President Muhammadu Buhari says the incessant strikes by unions in tertiary institutions undermine the federal government’s intervention and falsely imply that his administration undervalues Education and also reads out the riot act on Sexual harassment in the sector.
The president is also particularly concerned about cases of sexual harassment and other forms of corruption in tertiary institutions.
The President who was speaking at the fourth National Summit on diminishing corruption in the public sector said the Education Sector needs to clean up its act going forward.
The President added that the Federal Government has invested heavily in the Education sector not minding the narrative being pushed about the interest and attention from government.
The President also urged the Anti Corruption agencies in the Country to take a closer look at the sector and ensure that all corrupt practices are nipped in the bud.
The President also frowned at the unacceptable level of Sexual harassment being faced by students in Tertiary institutions across the Country saying such acts will be punished severely.
He called for victims to always come forward promising that such cases will be prosecuted.
For his part, the Former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Attahiru Jega, who was also a former National President of the Academic Union of Universities, said the bureaucracy in the Federal Government and the Federal Ministry of Education are responsible for the Worst of Corruption cases in the Education Sector.
He added that Vice Chancellors of Universities who go before the National Assembly are put under unnecessary pressure to pad their budget to ensure passage and push kickbacks to those in positions of authority.
He urged participants to ensure that the lessons learnt from the summit are applied to help Strop corruption in the Education Sector.
The issue of Corruption within the nations’ Education sector has never been far away anytime developments either positively or negatively come up.
With the Sector under the spotlight especially over the protracted strike by members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, this charge by the President is one that many Nigerians will welcome but the main question by many is whether this will amount to something at the end of the day.
