Members of the Academic Staff Union of Universities and Stakeholders in the educational sector in Ogun State rose at a meeting on Tuesday with the resolve to work, canvass and mobilise in support of the presidential candidate of the PDP, Atiku Abubakar to ensure his election in the forthcoming presidential election in February.
The meeting, held with the Deputy Chairman of People’s Democratic Party Presidential Campaign Council (South) and former Governor of Ogun State, Otunba Gbenga Daniel at the Political Academy in Sagamu, had representatives of all the tertiary institutions in the State in attendance.
The Academics, who spoke in turns, lamented the lack of direction of both the present State and Federal governments especially as it relates with educational development which had drawn the clock of development backwards in the sector.
In their words, the political class has pauperized the people causing them to sway their votes with little inducements thereby electing incompetent leaders resultant of the present situation which the State and the country have found itself.
“The state of education in Ogun is lamentable. Higher institutions were starved of funds with accumulated salaries and allowances unpaid.”
Lauding the restructuring agenda of Atiku together with his commitment to creating jobs for the teeming masses, they believe these policies will take Nigeria out of the woods putting it back on track.
“Atiku’s promise of restructuring the nation and provision of jobs for the unemployed is key to a nation’s development and the academia is ready to lend their weight behind the PDP candidate in order not to have a repeat of 2015 scenario. We are on the same page with Atiku and whatever we do, we do it well.”
Noting that there is a vacuum in the political terrain, the major stakeholders in the educational sector said they have come to grips with the reality on the ground and will reposition themselves in the mainstream of Nigerian politics as a pressure group.
In his response, Otunba Daniel assured them of Atiku’s undying passion for restructuring. “it should be noted that Atiku has been talking incessantly about restructuring for the past years and already has the blueprint as encapsulated in his compendium of speeches.
Restructuring, he stressed, is all about decentralisation so that powers are not concentrated at the centre impoverishing the States and local governments as we have at the present moment.
“The challenge we have is that we have to rise up and say enough is enough of the present government.”
The meeting, Daniel said, was timely and in the utmost interest of the people so that “we don’t miss out in the forthcoming dispensation.”
“The coming election will be a defining moment in the political history of our country. Buhari has failed in all his cardinal programmes of improving the economy, provision of adequate security and fighting corruption. He has instead been playing politics with corruption. We cannot perform an experiment with the presidency. This is not about Buhari but about the future of the country. The question is if we want the status quo to remain or if we want a change,” he said.
Tribune
