BREAKING: “Education Is Corrupt” – Buhari Slams ASUU Over Strike Action
BREAKING: “Education Is Corrupt” – Buhari Slams ASUU Over Strike Action
Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retired), Nigeria’s President, has criticized the striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities for their long strike, which has kept millions of Nigerian college students out of school for over seven months.
Buhari said at the 4th national summit on reducing corruption in the public sector, which was held at the State House Conference Center in Aso Rock, that corruption hurts educational policies and investments and makes it hard for young people to learn.
Other important people at the event, which was called “Corruption and the Education Sector” and was put on by the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, were Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, the Commission’s Chairman; Boss Mustapha, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation; Adamu Adamu, the Minister for Education; and Attahiru Jega, the former Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
The president said that University professors were part of the problem with Government spending on Education.
“Continual strikes, especially by unions in the tertiary Education sector, often give the impression that the Government is grossly underfunding Education. However, I must say that corruption in the Education system from the basic level to the tertiary level has been undermining our investment in the sector, and those who go on long strikes for flimsy reasons are no less to blame,” he said.
He said that the 1999 Constitution gives Education a lot of importance by putting it on the Concurrent List. This means that both the Federal and State Governments are responsible for budgeting and paying for good Education. He also said that the total Education budget for each year is a reflection of both the federal and state budgets and should be looked at with other financial commitments as a whole.
He also said, “The federal budget for Education shouldn’t just include money for the Federal Ministry of Education and academic institutions. It should also include money for Universal Basic Education, transfers to TETFUND, and refunds from the Education Tax Pool Account to TETFUND, among other things.
“I know that critics of Government funding for Education should also look at the total Education budgets of all 36 states and the Federal Government, as well as the money that schools make on their own.”
Prof. Bolaji Owasanoye, who is the head of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, said that corruption in the Education sector has been called “stealing the future” because Education is the way that knowledge and values are passed on.
“Once the Education system is messed up, there will be no more ethical leaders or workers in the future.” Owasanoye said.
He said that corruption in the Education sector shows up in different ways, such as hiring people who aren’t qualified or fit to teach at the primary, secondary, or tertiary levels; admission racketeering, exam malpractice, diversion of revenue for and within the sector, operation of illegal academic institutions, especially at the tertiary level; abuse of power and procurement rules by management and governing councils of academic or regulatory institutions.
