The Muslim Media Watch Group of Nigeria (MMWG) has condemned what it termed as the “shameful neglect” of the nation’s educational system.
Reacting to a fresh threat by members of the Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities (SSANU) over the non-payment of arrears of salary of its members, the group said the administration of President Bola Tinubu must be different in addressing industrial matters capable of causing educational backwardness in the country.
The group in a statement signed by its national coordinator, Alhaji Ibrahim Abdullahi, noted that the immediate past federal administration was “notorious for unconcerned attitude towards educational and health matters which resulted in several terrible strikes that caused serious setbacks for the country.”
“President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s assurance on ‘bye bye to strikes, lock-outs, and industrial instability’ must be effected to allow better education to flourish in Nigeria,” the group said.
It called on the education minister, Prof Tahir Mamman to prevent the impending SSANU strike by addressing all issues at stake without further delay.
On the non-collection of several billions of naira by 24 states from the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) to address educational development in their schools, the MMWG said this has shown how less the state governors rated the education industry in the country.
It said that the governors rhetorically speak on educational development, “their non-payment of counterpart funding for the past five to ten years, have shown that they work against educational development especially at primary, junior and senior secondary levels which are the foundations of proper education because their biological children attend elitist schools.”
