President Muhammadu Buhari said the corruption in the educational sector in the country is not exclusive of the operators in the university circle, which include the striking lecturers.
The last eight month, some universities have been shut down arising from strike action for better welfare embarked upon by the lectures.
Buhari on Tuesday at the Fourth National Summit on Diminishing Corruption in the Public Sector held at the State House, Abuja, used the occasion to accuse the striking lecturers of being a contributing factor to the financial problem the universities are facing.
The President said the lecturers made it looked as if the problem was underfunding of the educational sector by the government whereas, according to him, alleged corruption on their parts was a major handicap.
His word, “This year’s summit will mirror how corruption undermines educational policies and investments, and creates an unfriendly learning environment for our youths.
“Incessant strikes especially by unions in the tertiary education often imply that government is grossly underfunding education, but I must say that corruption in the education system from basic level to the tertiary level has been undermining our investment in the sector and those who go on prolonged strikes on flimsy reasons are no less complicit.
“The 1999 Constitution places a premium on education by placing it on the Concurrent List, thereby laying the responsibilities of budgeting and underwriting qualitative education on both the Federal and State Governments.”
