In a bid to tackle the various anomalies facing the nation's education sector, the Nigerian Army Education Corps (NAEC), has put in place measures to hold a summit that would proffer solutions for the sector.
This is coming as policemen in Kano State prevented members of the Bayero University Kano (BUK) chapter of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), from carrying out a peaceful protest organised to educate the public on why the union would not call off its four-month-old strike, unless and until their demands were met.
Addressing journalists in Lagos, on the forthcoming education summit billed to hold on November 4 to 8, in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, Commander of the NAEC, Brigadier General Sunday Adebayo, expressed concern over the standard of education in the country, stating that the Nigerian Army, as an integral part of the larger society, cannot claim to be unaware of the problems confronting the education sector.
Tagged: 'Education Sector Development in Nigeria: Tackling Contemporary Challenges', Adebayo said the Governor of Akwa Ibom, Godswill Akpabio; the Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Azubuike Ihejirika and Education Minister, Nyesom Wike are among guests that will grace the occasion.
"It is a fact that the quality of the contribution made by a person is dependent on the quality of education the person possesses. Graduates from the university get enlisted into the Nigerian Army. It is the quality of education they received that they will contribute to the authority. "The ultimate aim of the summit would be to compile these series of lectures into a book that will serve both as a reference material and a veritable guide for education stakeholders.
"Topics such as rethinking security education in a world of asymmetric warfare; an appraisal of the 6-3-3-4 Nigerian education system for global competitiveness; emotional intelligence: an emerging trend in educational management; as well as quality assurance in the Nigerian education system: matters arising, are among issues to be treated," Adebayo said.
Meanwhile, the police, which stopped the planned protest in BUK were said to have been armed with tear gas canisters and stationed at the main gate of the BUK to prevent the aggrieved lecturers from staging the protest.
Notwithstanding this, the lecturers still carried some placards, which read: 'Universities must be revitalised'; 'ASUU will not give up without adequate funding'; 'Development is a mirage and 'It is government that must pay of university education, not the common man". Speaking against the backdrop of the protest, the Chairman of BUK ASUU chapter, Dr. Mahmud Lawan, said neither the threat to lives and safety of ASUU officials nor the attempt to destroy the ASUU Secretariat by sponsored thugs would distract the struggle of the union to achieve the objective behind the lingering strike.
Lawan therefore added that the union would remain resolute and committed in support of its national leadership to ensure the revival of the deplorable university system in the country. According to him, the motive behind their struggle was to educate the public on the cause of the strike, linking it to the refusal of the federal government to implement agreement entered into with ASUU. However the rowdy situation later led to serious arguments between the union members numbering hundreds and the police over the right to protest.
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