President Muhammadu Buhari has told leaders of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), to reconsider their position on the continued strike as it will have generational consequences on families and the future development of the country.
The president, who informed the striking lecturers that enough is enough, noted that the future of the country rests on the quality of educational institutions and education.
Reports say Buhari made this remark when he received some governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC), legislators and political leaders at his residence on Monday.
While assuring that the government understands ASUU’s position, Buhari requested that negotiations should continue, with students in lecture halls.
He was quoted as saying: “I 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.
“Students from Nigerian universities will 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.”
