By DAUD   OLATUNJI

The Senior Staff Association of Nigeria Universities, South-Western Zone, has faulted the recommendations of Prof. Mahmood Yakubu’s Needs Assessment Report, describing it as biased against members of the association and an attempt to reduce the number of members of the association in Nigerian universities and consequently paralyse the entire system.

The leaders of the association who spoke in Abeokuta during a sensitisation lecture on the implication of the recommendations of the report, held at the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, stated that the exercise was against best practices.

Recall that the Federal Government had set up a committee on NEEDS  Assessment  led by Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, following the incessant industrial actions in the Nigerian varsities with a view to proffering solutions to the myriad problems confronting varsity education in the country.

The committee had submitted its report  but their recommendations have been faulted and rejected by SSANU.
The Chairman of SSANU, Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, Comrade Adul-Subour Salam, appealed to the Federal Government not to align itself with the recommendations of the committee.
Salam said the committee was wrongly constituted as no member of the association was included.

He added that the association dissociates itself from the recommendations of Yakubu- led NEEDS Assessment Committee.
He, however, appealed to members of the association to remain resolute on the issue saying they should not sacrifice their job for mediocrity.

Also speaking, the Vice-President and Chairman, Western Zone of the association, Comrade Alfred Jimoh, stated that the report of the committee has become a major threat to the continued existence of non-teaching staff of Nigerian public varsities.

He maintained that the recommendations of the committee was full of mischief, falsehood and lies adding that, as the committee was calling for massive sack of non-teaching staff in the Nigerian varsities, members of the association would not sacrifice their jobs for any lies and mischief.

The leaders of the union while admitting the relevance of the NEEDS analysis in addressing the level of decadence and total collapse of infrastructural facilities in government-owned universities added that the non- teaching staff should not be seen as sacrificial lambs.