ACF Urges FG, States to Declare Emergency on Education

Warns against hate speech during campaigns

The Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) yesterday lamented the deteriorating educational standards in the country’s educational institutions and the plight of over 13 million out of school children, especially in the North.

It urged the federal and state governments to declare a state of emergency in the education sector as well as come up with a marshal plan that will revamp the sector.

In a communique issued yesterday at the end of its National Executive Council (NEC) in Kaduna, the forum urged the states and federal governments to allocate at least 25 per cent of their budgets to education in order to address the lingering crisis in the sector.

In the communique signed by its spokesman, Alhaji Muhammad Ibrahim Biu, the forum also urged the federal government to give clear instructions to the security agencies to met out the severest sanctions against politicians, political parties, individuals and the media that might use hate speeches in their quest to win elections for themselves or their preferred candidates.

The communique equally called on politicians not to see elections as a declaration of war, but as a contest based on issues, principles and programmes that will uplift the lives of the people.

On the frequent strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) which has continued to disrupt academic activities in the universities, the meeting urged the federal government and ASUU to sheath their swords and return to the negotiation table in the spirit of give and take, stressing that strike has never been the best option in resolving grievances.

“Therefore, while we plead with ASUU to call off the strike, we called on the federal government to meet ASUU half way. Meanwhile, the northern state governments should endeavor to pay their counterparts funding in order to access what are due to them from Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) to enable them improve the volume and quality of primary education in the North,” the ACF said.