The governorship candidate of the Unity Party of Nigeria in the 2015 general elections in Ogun State, Otunba Rotimi Paseda, on Wednesday, urged the Federal Government to declare a state of emergency in the nation’s education sector.
Paseda said that the Federal Government needed to urgently revive the country’s education system by diverting more resources into the sector with a view to pulling the nation’s economy out of the doldrums.
The UPN standard bearer made this known in Ijebu-Ode while inspecting the ongoing free holiday coaching organised by the Paseda Legacy Foundation for students in both primary and secondary schools across the state.
He said, “I will blame the Federal Government for the rot in the education sector because of the political appointments in the sector, which have bastardised the system.
“There’s need to urgently declare a state of emergency in the sector and allow professionals to manage the affairs of education in the country.
“If proper funding were harnessed for the sector, I can assure you that our economy would have improved better than this.”
Paseda also attributed the poor state of the education sector to lopsided appointments made by the previous administrations at the Federal level of government.
He, however, criticised the administration of Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State for its poor funding of the sector, despite the allocation of a large chunk of its budget to education.
The business man and politician also accused the Amosun-led government of attempting to rubbish his foundation’s initiative by setting up a similar one, which had only attracted 182 children across the state.
“Our government has, indeed, failed our children and people. Paseda free coaching is here to stay right through till 2019 and beyond, God-willing.”
“since the beginning of the ongoing free holiday coaching, I have not been opportune to attend the lessons. So, that’s why I’ve been going round to advise the students on values of education,” he added.
