PRESIDENT Muhammadu Buhari has expressed grave sadness at the recurring strike by the Academic Staff Union Of Universities ASUU, which has disrupted Nigeria’s tertiary education system for eight months.

Buhari spoke of his pains this morning while addressing Nigerians in a broadcast in Abuja on the occasion of the country’s 62nd Independence Day anniversary.

The Independence address is his last as he exits office next May.

“I must confess that I am very pained by the recurring disruption to our tertiary education system, and I am using this Independence Day celebration to reiterate my call for the striking Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to return to the classroom, while assuring them to deal with their contending issues within the limits of the scarce resources available.

“This administration has made appreciable progress in redressing these issues that have been lingering for over 11 years,” Buhari said.

The President assured that the Federal government would continue to mobilise international and national resources towards funding education to ensure that citizens are well educated and skilled in various vocations.

He stressed his recognition of the importance of a well-educated populace as a panacea to most of the country’s challenges.

He also said he had instituted measures to ensure Nigeria takes its rightful place in the comity of nations.

Buhari claimed his administration had improved health facilities across the country.

“We have also improved our health facilities, especially during and after the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, which attracted commendation from the global community.

“As you are aware, Nigeria was one of the countries that defied global predictions of the socio-economic impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic because of our resilience, commitment and passion with which we individually and collectively managed the pandemic,” he said.

The deplorable security situation in the country also came to the fore during the President’s speech.

He highlighted the efforts of his administration at inception to tackle insecurity and listed the new forms of security challenges confronting the nation as kidnappings, molestations/killings of innocent citizens, and banditry, all of which he claimed are being addressed by security forces.

“I share the pains Nigerians are going through, and I assure you that your resilience and patience will not be in vain as this administration continues to reposition as well as strengthen the security agencies to enable them deal with all forms of security challenges.

“At the inception of this administration in 2015, I provided the funding requirements of the security agencies, which was also improved in my second tenure in 2019 to enable them surmount security challenges. We will continue on this path until our efforts yield the desired results,” he said.

The President claimed that one of the areas where he had made significant progress is in the area of the fight against corruption.

He said, “We strengthened the institutions for tackling corruption and also cultivated international support, which aided the repatriation of huge sums of money illegally kept outside the country.”

He assured that his administration would continue to block opportunities that encourage corrupt practices.