By Felix Khanoba
The Minister of State for Education, Hon. Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, says most universities have expressed readiness to resume academic activities following the present state of COVID-19 in the country.
Nwajiuba, who stated this during the briefing of the Presidential Task Force (PTF) on COVID-19 on Monday in Abuja, said no date has been fixed yet for full schools’ resumption.
The minister, however, expressed optimism that the date for resumption was “around the corner”, adding that “we are not going to be brandishing dates.”
Nwajiuba disclosed that he and the Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, had earlier met some stakeholders in tertiary education to chart a way forward on the issue.
He said “about 78 privately-owned universities are insisting that they were ready for resumption” while the response from government-owned universities was still “50-50”.
According to the minister, after aggregating opinions, he would return to the PTF to review the situation and then go ahead to make a pronouncement.
Nwajiuba urged students protesting the continued closure of their schools to be a little more patient with the government.
