By Augustine Okezie
Abuja
Executive Secretary of the National Universities Commission (NUC), Professor Julius Okojie, has called for an increased funding of the regulatory agency to enable it fulfill its statutory mandate of policing the nation’s universities.
Okojie, who was speaking yesterday when the Senate Committee on Education led by Comrade Uche Chukwumerije paid an oversight visit to his office, further expressed shock at the present situation in the university system, maintaining that it was only an increased appropriation and a prompt attention on university regulators, that the issue of effective monitoring could be addressed.
“Regulators need special intervention to regulate well. There is no revenue coming into the system, we are not such agencies like JAMB,” he said.
Earlier, in his speech, Chukwumerije said the committee was there on oversight visit and to engage the agency in the spirit of partnership.
He further charged the commission to urgently address several crises that were rocking the university system, including rising incidents of proprietary claims on various aspects of university assets, high incidence of indiscipline and flouting of NUC directives by universities, and ensuring healthy inter agency relationship between the universities and the Academic Staff Union of Universities commission.
