Nigeria @ 62: Return To Classrooms, President Muhammadu Buhari Begs ASUU

President Muhammadu Buhari has urged the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to call off its over seven-month industrial and return to the classrooms.

“I must confess that I am very pained by the recurring disruption to our tertiary education system and I am using this Independence Day celebration to re-iterate my call for the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities to return to the classroom while assuring them to deal with their contending issues within the limits of the scarce resources available.

“This administration has made appreciable progress in redressing these issues that have been lingering for over eleven years.

“The Federal Government will continue to mobilize resources both internationally and nationally towards funding education to ensure that our citizens are well educated and skilled in various vocations in view of the fact that education is a leading determinant of economic growth and employment generation,” Buhari said in his 2022 Independence Day address on Saturday.

The President also shared the pains of Nigerians and assured them that his administration would do all possible to alleviate the situation.

“I share the pains Nigerians are going through and I assure you that your resilience and patience would not be in vain as this administration continues to reposition as well as strengthen the security agencies to enable them to deal with all forms of security challenges,” the President said.

ASUU has been on strike since February 14, 2022 over contending issues including unpaid allowances and poor welfare of lecturers of public universities.

Millions of youths have been out of their classrooms for over seven months as talks between Federal Government committees and ASUU broke down.