Hammed Shittu in Ilorin
A Senior Advocate of Nigeria(SAN) and a former chairman, Governing Council of Osun State University (UNIOSUN) Professor Yusuf Olaolu Ali, has called on wealthy individuals and citizens in the country to intervene in the funding of education so as to help in molding the country’s future leaders.
Also, an educationist and founder of Thomas Adewumi University (TAU) Oko-Irese in Kwara State, Dr. Johnson Adewumi has tasked governments at all levels to effectively tackle the challenges of insecurity and poor state of infrastructure across the country.
Ali who is also Kuliyan of Ilorin Emirate stated this in Oko-Irese during the inauguration of a twin Lecture Theatre in the Faculty of Law and named after him by the management of Thomas Adewumi University(TAU) Oko – Irese.
He said that the support became imperative since the government at all levels alone cannot fund education in the country.
Ali stated that, all efforts must be on ground to develop education since there is no substitute for education.
Ali however expressed delight that the honour was done to him without any financial contribution from him to the project but in recognition of his disposition and contributions to education development.
He said, “There is no substitute for Education and is easier to lead a knowledgeable people than ignorant people.”
Ali explained that, “When people are ignorant there is no light that is flown that won’t work but when people are educated is difficult for them to be cheated and is also difficult for them to be lead by the nose.
“So, it is in the interest of government to ensure that they pay maximum attention to the iissue of education especially the funding .
“But having said that, education has gone beyond government funding education , we need other interventions from corporate bodies, from individuals , from other citizens and other people can intervene. So it’s mixed grilled”, he said
Also speaking at the event, the Vice Chancellor of Thomas Adewumi University (TAU), Professor Francisca Oladipo said the twin lecture theatre was named after the legal luminary to inspire the institution’s under graduates particularly the law students to attain greater heights like him.
“Each time our students walked pass that road they see that name, they remember him, they want to be like him, it inspired them to want to think like him especially, the Law students. They want to attain what he has been able to attain. So those are the two significant motives behind today’s events.
“And it also means sustainability, we constructed everything ourselves using the laterite blocks, the ones they called mud blocks use by our father’s in those days and everything was done not by a contractors even the metal work, for the roofing we used wood.
“There used to be a very big tree there, that place used to be a waste dump so it also means waste to wealth”, she said .
Meanwhile, the founder of Thomas Adewumi University, Dr. Johnson Adewumi, has tasked governments at all levels to effectively tackle the challenges of insecurity and poor state of infrastructure across the country.
Adewumi spoke with journalists at Oko-Irese on the state of education in Nigeria.
He said that, such move would go a long way of making education easily accessible to Nigerians irrespective of where they chose to live.
He explained that the intervention became necessary because easy access to quality education in standard schools with serene environment and necessary facilities in remote areas has become big challenge because of insecurity and transport crisis.
He stressed that, “education should be in a serene environment where young people can explore and their mind can be open to opportunities but today, they have commercialized it.”
Adewumi also said that the status of education in Nigeria is poor because it’s largely controlled by the governments .
He said, “We haven’t gotten it right yet because education is largely controlled by government and therefore they’re not taking ownership.
“The status of education is poor because it’s largely controlled by government.
“I feel for education to be in good shape, we have to have more involvement of private sector for the standard to improve and we need people who are not involved for money making but to create a new generation of Nigerians,” he added .
Moving forward, he urged other stakeholders including philanthropists to partner with governments in order to revive the standard of education in Nigeria because no outsider is coming to do it.
He also said that he has contributed to education in Nigeria in the last Thirty years, not to make money but to build people, noting that he would have invested in hospitality business if it’s money that he wanted.
He said, “Well, over the last 30 years we have contributed substantially to education. I’m an engineer by profession.
“I have chosen education as a sector in which I want to invest because education is not a place to make money .
“It is an endowment it’s light. It’s a means by which we can direct the creative energy of the younger generation for productivity.
“Without education we’ll live in a society that is chaotic and cannot develop the aspiration of the future generations.
“Therefore in the last 30 years we have invested in Primary secondary and tertiary education. If I invested the money in hotels I would have made money, but I’m not making money. I’m making people and I believe making people, giving people hope for life is the most important.”
He particularly attributed the poor standard of education in Nigeria to very low participation of private investors, he puts, at less than 5%.
“The private sector involvement is less than 5%. So for people like me investing my money, I must make sure that the children are getting something out of it because that is the only reason why they’ll come back and other people will come but for government, nobody cares and you’ll see a graduate riding okada,” he said.
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