From Paul Orude, Bauchi

The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) is planning to sponsor a bill to the National Assembly that will compel public servants and elected officials to take their children to public schools. President of ASUU, Professor Emmanuel Osodeke, who made the disclosure, lamented that government has abandoned public education.

He spoke at a one-day State of the Nation Summit organised by the Bauchi zone of ASUU with the theme: ‘Nigeria: The State of the Nation’ held at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University, Bauchi, Thursday. He regretted that Nigerian leaders, after killing education in the country, now send their children to study in other countries. He declared that ASUU would mobilise Nigerians to march to the National Assembly to demand that the bill be passed for all elected public officers to send their children to Nigerian public schools.

“Today, the leaders of this country and those who control our wealth have completely abandoned education,” the ASUU President said. “Today, this country is reaping the work of our abandoning education and what do they do as an alternative?

“They have created avenues for themselves in such a way that having killed our education, they look for somewhere else where people invested in education to send their children, their wards and relations.

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“We are going to mobilise the students, the NGOs and all of us will storm the National Assembly and we will ensure that that Bill is passed. When you get our resources, your children must be in Nigeria n schools whether it is primary, secondary or tertiary institutions.

“I’m sure if all the children of all these our so called people are in this country, our education will not be where it is today, they will pay attention to it. But they don’t care.” Osodeke noted that insecurity in Nigeria was the result of abandoning education by the leaders.

“Any country that abandons education is creating insecurity and that’s exactly where we are today,” he said. He also condemned the situation in public institutions across the country, describing it as pathetic.

“We were in a state university in Abuja zone and we saw a room with 16 female students who have stoves. In that small room, you have 16 stoves. How would they survive as human beings?

“As I speak to you today, look at your professors here. None of them earn up to $800 monthly but a lecturer will publish a paper and it will cost him $200 to publish it and he needs it for his promotion. How can we have peace?”