A former president of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, Bashorun J.K. Randle, has slammed the federal government over poor funding of the education sector.
While speaking as a Special Guest at the Government Secondary School, Owerri Old Boys Association, Lagos Branch, 2023 End of Year Banquet Award Night and Fundraiser, Randle explained that the sector deserves more than what it presently receives in the budget.
He maintained that despite being key to the human capital development of any nation, education is not given the right attention on the priority list.
He lamented that education in Nigeria has been left to suffer a huge decline, adding that the sector needs urgent action to recover lost ground, according to Thisday.
He said that the government is not doing enough to provide quality education to Nigerians.
“Education in Nigeria has suffered a huge setback and the tragedy is that a lot of money we should be spending on education is being spent on other things, while the pro-catalyst for development – human capital for development is education. This has been proven over and over in so many countries but is not getting the right attention in Nigeria.
Recall that President Bola Tinubu’s led federal government in its 2024 Budget Appropriation, Defence and Security received the highest sectoral allocation of N3.25 trillion which represents 12 per cent of the 27.5 trillion, while Education comes next with 2.18 trillion representing 7.9 per cent.
“He said, “At the beginning, we were doing a lot for education – free education, scholarships and bursaries; but all of that has stopped. Right now the schools are in a pitiable state. You would be shocked if you go around the country, you will see that the facilities have rotted away, and buildings have remained uncompleted.
“Even, in those areas of the country where education was already a problem, they have stopped going to school because they are afraid of being kidnapped, raped, and assassinated; it is a horrible situation.”
Speaking further on the effect of insecurity on education in the country, the chairman of J.K. Randle Professional Services, said, that the rise in insecurity was because people have lost hope in the country with the belief that they have been impoverished due to poor governance.
“Now that we have insecurity; what created insecurity? That’s because people have lost hope. They don’t have jobs, they don’t have homes and they have nothing. They are wandering all over the country, frustrated and lost, angry. Whereas if they attend school, had good education and jobs, they would become responsible citizens,” he added.
