President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said the myriad of challenges confronting Nigeria’s education sector and begging for serious interventions informed his administration’s decision to declare emergency in the sector.
President Tinubu made this known at the 8th convocation ceremony of the Federal University Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) in Ekiti state.
He said, “The government is not unaware of the numerous challenges confronting the education sector, particularly higher education.”
The president, who is the Visitor to the university established 12 years ago, was represented by the Deputy President of the Senate, Barau Jubril.
He recalled how his government approved the student loan scheme as a way to make the acceptability of quality education incontestable.
“Following this announcement, there was a baffling response from several quarters on the credibility and workability of this scheme, to the government’s amazement.
“One thing that should be known is that education is not cheap anywhere in the world. This government is not ready to endorse the education that will not advance this nation.
“As you may be aware, this government listened to the submissions of relevant stakeholders in the education sector and therefore cancelled the policy of automatic deduction of 40% varsities’ IGR. This should already show you the disposition of the government to the issues within the education sector and importantly that this government is a listening government.
He, however reiterated the need for universities and other tertiary institutions to adjust to the ever-changing demands of the twenty first century, where technology is upgrading global, community and individual intelligence from time to time
President Tinubu used the occasion to challenge the leaderships of the various university-based unions to be more introspective in their diagnosis of the deepening crisis in the Nigerian university system.
He expressed displeasure on the stories emanating from some of varsity campuses, such as sexual harassment, extortion, plagiarism and other forms of intellectual fraud and corruption, describing this as totally unacceptable.