… says future of Nigerian youths endangered by strike

By Peter Duru, Makurdi

The Middle Belt Forum, MBF, has decried the failure of the Federal Government to revolve its dispute with the striking members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, and other associations in public universities

The forum warned that the attitude of the government to the dispute was unaccepted and “indicative of a government that is bereft of the worth and value of education to human capital development and nation building.”

The National President of MBF, Dr. Bitrus Pogu who Tuesday spoke to Vanguard in Makurdi regretted that the All Progressives Congress, APC, led Federal Government had failed in all aspects of nation building thereby leaving the country at the precipice.

Dr. Pogu who noted that it was unimaginable that the government would allow the strike to linger after the several months Nigerian universities were shut last year over the same dispute regretted that the attitude of the government to the matter clearly indicated that education was not on the priority list of the government.

He said: “This government has failed in so many aspects; and when the economy is in shambles it will be difficult to resolve issues. And this takes us to where we are supposed to go to; and that is we need to restructure this country.

“The Federal Government has been incapable of dressing so many issues, named them; security, economy and today education. That is what we are talking about.

“And if education is left in the hands of the states and all the monies given to the states through restructuring, the burden will be less on the Federal Government in terms of policy and to show direction. But let the state governments run education.

“So the solution to this is the restructuring of this country because things are not working. The Federal Government has failed, whether they negotiate now or not, the issue of education has been so epileptic like other sectors affected by the bad policies of the this government. The way forward is, having failed, lets restructure this country and get things right.

“Then think of the right leadership that would handle things and do things properly because all I can say is that there is failure and there is nothing you can tell this government to do it right because the whole things is in shambles. I do not know who is in control of what. So the solution whether we like it or not is to restructure this country.”