We must save education in Oyo State from Makinde’sdisaster—–  Adelabu Campaign Organisation

…As NASU chairman laments takeover of tertiary institutions in the State

The Accord gubernatorial candidate in the 2023 general election, Oloye Adebayo Adelabu has lamented the state of education in Oyo State, calling for the declaration of a state of emergency in order to secure the future of children and youths in the State.

Speaking through the Adebayo Adelabu campaign office, the gubernatorial candidate noted that the present situation of education inthe State portends great danger for the future of the State, the children and youths in different educational institutions, starting from primary, secondary to tertiary institutions.

According to Adelabu, “all stakeholders in the State have become alarmed on the mortgaging of the future of the State through incessant loans by the Seyi Makinde administration, while the present state of education is also a major cause for concern.

“We recall Gov. Makinde saying last year that his administration had given priority to education. In 2021 budgetary allocation, 21 per cent was said to have been allocated to education. Similarly in 2022, Education was allocated N54.2 billion or 18.37 per cent . However, in the 2021 Senior School Certificate Examination (SSCE), Oyo State was rated as one of the five poorest and was ranked 33rd position out of 36 States in an analysis conducted by WAEC  and the National Bureau of Statistics  (NBS). One wonders where the money went or would this also be audio spending on education while the money has found its way into private pockets?”

The Campaign organisation also recalled that more recently, 50 public and private secondary schools in the State were delisted by WAEC over what it alleged were examination malpractices. An educationist in the State, Lanre Gbadebo blamed the government (of Gov, Makinde) for exposing students to examination malpractices. He advised the government to stop playing politics with education, which he described as a hallmark of development.

“We also want to join Gbadebo to advise GovMakinde to stop playing politics with education and the future of our youths”.

The Campaign organisation noted that thedisaster wrought by the Makinde administration on Oyo State extends beyond secondary education as his introduction of Consultants to handle the affairs in tertiary education has led to unquantifiable disaster. The complaint from the institutions is that the headship of the institutions have been emasculated. Also speaking on the issue, the Chairman of the Non-Academic Staff Union (NASU), Comrade Ibrahim Adekunle Akande lamented: ‘it is an aberration to hand over affairs of tertiary institutions especially a technological driven sector like The Polytechnic, Ibadan to a consultant, and thereby the management cannot implement N5,000 project without approval of the consultant.”

According to him, the roof of the Conference hall of the institution which was destroyed by wind over two months ago has not been renovated because the Consultant is yet to approve the fund for the renovation  adding that the example is one of million negative effects of having Consultants run tertiary institutions in the State.