Leadership of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) has called on the federal government to prioritise education, insisting that if Nigeria is to break free from the vicious cycle of backwardness and underdevelopment, education must be placed at the centre of national rebirth.

ASUU National President, Prof. Chris Piwuna, who disclosed this in an interview, lamented that successive administrations in the country give scant attention to the development of the education sector, which he described as key to achieving meaningful development of any nation.

He maintained that unless governments at all levels stop paying lip service to education and begin to invest genuinely in the development of the sector, the country would remain underdeveloped.

Piwuna, who identified inadequate funding as the bane of the sector, said the government must increase its allocation to education to enhance national growth and development.

He said: “It is through education that citizens are empowered, values are instilled, innovation is birthed, creativity promoted and formidable nations are built.”

The ASUU president highlighted the critical place of funding in education, noting that all the union’s agreements with the Nigerian government, to date, have always made well-thought-out recommendations on education funding.

“It is axiomatic that Nigeria’s youth, who make up over 60 per cent of the population, represent both its greatest asset and its gravest risk. On one hand, they are dynamic, innovative, entrepreneurial, and digitally savvy and connected.

“On the other hand, they are frustrated, angry, unemployed, agitated and increasingly disillusioned. The depth of youth anger is getting deeper, with the potential for organised civic action. However, without meaningful reforms and opportunities, such energy could be redirected into more radical or destructive expressions,” Piwuna lamented.

He noted that the massive brain-drain, characterised by emigration of professionals and young graduates abroad for greener pastures, is a damning indictment on those who manage the country’s affairs, and a testament to the unmitigated failure of their ill-informed policies and reforms.

Despite being over 60 years old, Piwuna lamented that the country is still grappling with political instability, governance crises, multi-dimensional insecurity, economic uncertainties, neo-liberal imperialist assaults, social discontent and mass poverty, as well as a bastardised, debased, underfunded and deteriorating education sector.

He blamed the development on the failure of successive governments to prioritise education, which is the bedrock of any sustainable progress and development.