Adedokun Waliyu 
Abayomi Fasina, vice-chancellor of Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE), has called on Bola Tinubu, the president-elect, to prioritise university autonomy when he assumes office.
NAN reports that the VC spoke during the fourth matriculation ceremony for postgraduate students of the university in Oye-Ekiti on Tuesday.
Fasina said a major challenge facing public universities in Nigeria is the incessant strike actions by Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) as a result of poor funding and lack of infrastructure.
He also advised the president-elect to appoint technocrats as ministers for agriculture, education and finance in order to ensure stability and efficiency of his government.
“I want to appeal to our incoming president-elect, Sen. Bola Tinubu to approve university autonomy which will put an end to incessant strike that always affect the academic calendar of the tertiary institutions,” he said.
“FUOYE is moving on a high speed to ensure that our academic calendar is stable and working, but other universities are badly affected as a result of prolonged strike.
“If government can employ technocrat who are expert in various field such as education, economy, agriculture and business, the development of Nigeria will be rapid in all ramifications.”
The VC also called on the postgraduate students to attend lectures regularly and carry out their research diligently to enable them finish their programme in record time.
Corroborating his point of view, Raphael Omolehin, dean of postgraduate school at the institution, said that the major challenge facing the rapid growth of universities is lack of autonomy.
“The university management does not have power to employ academic staff without taking permission from different government agencies,” he said.
