The 2011 presidential candidate of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and pioneer chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Nuhu Ribadu, says the ongoing strike by university lecturers is a costly action for the country and should be resolved without further delay. 
 
Speaking on Saturday in Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital while chairing the public presentation of a book, Ribadu explained that the inability of the federal government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, to reach a compromise may be depriving the country of the needed quality manpower as students rust away at home.

 He said no doubt, the country’s universities need better funding but that in pressing for that, caution should be applied and called on both sides to urgently bring the university teachers’ industrial action to an end.
 
“Nobody wins in this supremacy game. Rather, the students, who are the proverbial grass in this fight of the elephants, are the ones paying direly for it. This also ultimately draws us back as a nation as a lot of potential and talent could be wasted as this strike rage on,” he said. 
 
Ribadu also bemoaned the poor quality of Law graduates in the country.
 
“Those students who would come out to be judges, lawyers and prosecutors need adequate and early exposure to these Laws if they are to contribute positively to the development of our justice sector. This is especially important in the light of embarrassing quality of Lawyers being churned out of our campuses, which is a reflection of the entire system,” he said.

He asked Nigerians to familiarise themselves with anti-corruption and financial crimes laws, reasoning that they “protect our commonwealth and also guide our conduct. They also adequately empower citizens to take action and raise the alarm when they suspect foul play”.
 
Ribadu also called on concerned authorities to make the extant laws available to promote awareness, not only for relevant stakeholders but to all Nigerians.