The Minister of State for Education, Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, who recently resigned from his position, has apologized to Nigerian students over the prolonged strike action of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
Last week, the union extended their industrial action by another 12 weeks, citing a lack of readiness by concerned government officials to resolve the crisis.
Addressing the issue, Nwajiuba, who is a 2023 presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said all his children attended public universities, and that two of them are also affected by the strike.
The former minister said this on Sunday while being interviewed on Politics Today, a Channels Television programme.
He said, “I do apologize to Nigerian students because as their minister, I will take responsibility. But also, on behalf of the federal government, I would say ‘please understand what the issues are’.
“All my four children have passed through Nigerian universities. I still have two who are at home now, because they are all in public universities.
“My position has not been that ASUU is talking rubbish. ASUU has a case, they are not making a case for themselves alone. ASUU is making a case for the entire university system.
“The only point of departure is that we have asked ASUU that strikes can’t cure the problem.
“We need them in class, we need our children back in school. It hurts parents. It hurts us. Like I keep saying, my children are here, I don’t have children in private universities. My wife and them are battling it at home.”
