FG’s many ‘sins’ against Nigerian students

President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan
| credits: File copy

No doubt, the cream of the nation’s students welcomed Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as the President of Nigeria in 2011, considering his academic status which was expected to rub off on the nation’s education sector.

Interestingly, Jonathan holds a Bachelor’s degree in Zoology in which he attained Second Class Honours. He holds a  Master’s  degree in Hydrobiology and Fisheries biology, and a PhD degree in Zoology from the University of Port Harcourt. He worked as an education inspector, lecturer, and environmental-protection officer before his foray into politics around 1998.

Aside from the outstanding educational qualification of the President, the Minister of Education, Ruqayattu Rufai, is also a Professor who obtained PhD in Education from the West Virginia University, USA in 1991.

One had expected that with the educational qualifications of President Jonathan and other  key players in the sector, the country was on its way to strike-free academic sessions, but the reverse seems to have been the case.

The present industrial action by the university teachers has been worrisome. Why will a government enter into an agreement without implementing it? Embarrassingly, the Minister of Finance, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, argued that the Federal Government cannot afford the demand of ASUU.

Also, the killings of innocent students, pupils and teachers under this administration by terrorists have been disturbing. Nigerian students are no longer safe. What about the killing of 30 pupils including teachers in Yobe State resulting in the closure of schools in the state?  It behoves the government to ensure maximum security for the students.

To compound the government’s neglect of the sector, the allocation of N424billion to the sector out of the nation’s N5trillion appears imaginary as this has not translated into improvement in the sector.  The votes meant for the running the Ministry of Education, plus all of its Federal Universities, Federal Polytechnics, all Colleges of Education, and all FG Colleges and Unity schools have made no significant difference.

All we know is that Nigeria has enormous potential to be a rich country but that has not translated into development for our education sector.

Besides, the wound inflicted on students by fuel subsidy removal has yet to heal. We still feel the pains as we live today in difficult times. Cost of transport, cost of textbooks and other educational materials have increased drastically.  Ironically, this government is going down as the most unfriendly to the nation’s students.

•Oyeleke Sodiq is a student of Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State, studying English Language. He wrote in with soddickfresher@yahoo.com

August 22, 2013

CULLED FROM:PUNCH NEWSPAPERS

http://www.punchng.com/opinion/letters/fgs-many-sins-against-nigerian-students/

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Written by NEWSTRAWL ONLINE UPDATE

Sodiq Oyeleke is a Media, Human Resources, Project Management and Public Relations Practitioner