STATE universities in the South East have been shut since July. Re-opening them is not a priority. The five South East governors have jointly agreed that thousands of students in these universities should be at home, as they tango with the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, over pay and the low level of infrastructure in the schools.

Professor Ukachukwu Awuzie, ASUU president, accuses the governors of “criminal conspiracy against the Igbo.” The list of conspirators includes other Igbo leaders who have  remained quiet as the future of the youth of the South East is jeopardised.

The main contention of the governors is that the States do not have the resources to pay the federally fixed pay for university teachers, claiming that they are among the least paid from the federation account.

Awuzie says the governors have a different reason for neglecting their universities. “Ebonyi State is 33rd  according to state allocations,” he said, “but it is paying N120 million monthly subvention to its university. Imo State pays N57.5 million and Imo is the 14th in the allocation list.

“Ekiti State is 35th  out of 36 States and it has two state universities. Rivers State is the 2nd  and the governor said  he will not pay when he has so much money. The problem with these governors is not money but the will to do what is right. Governor Obi’s family is in the United Kingdom so he does not care.

Governor Ikedi Ohakim removed his children from Imo State University and took them to London shortly after he became governor.

“In Anambra State University, there is no one-metre road tarred leading to the two universities. The entire Anambra State University has six professors and four are in the sciences. So they are doing all this because their children are not here and that is why I said it is criminal conspiracy,” he asserted.

Accountability in public offices easily excludes where children of public officers schools and where public officers get their medical attention. These injustices are among those that have resulted in the neglect of the public institutions that provide these services. Is it conceivable that  these governors would have shut the schools if their children were there?

“They are now saying that we will start in January. You see, they have now found themselves in ego trip. They do not want to be seen telling lies. It is either we start now to have a university or we do not have. If they want to close them down, let them close them but we will not tolerate their rubbish,” Awuzie said.

When the schools re-open is now beside the point. Does anyone think about the consequences of the closure on the lives of the affected students and their guardians? We are a unique country and the South East governors have been remarkable in exploiting the weaknesses of their people to hold them down.