- don’t hurt next generation for goodness sake, Buhari begs union
From President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday, came a very stern warning to the Academic Staff Union of Universities: Enough is enough.
He urged those close to the leadership of the union to appeal to them to sheathe their sword and put an end to the prolonged strike action which would enter its fifth month on July 15, 2022.
Buhari spoke in his country home in Daura, Katsina State.
The president said it is worrisome that the continued strike action may have generational consequences on families, the educational system, and the future development of the country.
The President, who received some governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC), legislators and political leaders at his residence, said the strike had already taken a toll on the psychology of parents, students and other stakeholders, throwing up many moral issues that already beg for attention.
Buhari noted that the future of the country rests on the quality of educational institutions and education, while assuring that the government understood their position, and that negotiation should continue, with students back in lecture halls.
“We hope that ASUU will sympathize with the people on the prolonged strike. Truly, enough is enough for keeping students at home. Don’t hurt the next generation for goodness sake,” he said.
The President called on all well-meaning Nigerians, particularly those close to the leaders and members of the association, to intervene in persuading the lecturers to reconsider their position, in order to stop the ripple effect on an entire generation and the nation.
Buhari said students from Nigerian universities would be faced with the challenge of competing with others in a highly connected and technology-driven work space, and keeping them at home only deprives them of time, skill and opportunities to be relevant on the global stage.
“Colonial type education was geared towards producing workers in government. Those jobs are no longer there. Our young people should get education to prepare them for self-employment. Now education is for the sake of education.
“Through technology we are much more efficient. We should encourage our children to get education, not only to look for government jobs,” he added.
President Buhari said resources should be channeled more into building infrastructure and operations of the health and educational sector, not to expand the bureaucracy to create job opportunities.
“By this time next year, I would have made the most out of the two terms, and the remaining months I will do my best,” the President noted.
Buhari urged those in political positions and places of privilege to be mindful in helping the many Nigerians that were looking for opportunities.
“If you are greedy, you won’t look around to see what is happening with those who are less endowed,’’ he said.
Sunrise News recalled that ASUU had embarked on a nine month-long strike in 2020, and had resumed academic activities only in October 2021, just for students to round up academic activities for the 2019 -2020 session, only to resume the suspended strike on February 15, 2022.
Just last week, the Registrar of the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof Ishaq Oloyede had lent his voice to the growing appeal for the union to suspend its ongoing strike action in the interest of the nation’s public sector tertiary education.
Oloyede said the prolonged strike action is hampering the activities of the agency which is saddled with streamlining unified admission process for all tertiary institutions in the country.
Many institutions are yet to sort out admissions for the 2021/2022 session while JAMB in April this year concluded admission examinations for the 2022/23 session.
Many parents have also taken on ASUU for the rationale in prolonging a strike action that appeared to have lost its relevance as all the private universities continued to run their academic sessions unaffected by the strike action. Many state universities are also staying out of the strike action, with many insisting that the resolutions may have no impact on state owned institutions, which are regulated by the various owner-states.