August 22, (THEWILL) – Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, has said that he would transfer the control of public universities to the state government if he emerges President in 2023.
The former Vice President said this on Monday as a panelist at the opening ceremony of the 2022 Nigerian Bar Association’s Annual General Conference held at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos.
The conference, with the theme ‘Bold Transitions’, began on Monday and will run until August 26.
Atiku’s position was in the context of the protracted strike by public varsity lecturers.
He bemoaned the paucity of resources by the Federal Government, stressing that different sectors in the country were deserving of participation by both local and foreign investors.
The former Vice President also noted that the continued closure of universities would not have happened if the education system was not exclusively meant for the federal government to handle.
Atiku said: “The only way is to make sure that you make conducive environment available to both foreign and local investors to participate in our country, whether it is infrastructure, whether it is education, whether it is power,” he said.
“I had an argument with a university professor from Federal University, Lokoja. He said he read in my policy document that I intended to devolve, in other words, to return education to the states. How dare I do that?
“I said, ‘Mr Professor, do you realise that the first set of our universities belong to the regional governments?’ He said, ‘Yes’. I said who are the successors of the regional government? He said the states.
“I said the children you send to America, to England, who own those universities? Mostly the private sector. So, why is it that you think we cannot do it here? We don’t have the money.”
ASUU has been on strike since February 14 over improved welfare, revitalisation of public universities and academic autonomy among other demands.
Students of public tertiary universities have been out of the classroom since the lecturers downed tools.
ASUU embarked on a similar industrial action for nine months in 2020.
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