For the umpteenth time, the administration of national affairs by President Muhammadu Buhari has displayed his cluelessness, tactlessness and gross incompetence in handling issues of development in Nigeria. Much to the chagrin of many, the federal government through its negotiation team led by Mr. Wale Babalakin has allegedly proposed an astronomical hike in tuition fees in the region of N350,000 for art students and as much as N500,000 for science students. He once said: “There have been serious plans for education to be free at all levels. My position is that if there’s a choice between free education and good education at all levels, I choose the latter”. Everyone knows good education costs a lot of money. And for Nigerian students to enjoy it, their parents have to pay because according to him, it costs $3000 to train one undergraduate properly in Nigeria. Who said quality education comes at an exorbitant price? Are the poor masses part of the microscopic few who have looted the country of its resources and as such can afford whatever it costs to meet their wants?
The level of insensitivity displayed by the federal government is not only alarming but highly barbaric in the present harsh economic frailties. How will a country with one of the lowest minimum wage structure in the world (N18,000 ($49)/month) further subject its citizens to untold hardship through educational funding?
Putting things in proper perspective, the annual income of an average parent amounts to N216,000 a far cry from the tuition fee of N350,000 for a child (this of course is without taking other responsibilities into consideration). This is a flagrant abuse to deny the #Nigerian child their rights to education, ”the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria clearly states that funding education is the sole responsibility of Governments at various levels and not parents”.
It is even more mundane to discover that Nigeria is yet to implement the annual budgetary allocation of 26% to education as recommended by UNESCO which has been implemented in other climes of the world. This budgetary allocation if met, would have explicitly taken care of funding education at all levels while parents are left to complement.
We enjoin all Nigerians, #ASUU, #NANS, #SUG to vehemently resist the veiled attempt by the federal government to con Nigerians into taking unsolicited loans where people live on less than $1/day, struggling to put food on their tables.
The proposed astronomical hike in tuition fees is satanic, barbaric, sardonic, moronic, and a decoy to further make the lives of Nigerians miserable.
United Nations African Union European Union Nigerian Senate Atiku Abubakar Nigerian National Assembly Abubakar Bukola Saraki Professor Yemi Osinbajo Channels Television Femi Fani-Kayode Amnesty International Nigeria CNN International BBC News Africa
