By Miracle Ogunde
President Bola Tinubu has reiterated his administration’s commitment towards addressing the root causes of recurrent strikes in higher institutions and ensuring uninterrupted academic calendars.
Tinubu who acknowledged the challenges faced by Nigerian universities due to frequent strikes, pledged to foster an environment conducive to dialogue to end the recurrent issue.
Speaking at the convocation ceremony for 19,252 graduands of the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University in Bauchi State held at the Gubi campus on Saturday, the President emphasised the need for global standards in Nigerian universities and promised sustained efforts to enhance the education sector.
He assured that the government is focused on addressing the root causes of strikes and ensuring uninterrupted academic calendars.
President Tinubu also affirmed his administration’s determination to tackle the proliferation of fake degree certificates, vowing to enforce stringent measures against perpetrators.
Represented by the Director University Education, Federal Ministry of Education, Ochedo James, the President assured that his administration would do everything to ensure that universities were improved in line with global best practices.
Tinubu urged universities to collaborate globally to foster research initiatives for the nation’s benefit.
He commended Nigerian researchers for their groundbreaking discoveries and assured them of continued support to maintain competitiveness in a rapidly evolving world.
“I want to assure you that we shall do everything within our power and within our limited resources to ensure that the universities in Nigeria are improved in tune with the global best practices.
“Nigerian universities have witnessed untold hardship situations over the years due to frequent strike actions, we are now focusing on creating an enabling environment for sustainable dialogue in order to bring frequent strike action by staff union to a permanent end.
“We will address some of the root causes of strikes in our universities and other tertiary institutions to put an end to wanton disruption of academic calendar and waste of time in our universities?
“I’d like to tell you that the present administration is steadily studying the education sector including the tertiary subsector with the view of finding a blueprint to achieving greater success in service delivery.
“The university system in Nigeria has come a long way and has recorded a lot of unquantifiable achievements in training of professionals in every field and experts in various disciplines that are contributing to development not only in our dear nation but worldwide.
“In order to safeguard the sanctity of our graduates, the federal government had noted gradual encroachment of fake degrees certificates acquired by some unpatriotic Nigerians from unscrupulous institutions mostly from beyond the borders of this country.
“Machineries have been put in place to bring this unwholesome threat to an end and those who engage in this shall face the wrath of the law.”
Speaking earlier, Bauchi State governor, Bala Mohammed, commended the ATBU management on the recent graduation of its first set of medical students.
He stated that the state government would absorb the graduated medical students in a move to address the shortage of medical doctors in the state healthcare facilities.
Represented by his Deputy, Mohammed Auwal Jatau, Mohammed said ATBU has consistently been a beacon of knowledge and innovation.
He noted that the institution’s commitment to excellence and pursuit of knowledge is evident, in its outstanding academic programs, dedicated faculty members, and state-of-the-art facilities
He explained that his administration’s commitment to the educational sector has been unwavering as reflected in the various policies and programmes so far implemented in the sector.
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