Lecturers in the nation’s public universities have advised the government to put on hold any plan to set up new universities, but adequately fund existing ones.
According to them, existing ones are looking malnourished because of poor funding.
They also said existing universities were suffering from dearth of lecturers and other staff to properly man them.
The lecturers spoke in reaction to the consideration of laws to set up 35 new universities by members of the National Assembly.
They spoke through the leaders of their respective trade unions, incuding the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU and the Congress of University Academics, CONUA.
Speaking for ASUU, the National President, Prof. Emmanuel Osodeke, opined that universities should not be turned to constituency projects by the lawmakers.
This is even as the National President of CONUA, Dr Niyi Sunmonu, said while more opportunities should be created for admission seekers, setting up new universities without means to fund and staff them would only compound the problem.
In his view, Sunmonu said public universities in the country were currently malnourished, as poor funding was making them gradually grind to a halt.
