Speaker of the House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, has apologised for circulating photos of himself receiving lectures at Harvard while Nigerian public universities remained shut over prolonged industrial action by lecturers.
Mr Gbajabiamila admitted that his social media post was insensitive to the plight of students who have had to endure the long stalemate in their academic pursuits.
“Yesterday, I posted a picture of myself at the @Harvard @Kennedy_School, undergoing a course. That post was not sensitive to the present feelings of fellow citizens, bearing the brunt of the ongoing closure of public universities owing to the unresolved issues between the Academic Staff Union of Universities and the Federal Government of Nigeria.
“I apologize for the post at this time, and I hope you will understand that it was not my intention to cause disaffection,” Mr Gbajabiamila said in a series of tweets on his official handle on Wednesday.
Mr Gbajabiamila had on Tuesday circulated photos of himself receiving lectures at Harvard University in the United States, Peoples Gazette reported.
The speaker has since come under heavy criticisms as Nigerians came down heavily on him for his insensitive display.
ASUU strike has seen public universities across the country shut down since February, leaving hundreds of thousands of students at home.
The union said successive Nigerian administrations failed to implement the agreements reached in 2009. ASUU has demanded Mr President Muhammadu Buhari adopt the Universities Transparency and Accountability Solution (UTAS) for paying universities’ staff salaries instead of the Integrated Personnel Payroll Information System and the payment of academic earned allowance (EAA), among others.
On Tuesday, Nigeria Labour Congress across the country protested in solidarity with ASUU, demanding that President Muhammadu Buhari meet their demands so students could return to school. The protests were held in Lagos, Jos, Akure and other cities across the country.
