Akwa Ibom State governor and a Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential aspirant, Udom Emmanuel, has appealed to the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to end the lingering strike action in the country.
A statement by the spokesperson of the Udom Emmanuel Presidential Council, Bola Bolawole, urged the parties to the crisis to re-open the universities as the continued closure is inimical to the future of the students and Nigeria as a whole.
The governor said records of ASUU strike actions in recent years are worrisome as close to four years have been lost to strike actions, adding that the federal government and ASUU should come down from their high horses and work towards averting a disaster in the country’s educational system.
The statement disclosed that discussions are already ongoing in some countries to withdraw their recognition of university certificates from Nigeria, adding that “God forbid that this should happen; the all-round effects on our people are better imagined than felt.”
He said the data from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) shows that Nigeria’s Diaspora remittances inflow for the first nine months of 2021 rose to $14.2 billion, up 10 percent year-on-year from $12.9 billion in the corresponding period of 2020 and beating the World Bank quarter-on-quarter projections for the same period.
“This is second only to foreign exchange earned from the oil sector. Nothing must be done to adversely affect its growth in the short-and long-term,” he said.
