Atiku, Kwankwaso, Obi clash at debate

The presidential candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, and his counterparts, Peter Obi of the Labour Party and Rabiu Kwankwaso of the New Nigerian People’s Party, have proffered their respective solutions to the incessant strike actions by lecturers at public universities in the country.

They also promised to increase investments in the education sector to reverse the growing number of out-of-school children in the country and revitalize the health sector.

The candidates spoke on Sunday during the Arise TV presidential town hall series on “education, healthcare, poverty, and human capital,” which was monitored by GOGAN TV.

Atiku noted that the government should work with relevant agencies to avoid a bottleneck in the funds earmarked for the education sector in a bid to end the constant strike actions of the Academic Staff Union of Universities.

In his contributions, Obi lamented that the country’s investment in education is low compared to other nations, adding that the government needed to go back to its agreement with the ASUU and design a sustainable funding mechanism.

In his contribution, Kwankwaso stated that his party’s blueprint addresses the issues raised by ASUU.

On how he will solve the issue of out-of-school children, especially in the north, Atiku stressed the need for more funding and investment.

In his contribution, Obi said, “Throughout these six years, our budget in education has not reached 10 percent.” With the level of people we have out of school, for me, I think we can have a different budget.

On his part, Kwankwaso stated that he believed that more investments should be made in education.

As regards healthcare, Atiku said, “What is required are the basic health centres to cater for the greater population of our people.” This is where we need to focus as far as our health is concerned.

Obi also called for an increase in investment in the country’s healthcare.

On how to stop medical tourism, Kwankwaso said, “We need to do two things: one is put our house in order by improving the government-owned institutions. The second is to encourage private sector participation. Leaders also need to set a good example and seek treatment at home.

GOGAN TV