By ISMAILA CHAFE

President Muhammadu Buhari has again appealed to the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to consider the plight of students and call off the ongoing strike.

The president also urged students in Nigeria’s public tertiary institutions to exercise patience as the government strives to address the nagging issues in the nation’s university system within the available resources

Buhari made the appeal on Thursday in Abuja at the 19th National Productivity Day and the conferment of the National Productivity Order of Merit Award (NPOM) on 48 eminent Nigerians and organisations in both the public and private sectors, for their high productivity, hardwork and excellence.

The president recalled that he had earlier directed the Chief of Staff, Ministers of Labour and Employment; Education; and Finance, Budget and National Planning to immediately bring all parties to the negotiation table to again critically look at the grey areas in the demands of ASUU and other university based labour unions.

On the theme of this year’s celebration ‘‘Achieving Higher Productivity through Improved Education System,’’ the president pledged that the Federal Government would continue to do everything possible to uplift the standard of the educational system in the country.

According to Buhari, his administration recognises that the future of any nation is contingent on the standard of its educational system.

‘‘Therefore, if we desire to transform Nigeria into a competitive, strong, vibrant, productive and sustainable economy, improving our educational system should be accorded the highest priority,” he said.

He highlighted notable achievements in the educational sector to include the drastic reduction of the number of out of school children from 10.1 million in 2019 to 6.9 million in 2020, automatic employment for graduates of education and review of the retirement age of teachers from 60 to 65 years, among others.

He further explained that his administration had reviewed the retirement age of teachers from 60 to 65 years, while years of service had been moved from 35 to 40 years to encourage more graduates to join the teaching profession.

Similarly, the president said the government had also approved a special salary scale for teachers in Basic and Secondary schools.

These, he said, included the provisions for rural posting allowance, Science teachers allowance and peculiar allowance, while prioritising timely promotion and prompt payment of salaries.

According to the president, the reintroduction of bursary award to education students in universities and Colleges of Education comes with assurance of automatic employment upon graduation as well as payment of stipends to Bachelor of Education students.

‘‘Quality educational system is good not just for the national economy; it is also good for the citizens.

‘‘Ignoring the productivity dimension of education would endanger the prosperity of future generations, with widespread repercussions for poverty and social exclusion.

‘‘It will be difficult to improve our economic performance and overall productivity, without improving our educational system.

‘‘Government notes the emergency situation in our educational system with particular reference to the dearth of qualified and dedicated teachers to enhance the quality of teaching and learning at all levels of our educational system,’’ he said.

While congratulating all the awardees for their various accomplishments and well deserved recognition, the president said they had been carefully selected from a multitude of competitors, saying ‘‘this award should spur you to greater heights.’’

The president commended the Chairman and members of the National Productivity Order of Merit Award Committee, including the management and staff of National Productivity Centre for a job well done.

He urged the recipients of the merit award and Nigerians to make productivity their watchword.

In his remarks, the Minister of Labour and Employment, Sen. Chris Ngige, said since the inception of the award in 1991, 382 individuals and 97 organisations have been honoured with the NPOM.

Dr Stella Adadevoh and Mr Babatunde Lawal, received posthumous awards at the 2019/2020 edition of the National Productivity Day.

Adadevoh, who died on Aug. 19, 2014, was recognised for her outstanding performance in the fight against the spread of the Ebola virus in the country while Lawal, who until his death on Nov. 6, 2020 served as Permanent Secretary in the Cabinet Affairs Office.

Lawal, an economist by training with bias in fiscal policy analysis, management and strategic planning, was commended for his ‘‘thoroughness and paying keen attention to every detail’’ during his tenure as permanent secretary in the Federal Civil Service.

Other recipients include the National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Sen. Abdullahi Adamu; the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha; and immediate past Director-General of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Dr Chike Ihekweazu.

Other recipients are; Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Prof Akin Abayomi; Chairman and Founder, BUA Group, Abdusamad Rabiu; Chairman of Globacom, Mike Adenuga Jnr; Prof. Stanley Okolo, Director-General of the West African Health Organisation (WAHO); and Allen Onyema, Chairman/Chief Executive Officer of Air Peace, among others. (NAN)

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