The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has expressed its displeasure over 16 million unemployed graduates and about 12 million children out of school.
The union called on President Muhammadu Buhari to safeguard the future of Nigerians and protect them from being tagged “youth sitting down and waiting for freebies”.
University of Ibadan ASUU Chairman Dr. Deji Omole, who stated this in a chat with reporters, added that it became imperative for the Federal Government to be reminded that the future of the children of the masses must not be used to play politics.
Recalling that the government had raised the hopes of declaring emergency in the education sector in April, this year, apparently to proffer solutions to the low quality of education being offered Nigerian children, he wondered why in this last week of April, the plan to declare an emergency in the sector had not been perfected.
Omole said: “We are sad for a government that fails to improve access to education for teeming millions of youth yearning for education to state that the same youth are sitting down and waiting for freebies.
“What has the government done to salvage the condition of 12 million out of school children in Nigeria? What has the government done to ensure employment for over 16 million unemployed Nigerians?
“What plan does the government have for graduates who go through the mandatory National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) every year but frustrated by lack of job and hostile environment to even start a small and medium scale business? If the government fails to attend to the needs of the youth today, they will become nightmares for Nigeria in the future.”
