Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar has urged the federal government and Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to urgently resolve all disputes so that Nigerian students can return to their campuses.
The former vice president who pledged that education will be a top priority for him if elected as president, stressed that investment in education pays the best dividend than any other investment.
In a statement by his media adviser, Paul Ibe, he made the assertions on the sidelines of the graduation ceremony of the Anglia Ruskin University (ARU) in Cambridge, United Kingdom.
The ARU Awards Board on the 12th of November, 2021 conferred the award of Master of Arts in International Relations on Atiku Abubakar following the successful completion of his Master’s degree programme at the university.
The statement said the former vice president was not physically present at the graduation ceremony having collected his certificate earlier.
The PDP presidential candidate claimed he stayed away from the event in solidarity with Nigerian students who have been at home for months with no end in sight to the protracted strike by ASUU.
The statement partly read “In all honesty, I could not mount the podium with other graduands to collect my certificate today. I had worked hard to complete my studies and was excitedly looking forward to donning the graduation robe and collecting my certificate. However, I am compelled to skip the event in solidarity with our students who through no fault of theirs are being degraded at home”.
The Waziri Adamawa also noted that there is no return on investment that can surpass that on education.
Atiku who described education as a game-changer added that “education remains a priority to me. That explains why I invested in it and was prepared against all odds to walk this journey that has earned me a higher degree today.”
He stressed the need for all stakeholders in the country to make the funding of ASUU a continuous and deliberate policy for the sake of youths.
