As the strike action embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) and other related organisations in tertiary institutions in the country lingers, an old video of President Muhammadu Buhari criticizing the government the then president, Goodluck Jonathan on the issue of lingering ASUU strike action has surfaced on social media, IGBERETV reports.
In the video, Buhari was heard criticizing the then President Jonathan’s administration for not being serious in tackling the ASUU strike.
While speaking on the 2014 National Conference convened by the Goodluck Jonathan administration, Buhari spoke against the timing of the confab which came at a time ASUU, Polytechnic lecturers and other arms of tertiary institutions unions were on strike.
Buhari also criticized Jonathan’s government for earmarking the sum on N7 billion for the confab, saying a serious government would not spend so much money on frivolity while the tertiary institutions workers were on strike.
In Buhari’s words;
“If you could recall, at the time the government said it was voting N7b for the conference, ASUU was on strike. And teachers of other tertiary institutions, like the polytechnics were on strike.
“This strike was on for almost an academic year and a serious government, if they had N7b to throw about, would go and negotiate with ASUU and the teachers organisations and the teachers unions of the tertiary institutions of the polytechnics downwards so that our children will remain in schools.
“The National Assembly is there if you want to amend the constitution so why go and take N7b that we could not afford when our children are on the streets? I think this government has the capacity for wrong priorities that are hurting us as a nation.”
ASUU embarked on strike on February 14, 2022, accusing President Buhari’s government of failing to meet ASUU’s demands for better funding of universities and better welfare of the academic staff.
However, on Wednesday, August 3, 2022, President Buhari approved the purchase and donation of vehicles, worth N1.4 billion, to neighbouring Niger Republic.
This revelation sparked outrage and the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Zainab Ahmed, said that the donation was to help Niger address its security concerns.
Reacting, Nigerians and civil society groups have criticized Buhari for spending such an amount of money which could have been used to offset the funding for ASUU, so that poor children can go back to school.
