Buhari Begs ASUU To Call Of Strike

In the interest of students, President Buhari has urged to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call off the present strike.

On Thursday, May 12, the President made the statement while speaking at the 19th National Productivity Day and the presentation of the National Productivity Order of Merit Award (NPOM) to 48 eminent Nigerians and organizations from the public and private sectors for their high productivity, hard work, and excellence.

According to a statement issued by his media aide, Femi Adesina, the President asked ASUU to consider students’ predicament and also urged students in public universities to be patient.

President Buhari said his administration had continued to work within the constraints of available resources to address niggling concerns in the nation’s university system.

The President stated that he had previously directed the Chief of Staff, as well as the Hon. Ministers of Labor and Employment, Education, Finance, Budget, and National Planning, to bring all parties to the negotiating table as soon as possible to reassess the grey areas in ASUU’s and other university-based labour unions’ demands.

He said that his administration would ensure to do everything in its power to improve the country’s educational system. He stated that his administration understood that a country’s destiny was determined by the quality of its educational system.

‘‘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 stated that boosting our economic performance and overall productivity would be difficult without upgrading our educational system.

He also said, “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.”

To address these issues, President Buhari said that his administration has revised the retirement age for teachers from 60 to 65 years, as well as the years of service from 35 to 40 years, in order to attract more graduates to enter the teaching profession.

The President also stated that the government had approved a special salary scale for teachers in primary and secondary schools, which included provisions for rural posting allowance, science teachers allowance, and peculiar allowance while emphasizing the importance of timely promotion and salary payment.