President Bola Tinubu said Tuesday in Abuja that the lack of strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities was a response to his prayers.
Tinubu made the statements while receiving the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa in Abuja.
Tinubu acknowledged Nigerians’ economic hardships during his tenure but reassured the clerics that stability was taking hold and prosperity was on the horizon.
“I inherited the assets and liabilities of my predecessor, and I’ve been running with it. But this government has stabilized, and there is prosperity on the horizon. The quality of life is improving,” he said.
He stated that the absence of ASUU strikes as one of the measurable improvements in the lives of Nigerian families.
“None of your children are in university today, and I would say they are all your children because you are Reverend Fathers and can say a four-year course is not four years.
“ASUU is not on strike. They are not bringing agony to your homes. Is that not an answer to our prayers? To me, that’s an answer,” he said.
His remark reflects ASUU’s history of long-term industrial action in Nigeria’s public universities.
Between 1999 and 2022, ASUU called strikes that resulted in over five years of lost academic time, the most recent being a nine-month strike in 2022, the union’s longest in its history.
Tinubu said that no extended ASUU strike has occurred since he took office in May 2023, which also coincides with the administration’s establishment of the Nigerian Education Loan Fund.
Speaking on security, the president said, “The security situation is what it is. We don’t have another country but here. This is Nigeria. And we revert to our national anthem; in its complexity and diversity, we shall thrive, rejoice, and be good to all of us.”
The Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria, created in 1956, is one of the most important religious entities in the country, with major reach in education, healthcare, and social services across the country’s primarily Christian south and in some northern states.
