The National Association of Nigerian Students, South-West zone, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari has no concern for education to the extent that the Federal Government did not know that research institutes in Nigeria were on strike.
The Deputy Coordinator of the zone, Comrade Alao John, said this in Ibadan on Thursday in a release made available while addressing a press conference over the strike embarked upon by research institutes in Nigeria.
John, who made the release on behalf of the Coordinator, Comrade Emannuel Olatunji, stated that the education system in the country had collapsed, and tasked the government to declare a state of emergency in the education sector.
“This conference is geared towards getting the Federal government to act positively on the demands of research institutes.
“As a responsive leadership, we are prepared to tackle any menace that could want to stand on our way to get affordable and quality education in this country. We can no longer allow this government to determine our future for us.
“Federal government seems not to be on the know that research institutes in nigeria are on strike. Educational system in Nigeria has collapsed and as such Federal government should as a matter of urgency declare of state of emergency on education.
“No country can develop without research work and one of the major aim of education is training.
Federal Government should implement the agreement signed with RESEARCH Institutes in the country.
Colleges of agriculture under this research institutes are been short-changed. These are specialised institutions that if properly explore in their area of specialisation would have had many breakthrough in the areas they cover. No research funds to assist Researchers in these institutes and colleges.
“We were reliably informed of the exclusion of all colleges under research institute and other special colleges from TETFUND, which they ought to be the prioritised beneficiaries of this fund as they are specialised institution which if properly funded will explore to their maximum potential hence, a catalyst to solve many unresolved issues facing us as a nation which will undoubtedly propel the development of our dear country.
“A country can not survive without research work. Research is the bedrock of any nation to move from an underdeveloped to a developed nation. Research is the panacea of development for any nation which the current situation is a bane to our development. Every technology we see today is as a result of research, ” the statement read in part.
John added, “The government of the day seems to turn deaf hear to the demands of the research institutes in Nigeria.
The over five-month-old strike which has affected all institutions under this research institute has done nothing but bad to the educational system in Nigeria.
“Students in all these institutions are exposed to skeletal learning and studying. This attitude of the government has shown that government does not believe in the ideology that our country can attain technological development and also paying lip service to research and technological development.”
John concluded that NANS would bring the country to a standstill if the educational system collapse was not addressed immediately.
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