Lagos—The Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has appealed to the Federal Government to implement the 70 years retirement age for university lecturers in the country.
The extension of the retirement age of professors from 65 to 70 years was part of the agreement between the union and Federal Government in 2009.
Prof. Ukachukwu Awuzie, National President, ASUU, made the call in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN.
Awuzie said that there was need for government to hasten the implementation of the agreement in order to encourage younger lecturers and strengthen the sector.
He said: "The union will soon meet with members of the National Assembly on the implementation process and to find out if it has been taken to the Presidency for approval."
He commended the Chairman, House Committee on Education, Farouk Lawan, for the passion the committee had shown in ensuring that the issue was resolved and the sector repositioned.
He stressed the need for government to step up efforts in ensuring that enough fund was allocated to the sector, to enable it take care of critical issues such as research and development.
"The issue of research and development in any university cannot be over- emphasised as this is a major platform by which major universities across the world are given the recognition with which they rank universities.
"It is also a major way through which universities can contribute their own quota in the development of their countries, by also being able to translate ideas to problem solving realism," he added.
Meanwhile, the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT) on Tuesday said that increasing the retirement age of teachers to 65 years would boost education in Nigeria.
The NUT argued that the recent concession given to university lecturers to retire at 70 years should also apply to members of the union.
Mr Idowu Adelakun, Chairman, NUT, Lagos State Wing, told NAN in Lagos that increasing the number of years would enable students to continue to tap from the experience of the teachers.
"Because of the state of the economy, it is difficult to get good teachers. Experience is the best teacher. I suggest that the government should increase their retirement age to enable students to benefit more," Adelakun said.
He added that the extension of retirement age would also prevent the dearth of quality teachers in primary and secondary schools in the country.
"The NUT would appreciate if the retirement age for its members was reviewed upwards to 65 years by government,'' he said.
Also speaking, Mr Julius Olaribigbe, Chairman, Parents Teachers Association, PTA, Ondo State Chapter, said increasing challenges in the education sector were because of the dwindling number of quality teachers.
"We have discovered that the experienced teachers are more skilled in teaching the students. We believe that if the government increases the number of retirement age, students will gain more," Olaribigbe said.
Vanguard Nigeria