The Federal Government is exploring the option of private sector partnership to fund tertiary education, Minister of Labour and Employment, Dr Chris Ngige, has said.

Such arrangement has become a necessity in view of the current reality that the government cannot sustain the funding of the institutions alone, according to the minister.

Ngige gave this indication in an interview he granted Arise News Channel Sunday night.

He said in keeping with economic realities, the government had decided to seek alternative funding sources from the private sector to meet the requirements of public tertiary education.

He said, “The Federal Government alone cannot sustain the tertiary education or even the education system in Nigeria. Do not also forget that education is on the concurrent list,” he said.

The minister also faulted the funding options recommended by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, saying they were not implementable.

“We agreed with ASUU to put up a NEEDS assessment committee, which they are members. That committee has come up with suggestions on possible sources of funding the universities but when they were presented to government, they were found not to be implementable.”

Ngige said one of the recommended sources of funding universities, as recommended by ASUU, was the Value Added Tax (VAT) but explained that 85 per cent of the revenue would go to the states, leaving only 15 per cent for the Federal Government.

The minister said ASUU also suggested stamp duty proceeds should be used to fund the universities, adding that the proposal isn’t feasible as only the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) can collect stamp duty.

“So, these two funding sources suggested by ASUU could not be pushed through by the ministry. So, the NEEDS committee is now working on another validation of other sources, targeting the private sector,” he said.

He appealed to ASUU to accept the Federal Government’s offer and call off its eight-month industrial action.

Ngige said the Federal Government had met almost all the demands made by the union.

 “I feel that even this offer is one of the best they have ever got since I started conciliation with them. I do not see why they should not accept it. Everything they asked for has been granted. I don’t think they should say the offer is not good.

“But I told them before they left that asking the nation and the students to wait from Friday to Friday is unfair; they should come back to us by Tuesday. They have done that before when we negotiated with the Senate president. The offer was made on a Thursday and they came back to us on a Tuesday.

“So, that’s what I expect them to do this time around. If they do so, the nation will appreciate them and regard them as patriotic citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. I expect them to get back to me much earlier than Friday.”

Ngige explained that part of the proposals made to ASUU is that the Federal Government was ready to provide N40 billion for payment of earned allowances to all university workers and N25 billion as revitalisation fund to improve infrastructure.

He said government had asked ASUU as an alternative to accepting the provision of N35 billion as earned allowances and so as to raise the money for revitalisation fund to N30 billion.

The minister also said that the government had agreed to pay striking lecturers the withheld salaries for February to June.

He, however, added that the problem was how the payment would be done since the affected lecturers were not registered on the IPPIS.

Ngige said the government agreed that the lecturers be paid using the old method.

On the evaluation of the ASUU’s alternative payment platform, the University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS), Ngige said the software was undergoing integrity test at the Nigeria Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA).

“I am not a scientist; I am not a guru. I will only rely on what experts in the Nigeria Information and Technology Development Agency tell me and the same way they will write to ASUU, the Federal Ministry of Education and the Accountant General of the Federation. We have an AGF who does not speak with the media and a minister of finance that is very busy with managing the country’s economy and talking to our creditors and bilateral partners. So, as a conciliator, it is me that will say what the situation is with government,” Ngige said.