The Senior Special Assistant to President Bola Tinubu on Protocol, Issah Niniola, says the president has laid a solid foundation in the education sector to permanently end incessant strikes by lecturers in tertiary institutions nationwide.

Mr Niniola said this on Monday in Oba-Oke, Olorunda Local Government Area of Osun, during the distribution of educational materials to pupils and students.

The materials were distributed through his foundation, Issah Adedotun Foundation.

He said although the education system in Nigeria was still a work in progress, the president was determined to do everything possible to place it on a solid foundation.

“Currently, we can assure you that there will not be strikes again because of what the president has done.

“He has laid the foundation to stop strikes forever in the country,” he said.

Mr Niniola said the president was also ensuring that students received quality education through the Nigeria Education Loan Fund (NELFUND), while providing necessary allowances for lecturers in tertiary institutions across the country.

He said this was one of the reasons Nigerians should support the president’s bid for a second term.

“He will do more in education and other sectors,” he said.

On the distribution of free educational materials, Mr Niniola said supporting the education system and lifting vulnerable people, particularly children from less privileged backgrounds, had always been his passion.

The presidential aide, who said he had been distributing free educational materials to pupils and students for the past 25 years, stressed the importance of primary and secondary education in laying a solid academic foundation.

He said although primary and secondary education fell under the purview of local and state governments, he would continue to support them in ensuring a solid foundation for academic excellence.

Mr Niniola, who said he attended one of the primary schools in the area that benefited from the programme, urged pupils and students to shun truancy.

“I urge you to shun drug abuse and cultism because they are destroyers of destiny.

“I graduated from one of the primary schools here that is present today, and I never knew I could become who I am today.

“You also can be great, irrespective of where you are and who you are,” he said.

Mr Niniola commended President Tinubu and the party’s state leader, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, for their support.

In a presentation on drug abuse and cultism in Nigeria, the NDLEA Deputy State Commander, Drug Demand Reduction and Sensitisation, Toyin Adegoke, urged the pupils and students to shun drug abuse and cultism.

Ms Adegoke, who noted that youths were the major abusers of drugs, said drug abuse had become a source of sorrow to victims’ families and society at large.

She appealed to students to shun drug abuse and cultism and focus on their education to succeed in life.

Exercise books, kitted first-aid boxes and other educational materials were distributed to pupils, students and schools present at the event.

 (NAN)