The president made the call while receiving some governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC), legislators and political leaders at his residence in Daura, Katsina State.
President Muhammadu Buhari has called on the striking university lecturers, the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), to reconsider their position on the prolonged strike.
The president made the call while receiving some governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC), legislators and political leaders at his residence in Daura, Katsina State.
He assured that the government understood their position, and negotiations should continue, with students in lecture halls.
Buhari, in a statement issued by his spokesman, Garba Shehu, expressed worry that the strike had brought generational consequences on families, the educational system and future development of the country.
The President said the strike had already taken a toll on the psychology of parents, students and other stakeholders, throwing up many moral issues that already beg for attention.
Buhari said the future of the country rested on the quality of educational institutions and education.
“We hope that ASUU will sympathise with the people on the prolonged strike. Truly, enough is enough for keeping students at home. Don’t hurt the next generation for goodness sake,” he said.
The President called on all well-meaning Nigerians, particularly those close to the leaders and members of the association, to intervene in persuading the lecturers to reconsider their position, and the ripple effect on an entire generation and the nation.
Buhari said students from Nigerian universities would be faced with the challenge of competing with others in a highly connected and technology-driven work space, and keeping them at home only deprives them of time, skill and opportunities to be relevant on the global stage.
“Colonial type education was geared towards producing workers in government. Those jobs are no longer there. Our young people should get education to prepare them for self-employment. Now education is for the sake of education.
“Through technology we are much more efficient. We should encourage our children to get education, not only to look for government jobs,” he added.
Buhari said resources should be channelled more into building infrastructure and operations of the health and educational sector, not to expand the bureaucracy to create job opportunities.