Buhari At 76: Make Education A Priority In 2019 — NAUS
NAUS Felicitates With President Buhari At 76, Urges Him To Make Education A Priority In 2019.
The National Association of University Students (NAUS) has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to make education in Nigeria a priority in 2019.
NAUS Deputy Secretary General, Comrade Isioma Ogochukwu gave the charge in a goodwill message to the President to mark his 76th year birthday on Monday in Benin City.
Ogochukwu said, “for the nation (Nigeria) to join the comity of Nations in achieving the UNESCO’s 2030 agenda, there must be concerted efforts in increasing funding of education.”
He called on the President to ensure that the budgetary allocation to the education sector in the 2019 proposed budget meets UNESCO’s 26 per cent recommended benchmark, adding that “this is needed due to poor funding of the sector, and the rate of decaying infrastructures in our campuses.”
While charging the President on the need for a peaceful election in 2019, the NAUS Deputy Secretary General urged him to keep to his commitment in ensuring that the processes are free, fair and credible as part of measures to deepen democracy.
“We urge the umpire, INEC, to shun acts that could compromise the smooth conduct of the elections, and remain independent in its practices by allowing citizens’ votes to count as such is cardinal to sustaining democracy.
“INEC must not derail in its duties, nor conduct itself in manners that could plunge the country into post-election crisis. The commission must be ready to conduct a free, fair and credible elections in 2019 and nothing less.
“NAUS is deeply concerned on the need for Nigerian journalists to intensify efforts that will deepen democracy through sustained investigative, balanced and analytical reportage.
“We challenge media practitioners to join in the mobilisation of Nigerians through unbiased reports to take collective responsibility in choosing leaders for the nation in the next general election,” he said.
Speaking on the issue of vote buying, the NAUS Deputy Secretary General noted that the organisation was currently doing everything possible to educate registered voters on the need to elect credible leaders, while calling on the Federal Government to avoid actions that could jeopardize the progress of Nigeria’s democracy.
He noted that the group has embarked on sensitisation of the electorate to ensure that eligible voters in the states participate in the electoral process.
He advised Nigerians to come out en masse in the 2019 general election to exercise their franchise without any fear.
Commenting on the ongoing industrial action embarked on by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), the NAUS Deputy Secretary General urged the Federal Government to urgently accede to ASUU’s demands and put an end to the elongated strike.
SIGNED:
FAITH CHIDINMA AKUCHIE
Special Assistant to the Deputy Secretary General, NAUS
(Media & Publicity)
December 17, 2018