In a bid to avert another strike action in the nation’s academic calendar, the Minister of Labour and Employment is to meet with the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Research Institutes (ASURI) on Wednesday over the complaint of poor funding and lack of budgetary allocation for research in the country.
The union had written to the minister threatening to embark on a nationwide strike, over poor funding of research institutes in the country and what they described as the “many challenges facing research institutions in Nigeria which require immediate intervention of the President.
The letter, dated October 12, and signed by the Secretary-General of ASURI, Dr. Theophilus Ndubuaku, said: “The fact that there is no budget line for research and development in the budget of R&D institutions is an indication that the government functionaries do not appreciate that no country develops without R&D.
“There are budget lines for capital, personnel emolument etc but not research. Research managers are usually handicapped and cannot easily veer votes. since research depends on the crumbs, researchers are left with no choice than to fund their research projects from their meagre salary
“What happens is that the average researcher has to source for a fund to carry out his research. He has to buy his own laptop, his Internet facility, buy Hus own generator because most research institutes don’t have electricity.”
The union also threatened to embark on an indefinite strike action over what it described as a refusal of the federal government to suspend the Director of BIODEC, Odi and the Director General (DG) of National Biotechnology Development Centre (NABDA) over allegations of corruption.
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