By Ayodele Fagbohun

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The nation is agog in the twinned celebrations of this year children day anniversary and in coincidence with the inaugural ceremony of new president respectively on 27th and 29th May, 2023.

It is disheartening and unfortunate to note that education which is the only legacy for our children and to perpetuate the  unborn generations is on the verge of decline due to the somersault and inconsistencies in the education policies of the Federal Government.

The onus rests squarely on the incoming Federal Government to take the bull by the horns and declare state of emergency on the education section in all its  ramifications with urgency and promptitude it deserves.

For quite sometimes, the Federal Government has been paying lip service to the sector, not adhering strictly to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) specification of allocating 10% to 15% of the annual budget in developing countries to education.

It is high time the Federal Government prioritized education, create more enabling environment for the state/regional government to effectively take over basic education i.e nursery/primary and post primary institutions as enshrined in the concurrent list in the Nigerian constitution.

This apparent true fiscal federalism will drastically reduce or halt the high number of out-of-school children growing in a geometric progression to which Federal Government can proffer no solution.

Development experts are in agreement that any plan the government has for the children and the youth without quality and all round education is a cheer waste of time.

Noting that streets, blind alleys and highways are known to breed all forms of criminals, scamps and other social misfits who pose threat and menace informs of armed robbery, thugs, ritual killers, drug peddlers, money doublers fraudsters and other social ills that give bad names to the society.

The public schools are short of teachers with dilapidated buildings, while the private schools where the environment is conducive to learning is cost intensive.

The Federal Government should stop arrogate to itself power of life and death, overbearing powers to manage or mismanage the resources of the nation which is alien to our constitution.

In this regard FG should stop granting undue licence to the founding of  mushrooming private universities which is inimical and not augury for the health of public universities.

To be honest and face the bitter home truth, education sector is grossly under funded.

However, kudos and plaudits must be given to Ondo state government under the able governor, Arakunrin Odunayo Oluwarotimi Akeredolu SAN, CON; on the newly launched education endowment levy of N1,000.00 payable by taxable adults in the state.

The importance of the education levy cannot be over-emphasised in boosting and expanding the revenue base of the state government in its drive to make education easily accessible to the children of school going age. This progressive initiative from government may serve as catalyst and morale booster in motivating some philanthropists and genuine stakeholders to bankroll the education sector.

Before we known it, the trend may have multiplier effect on the economy; necessarily translate in reality to the attainment of the ideal  and goal of free education at the basic education in Ondo State.

However, this essay will not be complete if we gloss away the adverse effects of COVID-19 and its pervasive global  plaque on our comparatively fragile economy. It has been a miracle and uphill task for our nursery/primary and post primary institutions to survive the scourge.

The impact of the pandemic on children and school was pervasive that there was erratic opening and closure of schools culminating into down ward trends and reverses in performance of children and standard of education at all levels of human endeavours.

Nonetheless, the first elected black president of South Africa, Mr. Nelson Mandela who redefined education as a weapon with which an individual or government can change and transform the world.

The question arises, how can education change the world, in our own narrative, when it is very arbitrarily costly; practically inaccessible, out of the reach of the poor and the have-nots in the society to access it?

Education is a fundamental right as enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights should be expressly embodied in the constitution of the ruling All Progressives’ Congress (APC).

For education in itself an empowering right, a potent tool that can lift the entire citizenry from grim poverty to fully and actively participate in the society.

In order to do so, there must be equality of opportunity and universal access to education.

It is unfortunate that inspite of efforts to raise the bar of education at state and individuals’ striving, the nation has regressed backwardly in the development around the world as far as progress in education is concerned.

For instance, Obafemi Awolowo, the Asiwaju of Yorubaland and as premier who in 1956 kick started the revolution in education on free Universal Primary School Education (UPE) throughout the Western Region.

Awo as head of government even under Colonial tutelage pursued a relentless and fanatical commitment to education. Education alone gulped one-third (1/3) of the total annual budget in the West. This was very fantastic.

However, 50 years after the feat, in 2004 edition of Guinness World Records put Nigeria as next only to Somalia in the world as  poor and economically devastated countries that spent least, on education vis-à-vis the Gross National Product, with Nigerian’s at only 0.7%.

Now, the die is cast, the nation is on epoch-making history and a new APC federal government led by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, as president  will be in charge on 29th May, 2023 by the grace of God.

The new government in the democratic experiment must be held accountable to fulfill socio-political, legal and cultural obligations, to provide free education and implement sound and clear-cut education policies and strategies more effectively to bring sanity to the earnest business of politics.

I wish the children happy and more fruitful celebrations of the eventful day!