Peter Okoye, PBA Journalism Mentee
The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has advised the President-elect, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to accord priority to education, especially at the tertiary level in the country.
Prof Gbolahan Bolarin, chairman of ASUU, Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State, advised the incoming government to pay more attention to education and avoid emulating the regime of the outgoing president, in addressing issue in the sector.
Prof Bolarin, who is also a member of the National Executive Council of ASUU, advised the President-elect to ensure that university education is given its rightful place in his administration.
“The first thing that one would expect from the next President is that university education must be a priority. No one should treat the university education system with disdain that would make our students stay at home for eight months because of governance failure.
“He cannot afford to treat academics like they are not humans the way the President is treating us,” Bolarin said.
Recall that public universities in Nigeria suffered from a series of strike actions under Buhari which affected the academic calendar at different times.
Universities were closed down for close to eight months in 2020 and a repeat of similar shutdown and distraction of academic activities in universities in 2022.
The controversy is as a result of demands for improved welfare, for the lecturers, and funding for good infrastructure among other things.
Meanwhile, the President-elect, Tinubu, promised that his administration will give education the required attention, adding that under his watch, the issue of strikes in the education system will be over as soon as he takes over.
