By Ayodele Oni
The Vice Chancellor of University of Jos, (INIJOS) Prof Tanko Ishaya, has disclosed that 20 Lecturers with the University have died due to what the institution’s management described as ‘severe stress’ borne out of acute shortage of manpower.
The Vice Chancellor who spoke while briefing Journalists in Jos on the activities marking his two years in office, also lamented the lack of budgetary allocation for recruitment of needed personnel.
According to him, “For well over five years now, we have not been able to carry out recruitment exercises to fill vacant positions. We have lost many of our members of staff through retirements, Japa syndrome and deaths. Some of these positions require that we recruit to avoid any gaps.”
The Vice Chancellor stated that the absence of a Governing Council for the University is affecting its smooth running.
He disclosed that the University budgets N13 million monthly, but spends close to N100 million with electricity gulping close to N30 million in a month.
The Vice Chancellor commended President Bola Tinubu for reversing the policy mandating tertiary institutions to remit 40 per cent of their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) to the Federal Government.
Ishaya, said the reversal of the policy was timely, maintaining that it would enable tertiary institutions have funds to cater for their immediate needs.
The Vice Chancellor, however, advised the Federal Government to grant full autonomy to public Universities, insisting that autonomy of Universities is not just about finances but their general administration.
“The autonomy of Universities is not just about finances, but majorly about governance of the Universities; autonomy is opposed to centralization of the control of Universities.
“It confers on each university the right to select or admit its own students, decide what to teach and determine areas of research.
“So, we call on the federal government to grant universities autonomy to enable them function optimally.”
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 Prof Tanko Ishaya, has disclosed that 20 Lecturers with the University have died due to what the institution’s management described as ‘severe stress’ borne out of acute shortage of manpower.){kind=link}