President Muhammadu Buhari has faulted the striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities over the prolonged strike that has kept millions of Nigerian undergraduates out of school for over seven months.
Buhari who spoke during the 4th national summit on diminishing corruption in the public sector, held at the State House Conference Centre, Aso Rock, alleged that corruption undermines educational policies, investments and creates an unfriendly learning environment for young people.
Other dignitaries present at the event organised by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, with the theme ‘Corruption and the Education Sector’, were its Chairman, Professor Bolaji Owasanoye; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha; the Minister for Education, Adamu Adamu; and the former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Attahiru Jega.
The president claimed that University lecturers were complicit in undermining government’s investment in the educational sector.
He noted that the 1999 Constitution places a premium on education by placing it on the Concurrent List, thereby laying the responsibilities of budgeting and underwriting qualitative education on both the Federal and State Governments, stating that the total education budget for each year is therefore a reflection of both federal and state budgets and should be viewed with other financial commitments in their totality.
