Mr. Emeka Nwajiuba, a presidential candidate and former Minister of State for Education, said Monday that the current administration had failed to meet Nigerians’ expectations in the tertiary education system, where universities had been on strike for months without a resolution.
He argued, however, that previous governments share some of the blame because the crisis plaguing the university system did not begin with President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.
When asked if the ghost of ASUU will hurt his presidential ambitions, Nwajiuba refused to take full responsibility for the failure of the education system when he spoke on ARISE News Channel, the sister television arm of Newspapers.
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He noted that while the union’s requests are reasonable, implementing them has been difficult due to money and staffing restrictions.
At the time of execution, he added, budgetary, human resource, and managerial restrictions all come into play.
“ASUU needs to be placed in context again,” he remarked. This government did not create ASUU. Since 1982, ASUU has existed. ASUU has achieved a lot for Nigeria’s educational sector.
“However, what ASUU has been asking for is always true and good – we need to ensure that university education is affordable and of high quality for everyone.”
“All of it necessitates some synergy across the board, in terms of financing and labour.” When it comes to implementation, financial and human resource restrictions, as well as managerial constraints, all come into play. The ministry of education has no disagreements with ASUU on any of their demands. “I am a product of public education as a whole…”
He went on to say that he recently apologised to Nigerian parents because “we have not achieved all that we should have achieved.”
He did say, however, that it is the ideal time for the party to introduce a new generation of progressives to address the country’s problems.
“At 55, I probably will represent a bridge between those who are going to leave the stage and those who are about to come on stage,” the former minister said of his chances of becoming president.
“I’ve run for every political party in the previous 30 years.” I am currently the only individual in the field who holds positions in the judiciary, the executive branch, and the legislative. Nobody in the world has such credentials.
“There is nobody with the kind of experience – 30 years in politics, business, everything, and we’ve had the opportunity to midwife a new generation way of thinking, and I believe Nigerians deserve to build on the solid foundations of infrastructure and a good road network and all of that going forward,” he says.
He stated he was working on a programme that would allow universities to earn money from a trusteeship rather than a council, claiming that “we are losing money” by not making institutions financially self-sufficient.
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He also stated that he intends to solve current security concerns by encouraging individuals to develop national cohesion “by giving them a sense of involvement in governance,” among other things.
