Presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and former Vice President of Nigeria, Atiku Abubakar has pledged to end the lingering strike by university lecturers in the country from his first day at work, if elected as the next president of the country.

While speaking at the Silverbird Man of the Year event in Lagos, Abubakar stated that the industrial action, which has denied university students in the country access to education for a period running into four months, is disgraceful and will receive his first attention as president if voted into office in the February 16 presidential election.

“I am aghast that as I speak, our students across the nation are not being educated due to Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, strike caused by an unresolved debate of about N60 billion.

“If I get the job I am seeking, my first task on day one – along with naming my cabinet – will be to end this disgraceful strike and get our students back to their studies”, he said.

In his remarks, the presidential candidate observed that education plays a pivotal role in the rise to success of any individual or nation and hints further that if he becomes the next president of Nigeria, his administration will increase the budgetary allocation to education in triple fold from the current seven per cent to not less than 20 per cent.

His words: “I will also triple the amount the Nigerian government spends on education from seven per cent of its budget today, not just to the 15 per cent recommended by UNESCO, but to 20 per cent.

“I recognise the value education can bring to the individual and the nation. But even more than that, I want every child in Nigeria to have the opportunities I had.”