The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has accused the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) of halting its intervention in public university projects, a practice that was active during the tenure of former CBN governor and now-Emir of Kano, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. According to ASUU, no significant projects have been executed by the CBN in public universities since Sanusi’s departure in 2014.
ASUU President, Emmanuel Osodeke, made this revelation during an interview on the socio-political program Inside Sources aired on Channels Television, hosted by Laolu Akande. Osodeke explained that under Sanusi, the CBN utilized its funds for community development projects within federal universities across the country.
“There are many institutions, like the CBN and NNPC, that have reserve funds for community development,” Osodeke said. “For a long time, we didn’t know the CBN had funds that could be used for universities until Emir Sanusi came in and allocated the money properly. There’s no federal university today without a project completed during Sanusi’s tenure as CBN governor. The biggest building in my university is from the CBN. The University of Abuja, Jos—all have CBN-funded projects from Sanusi’s time.”
Osodeke further criticized Sanusi’s successors, Godwin Emefiele and Olayemi Cardoso, for not continuing the funding model. “If Emefiele and Cardoso had followed in Sanusi’s footsteps, there wouldn’t be an infrastructure deficit in public universities,” he added. “Emefiele didn’t fund a single project, and since Cardoso took over, nothing has been done either. It’s concerning that the Community Social Responsibility fund, which Sanusi utilized, remains untouched.”
He challenged the current CBN leadership, questioning why similar projects have not been initiated. “Cardoso has been in office for a year—have you seen any university projects from the CBN? How did Sanusi manage to generate and allocate funds for universities, and why hasn’t this practice continued?” Osodeke asked.
The union urged public scrutiny of the CBN’s role in supporting the educational sector, particularly in addressing the infrastructural needs of Nigerian universities.
