Ilorin, Wednesday, October 23 — Speaking through the Supervising Minister of Education, Mr Nyesom Wike, President Goodluck Jonathan condemned current state of affairs when university graduates lack relevant skills due to poor training.

Mr. Nyesom delivered a speech on behalf of Jonathan at the 29th convocation ceremony of the University of Ilorin.

“University teachers must re-orient themselves and avoid distractions at work occasioned by unnecessary strikes which remain the bane of our educational system with its attendant consequences,” he said.

The president urged the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) to put an end to the ongoing strike, and “allow reason to prevail in the interest of the country and the students.” The president further assured the Government woud continue to tackle the challenges in the sphere of the country’s university system.

The Federal Government, according to the president, is leaving “no stone unturned” in the quest to transform Nigerian universities to make them globally competitive. As the country has up to 140 universities and other higher institutions, there could be no reason to lag behind in the quest for technological development.

Universities were advised to mobilise funds by commercialising their expertise and research efforts to supplement government grants, while the problem of funding, it was suggested, should be tackled from all fronts,and all stakeholders must be involved in cost-sharing for the country to have standard universities.

The government had increased the budget for education progressively from N234.8 billion in 2010 to N426.5 billion in 2013, with N55.4 billion allocated to the university subsector alone.

The president congratulated the institution’s vice chancellor, Prof. Abdulganiyu Ambali, the senate, management and staff, as well as students of the university.

The vice chancellor of the university said a total of 6,851 students graduated with first degrees while 969 bagged higher degrees.