Buhari pleads with ASUU to call off strike
President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call off its ongoing strike.
Buhari in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, asked the striking lecturers to consider the plight of Nigerian students who have been home for a long time.
He made the appeal at the National Productivity Day and the conferment of the National Productivity Order of Merit Award (NPOM) on 48 eminent Nigerians and organisations in both the public and private sectors, for their high productivity, hard work and excellence.
He further assured the students that the government is striving to address the “nagging issues” in the university system, while urging them to exercise patience.
“President Buhari recalled that he had earlier directed the Chief of Staff, Hon. Ministers of Labour and Employment, Education, Finance, Budget and National Planning to immediately bring all parties to the negotiation table to again critically look at the grey areas in the demands of ASUU and in fact all other university based labour unions,” the statement said.
Speaking on the theme of this year’s celebration, “Achieving Higher Productivity through Improved Education System,” President Buhari pledged that the Federal Government would continue to do everything possible to uplift the standard of the educational system in the country.
“Therefore, if we desire to transform Nigeria into a competitive, strong, vibrant, productive and sustainable economy, improving our educational system should be accorded the highest priority,” he said.
The president highlighted the reduction in the number of out of school children from 10.1million in 2019 to 6.9 million in 2020, automatic employment for graduates of education, review of the retirement age of teachers from 60 to 65 years, among others.
According to him, more still needs to be done.
“Quality educational system is good not just for the national economy; it is also good for the citizens.
“Ignoring the productivity dimension of education would endanger the prosperity of future generations, with widespread repercussions for poverty and social exclusion.
“It will be difficult to improve our economic performance and overall productivity, without improving our educational system.
“Government notes the emergency situation in our educational system with particular reference to the dearth of qualified and dedicated teachers to enhance the quality of teaching and learning at all levels of our educational system,” he added.
