By Uzair Adam Imam
President Muhammadu Buhari has appealed to the leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to embrace peace, stating that Nigerian universities have had enough strikes.
Buhari, who was representated by Professor Ingnatuis Onimawo, made the plea on Saturday, 23-10-2021 as he was delivering a speech at a convocation ceremony in the University of Ilorin.
The president also stated that the dialogue is always better than the conflict as no any gain ever driven from crisis.
However, he added that a lot of time had been wasted as a result of Corona virus pandemic, thereby saying the university system cannot afford to withstand any crisis now.
- The president was quoted saying: “Let me also use this opportunity to appeal to members of ASUU to embrace peace. They should realise that dialogue is always better than conflict. No one gains from crisis. While government alone cannot solve all challenges facing a society, this administration is willing to listen to complaints and alternative points of views to managing a situation.”
“The university system cannot withstand any crisis now considering the time it had lost to Coronavirus pandemic,” he said.
Speaking on the issue of Corona virus, the president said: “I expect our universities to conduct researches targeted at discovering an antidote to it. Universities are expected to focus their research on challenges facing our societies and find practical solutions within the context of national development.”
“I therefore challenge the Universities to give their best in the fight against this common and unrelenting enemy of humanity. I enjoin our researchers to collaborate among themselves and look forward to bringing an effective solution to this medical challenge.”
“The nation expects University of Ilorin to play a leading role in the research efforts to develop Covid 19 in Nigeria.
“The nation expects nothing less from the Nigerian University system”, he added.