A former minister of education, Prof Tunde Adeniran, has urged the federal government to be transparent and sincere to prevent the incessant strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
He said every problem can be solved if the parties involved in the negotiation process are sincere, transparent and committed.
Adeniran who is a former Nigerian Ambassador to Germany stated these in an interview with journalists at the public presentation of his two books titled: “Some thoughts on Education in Nigeria” and “Policy Making and International Security,” in Abuja.
The former education minister asserted that education must be given the right attention, saying both the government and lecturers must see themselves as Nigerians and patriots first during negotiations.
“I believe very much that once we regard education, give it as much attention as possible, support it adequately, and give education the right orientation in this country, we will be able to solve so many problems, even the security problems.
“I believe that we are going to solve this question of kidnapping, banditry and some other things when we generally resolve and resort to build a genuine and true nation, whereby we cater for the needs of everybody,” he said.
On the Nigerien crisis and political climate across Africa, Adeniran warned the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) against making empty threats.
He spoke on the spate of coup d’etat spreading across the continent and ECOWAS threat to use military intervention in restoring democracy in Niger.
“My advice to ECOWAS is that before situations arise, they should be proactive by thinking ahead and when they are thinking ahead, they should also be realistic. It doesn’t pay to make threats that are not credible. If you cannot fulfill, you do not make threats.
“One other thing which is important here is that ECOWAS should pay a lot of attention to good governance. They are shy. They are not ready to tell the various member countries the truth about what is going on.
“When there are certain shortcomings, where we do not have enough commitment to the welfare of the people, they should be bold and courageous enough to let others know because it is of collective interest to have stability, security and above all, to have development that will improve quality of life of citizens,” Adeniran said.
Also, a former military governor of Bauchi and Kano states Maj-Gen Chris Garuba (rtd), stated that the Security Council is arguably the most important of the six organs of the United Nations established under the UN Charter.
He said that is because international peace and security are the raison d’etre of the UN, considering that the organisation itself was birthed in October 1945 after World War II to promote international peace and security.
“In the execution of its mandate of maintaining international peace and security, the UN spends huge sums of money annually. In the current period of July 2022, to June 2023, an expenditure budget of a whopping $6.45 billion was devoted to the 12 active Peacekeeping Missions around the globe,” Garuba said.
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