The group also called for immediate payment of all withheld salaries of the striking academic lecturers and unions across the country.
A civil society, Save Public Education Campaign, has called on the striking university lecturers, students and parents across the country, to get ready for mass actions to compel the Nigerian government to take necessary steps to end the strike action of the university lecturers.
The group also called for immediate payment of all withheld salaries of the striking academic lecturers and unions across the country.
Addressing a press conference on Monday in Abuja on behalf of the group the Co-conveners, Comrade Vivian Bello and Comrade Dimeji Macaulay, the group berated the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government for wasting humongous amounts of money and resources on political parties’ Nomination forms and Primaries.
It scolded the government for taking politics as priority while relegating the issues of education and future of Nigerian children to the background.
Bello described the action of government toward the plight of the lecturers which bordered on issues of poor welfare as ridiculous, absurd and unacceptable.
She lamented the time lost by the students in public universities across the country which she said amounted to an entire two and half years under the Buhari government.
Vivian said, "Distressing statistics show that the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU has been on strike for a total of over 725 days, since the beginning of this administration over issues that bother largely on poor welfare, University Autonomy and lack of adequate funding for Universities. When tallied inversely, this amounts to an entire two and half years lost, in the educational lives of innocent Nigerian children/students in public universities across the country.
"It did not end there; the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics, and Colleges of Education, ASUP and COEASU are all also currently on strike on similar issues as ASUU. We all can see clearly, that this is an all-round collapse of the tertiary education sector in the country.
"We make bold to say, that if government will recognise the futility in its so-called insecurity-fighting campaign, change strategy and invest a greater proportion of the resources it is expending in the insecurity campaign in providing robust, efficient and quality educational system and structure and qualitatively educate its teeming citizenry, within a calculated period of time, insecurity will gradually die a natural death in Nigeria and the society will take on its hitherto regular and peaceful equilibrium.
“In order words, we submit boldly that education can be a veritable panacea to insecurity in Nigeria. In view of the gravity of the situation, we make a clarion call for unity and coming together of staff unions, students, workers and communities across the country, to mobilise and get ready for civic mass actions to compel the government to take the necessary steps to end the strike and have the millions of our children and students, return to school to end the jeopardy of their education and future.”
On his own part, Macaulay faulted the unpopular policies of Buhari’s led government
in education sector which he said had affected public universities and tertiary institutions across the country.
He called on government to discontinue with the Integrated Payment Platform and Information System (IPPIS) platform adding that evidence by the striking academic unions showed that the platform was problematic, inconsistent and fraudulent.
He therefore called for the deployment of the proposed University Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) as suggested by the lecturers.
"On the other hand, the children of ruling elites are graduating in different international universities across developed countries around the world. Soon, if the situation persists, we will have no option than to compile names of these public officials and their children, and demand the hosting countries and schools expel them to return and have education as it is, in their home country, Nigeria,” Macaulay said.