The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the elections of 2023, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar has declared he will transfer control of federally funded universities to state governments.
As a panelist at the 2022 Nigerian Bar Association’s Annual General Conference, which took place in the Eko Atlantic City in Lagos State on Monday, the 75-year-old lawmaker from Adamawa made this claim.
This week’s conference, with the title “Bold Transitions,” got under way. It will last through August 26.
Atiku stated the Federal Government does not have unlimited resources while speaking on Monday during the panel discussion.
The only approach, according to him, is to create an atmosphere that is favorable for both foreign and domestic investors to invest in our nation’s infrastructure, education, and electricity needs.
“I got into a fight with a professor at Federal University Lokoja. He claimed to have seen in my policy document my intention to devolve, or to hand back control of education to the states. What the heck am I doing?
“Do you realize, Mr. Professor, that the first group of our universities is owned by the regional governments? I asked. He replied, “Yes.” I said, “Who will succeed the regional government?” The states, he said.
“I stated the kids you send to the universities in England and America are owned by…,” the majority of the private sector. Why do you think we can’t do it here, then? We lack the necessary funds.
Since February 14, the Academic Staff Union of Universities has been on strike in support of a number of demands, including enhanced welfare, the revitalization of public universities, and academic autonomy.
Since the professors put down their instruments, public tertiary university students have been absent from the classroom.
In 2020, ASUU started a similar nine-month industrial strike.
Even though the ASUU strike is still in effect, numerous politicians and government officials have been photographed abroad at their children’s graduations from foreign schools. This development has drawn criticism from human rights activists and many worried Nigerians, who have called it insensitive.
