known on Thursday in Bauchi during a public lecture organised by the Sa’adu Zungur University branch of the union.

 

Piwuna revealed that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, during a recent state visit to the United Kingdom, signed an agreement that includes plans to establish a Nigerian campus of Coventry University.

 

He criticised the move, describing it as an attempt to “re-colonise” Nigeria’s education sector.

 

According to him, Coventry University is currently facing financial challenges, including a £58 million deficit and declining enrolment of African students, alongside cost-cutting measures projected to reach £100 million over the next two years.

 

“They deny Nigerians visas to study abroad, yet they want to come here and take our money,” he said.

 

The ASUU president insisted that the union would resist any aspect of the agreement relating to education, arguing that it contradicts the Federal Government’s existing moratorium on the establishment of new universities.

 

“This will not stand. We are going to resist it,” he added.

 

Piwuna, however, commended the Vice-Chancellor of Sa’adu Zungur University, Prof. Fatima Tahir, for implementing the new salary structure for staff.

 

The lecture, which focused on academic responsibility and entrepreneurship, featured presentations by Prof. Suleiman Abdullahi Karwai of Ahmadu Bello University and Dr. Abubakar Sadiq Usman of Gombe State University.

 

In his presentation, Karwai urged lecturers to invest early and develop sustainable income streams alongside their academic careers.

 

“No lecturer should be poor. There are legitimate ventures that can complement academic work without compromising it,” he said.