Buhari decries incessant strikes in varsities, alleges corruption in education sector

The President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday decried the incessant strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).

Buhari, who spoke during the 4th national summit on diminishing corruption in the public sector, held at the State House Conference Centre in Abuja, said corruption has continued to undermine the government’s investment in education.

The university lecturers have been on strike since February 14 over the refusal of the Federal Government to honour agreements signed with ASUU.

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He said: “Incessant strikes, especially by unions in the tertiary education sector, often imply that government is grossly underfunding education, but I must say that corruption in the education system from basic level to the tertiary level has been undermining our investment in the sector, and those who go on prolonged strikes on flimsy reasons are no less complicit.

“The allocation to education in the federal budget should not be considered via allocation to the Federal Ministry of Education and also academic institutions alone but should include an allocation to the Universal Basic Education, transfers to TETFUND, and refund from the Education Tax Pool Account to TETFUND, etc.

“I am aware that the aggregate education budget in all the 36 states of the federation and that of the Federal Government, combined with the internally generated revenues of the educational institutions themselves are also a subject that requires the attention of critics of government on the funding of education.”

By Abdulkabeer Ambali

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