A former Nigerian president, Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo says over twenty million Nigerian children do not have access to education in the country.
He was speaking at the National Education Summit organised by the office of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, in Abuja. He said that Nigeria missed the road when the whole world was talking about education for all and Nigeria did not follow.
Gen. Obasanjo noted that anybody who has been able to finish secondary school has prepared him or herself for the future as basic education is the most important. He said that those twenty million children that are out of school can get back to school to prevent insecurity in the future.
“When it concerns education, it is of great priority to me. We must find a solution. We are cutting more than we can chew. Education should be the responsibility of all not only the government. Education at all levels must involve all levels of the community. Funding is at another level”. Gen. Obasanjo said,
In his remarks at the summit, the Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, said that the state of Nigerian tertiary education has often been in focus, because of the many challenges before them, including especially the dearth of facilities, and utilities, which are incidentally key requirements for the smooth functioning of the academia.
“We have often also been witnesses to industrial actions by education sector-related unions, which adds points to the inadequacies in the sector.
What this means is that we are been challenged to up the ante in the process of finding solutions to the myriad of issues, frequently leading to disagreements. We have no option but to continue on this part of resolutions, because of the crucial roles that tertiary education play in the molding of the nation’s human capacity quotient”, Lawan said.
He added that finding keys to challenges bedeviling the sector was a multi-stakeholder affair, in the bid to harness the benefits of divergent views towards some consensus.
“A summit of this nature is most appropriate for this drive, and even more so when it is being organised by the exalted office of the Honourable Speaker of the House of Representatives.
I am most assured that this summit shall be productive, for focusing on different angles of the subject and for the invitation extended to qualified participants. We will surely be looking forward to rich resolutions afterward”, he added.
The Speakers of the house of Representatives and the convener of the summit, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, in his address, said that “education is the key that would ensure the survival of Nigeria. He said that education presents hope and confidence and reduces violence and strife.
He noted that tertiary qualification of some other kind can be the catalyst that changes the trajectory of an entire family.
“Evidence abounds of the transformations that can happen when ambition and diligence are amplified by access to quality education and training. By all means, in a perfect world, access to education will be a fundamental benefit afforded to every individual from basic through tertiary. And our learning centres will be majestic citadels of research and innovation, open to all who seek knowledge, regardless of means. But this is not a perfect world. In this real world, education is a commodity, and quality education is even more so. Therefore, the central public policy challenge is the conflict between the competing objectives of access and quality. How do we fund a quality tertiary education without imposing costs that make access to quality education impossible for most people?”
The Speaker assured that the deliberations of the Summit and the submissions received will form the basis of a policy action plan and implementation framework that would be unveiled shortly after the conclusion of the summit.
He added that a journal of all the submissions will be published as a guide and reference for the future.
In his goodwill message, the Minister of State for Education, Mr. Goodluck Opiah, said that the summit was a great idea as the issues affecting tertiary education should be addressed holistically.
Stakeholders at the summit believe that funding for the education sector should be looked into.
They also said that the barest minimum of fees should be paid by the students to raise funds for the universities for maintenance purposes.
They also said that the government needed to hand off accommodation in universities so that universities can charge appropriately.
The theme of the summit is “Reimagining Tertiary Education in Nigeria: issues, challenges, and Solutions”.
Dominica Nwabufo
