The Senior Pastor of the Christ Livingspring Apostolic Ministry (CLAM), a prayer and deliverance ministry based in Omole, Lagos, Pastor Wole Oladiyun, on Wednesday announced that the Ministry has decided to spearhead the involvement of the country’s education stakeholders in the protracted crisis between the Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU).
It will be recalled that ASUU has been on strike since February 2022 forcing students to stay at home, idling away, angry and frustrated. Efforts by both parties to resolve the crisis have been abortive, with the Federal Government, during the week, recognizing and endorsing a splinter University lecturers’ body. The crisis also attracted the attention of the Industrial Arbitration Court which ordered the lecturers to return to work.
But Pastor Wole Oladiyun said that the time has come for well-meaning Nigerians at home and abroad to show concern for the plight of the students whose future is being threatened by the continuous closure of Universities, and the lecturers who have been unable to practice their cherished profession. “The youths are hungry and angry. By the time they rise against us, nobody will be able to ride SUV, or live peaceably in society”, he noted.
He, therefore, announced the setting up of a Special Purpose Vehicle tagged Back to School Intervention Fund (BTSIF), a non-political and non-partisan platform designed to mobilise funds to support the Federal Government in resolving the problems bedeviling the education sector.
“It is pathetic that students can’t go to school for eight months. Why should lecturers and students be oppressed and nobody is coming to their rescue? We have decided to pioneer the setting up of the BTSIF as a way of complementing the government’s efforts. We are not out to apportion blame to any of the parties involved in the dispute, and we are not doing this to score any cheap political point. We just want to work with well-meaning individuals and organizations to ensure that students return to the classrooms as soon as possible”, Pastor Oladiyun explained during the Ministry’s mid-week service.
“This is not the time to blame the Federal Government. We are not confronting the government, either. We just want to play our part as responsible corporate citizens that are committed to restoring the lost glory of the nation’s education sector. The blame game should stop. It’s time for action and sincere intervention by all those who truly love Nigeria”, he stated.
According to him, this is not a personal project of CLAM. “We are just spearheading it. We will be working with other reputable, people-focused organizations to make this happen. This is just the way we are in CLAM; we are a human development institution committed to the welfare and all-around development of the people.”
He stated that details and modalities of how the funds will be administered and disbursed will be jointly agreed upon by the trustees of the Fund whose names will be announced once the current round of consultations and discussions with key stakeholders are concluded.
“We will run a very transparent process and ensure that there is accountability. That is why we are not doing it alone. Let me use this opportunity to humbly invite churches, mosques, financial institutions, oil and gas industry operators, manufacturing companies, and all members of the Organised Private Sector to join us on this rescue mission. This is an SOS, an emergency that requires timely, measured, and sustainable remedial strategies”.
“We are also appealing to Nigerians in the Diaspora to join us in contributing to the fund”, he added. “We will also be calling on members of the National Assembly, Governors, and all categories of political office holders to be ready to make sacrifices in terms of contributing a part of their salaries and allowances to this Fund. We are all in this together”, Pastor Oladiyun disclosed.
