Tinubu Celebrates End of ASUU Strikes Under His Administration

(President Bola Tinubu And Catholic Bishops. Photo Credit: TheCable)

President Bola Tinubu has expressed happiness that the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has not gone on strike, calling it a response to the nation's prayers.

At the State House in Abuja on Tuesday, Tinubu gave a speech to the leaders of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of Nigeria (CBCN).

One of the quantifiable advancements under his administration, according to the president, is that there hasn't been a protracted ASUU strike since he took office, which has helped Nigerian families.

He noted that none of the children of the clerics present, whom he described as belonging to all of them by virtue of their calling as reverend fathers, could complain that a four-year course was no longer running its normal duration.

Pointing out that ASUU was not on strike and was therefore not bringing hardship to their homes, a development he described as an answer to prayers.

Tinubu said Nigerians had endured economic hardship under his administration owing to challenges inherited from the previous government, but noted that the country was now witnessing a level of stability that was already beginning to improve the quality of life.

He explained that he had inherited both the assets and liabilities of his predecessor and had continued to manage the situation, expressing confidence that the government had stabilised the economy and that prosperity was on the horizon, with living standards improving.

The president also reassured the clerics that the country would overcome its current security challenges, stating that Nigeria remained the only country available to its citizens and that, drawing from the complexity and diversity captured in the national anthem, the nation would ultimately thrive, rejoice and prosper together.

Tinubu's remarks come against the backdrop of longstanding challenges in Nigeria's education sector, particularly prolonged industrial action by ASUU and other university workers' unions, as well as persistent security challenges across the country.

Between 1999 and 2022, ASUU embarked on a series of strikes that cumulatively resulted in more than five years of lost academic time, the most recent being an eight-month strike in 2022, the longest in the union's history.