Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, has disclosed that President Bola Tinubu has given a firm directive to the Ministry of Education to ensure that university students remain in school.
According to him, the Federal Government was doing everything humanly possible to prevent further strikes by the Academic Staff Union of Universities, (ASUU).
Speaking to State House correspondents after meeting with the President at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday, the Minister said President Tinubu had mandated him to find lasting solutions to all issues that could disrupt academic activities in the nation’s tertiary institutions.
“As I told you, the President has mandated us that he doesn’t want ASUU to go on strike, and we’re doing everything humanly possible to ensure that our students stay in school. The last strike they went on for about six days was not really needed. We’re talking to them”, Alausa said.
He added that: “We’ve met literally all their requirements. Now we’ve gone back to the negotiation table. We’re talking – as I spoke to the leadership this morning. We will resolve this. And part of my visit today here is to also explain where we are with the ASUU strike to Mr. President, and to extract more concessions from Mr. President”.
On reports of a four-week ultimatum or overfocus on ASUU, the Minister dismissed such claims.
The Minister explained that the administration of President Tinubu remained fully committed to transparency, governance, and accountability in the education sector, adding that this commitment was reflected in the reforms being implemented at the Federal Ministry of Education.
The Minister said his own drive at the Ministry was to deepen transparency and governance through evidence-based decision-making, and stressed that data-driven planning now guides Government interventions in education.
Alausa added that the new transparency portal, launched earlier in the day, would ensure open access to financial and institutional data across tertiary institutions. According to him, the Federal Government started with federal tertiary institutions but planned to extend the transparency initiative to state and private universities, Polytechnics, and Colleges of Education.
“We will enforce the reporting requirement using our regulatory bodies – the National Universities Commission (NUC), National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), and National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE)”, the Minister noted.
He added that the Bureau of Public Procurement (BPP) also participated in the launch to strengthen financial discipline.
Alausa also praised the President’s commitment to human capital development, describing Tinubu as a leader with “fervent and benevolent love for education”.
He said the administration is also building the economy through reforms such as the removal of fuel subsidies, the elimination of foreign exchange arbitrage, extensive infrastructure projects nationwide, and a new tax Bill, all of which have contributed to a GDP growth rate of 4.23% in the last quarter.
