ASUU UNICAL BRANCH SAYS MINISTER OF STATE FOR EDUCATION WOULD HAVE RESIGNED OVER STATEMENT OF FG “BORROWING FOR EDUCATION” IF IN ANOTHER COUNTRY.

ACADEMIC STAFF UNION OF UNIVERSITIES (ASUU)UNIVERSITY OF CALABAR BRANCH (UCB)PRESS RELEASE“Government Cannot borrow to fund Education” – Mr Minister of State for EducationOn May 03, 2022, the Minister of State for Education, Mr Chukwuemeke Nwajuba, noted that the Federal Government has limited resources and cannot borrow money to pay ASUU. He also quipped that government can only borrow money to fund infrastructure like railway and other critical infrastructure where it gets returns from. He did not stop at that. In a style characteristic of him, he went on, and chirped, “To borrow and pay people is normally not what World Bank or other financial institutions borrow money for.” Every well-meaning Nigerian can see that there is no iota of truth in the Honourable Minister’s statement. Such a statement from someone saddled with the responsibility of managing the education sector of a nation is not only despicable, but also illuminates the fact that the Minister knows next to nothing about education, its administration, and how the university system works or operates. Even an old folk in the remotest part of the world knows that education is both central and “critical” to human development, to the advancement of a people, and functions as the custodian of a people’s cultural patrimony. In October 2019, the World Bank launched the New Global Education Financing Platform to prioritise educational activities in low-income, and middle-income countries where funding needs are greatest. Annette Dixon, Vice President, Human Development Practice Group, World Bank, notes, “The education Finance Platform will help governments to implement their financing plans to get quicker results.” Does education need financing in Nigeria? Does Nigeria need “quicker results”? Certainly, yes! And the Minister tells the tale that the World Bank does not support borrowing to fund education. The truth remains that education in Nigeria, as have the health sector, is yet to be a beneficiary of financing. We know this truth! And this truth knows us!When it has to do with education, Nigeria becomes broke! Education remains the most powerful investment for our future, for our children. The Nigerian government knows this truth. This truth knows the Nigerian government. This is why, while they underfund our education, they send their children and relatives abroad to study, to get the best of education. Education funding in Nigeria is systematically geared towards excluding the poor and the marginalised children of the masses. I cringed when I read a Minister of Education say, “money does not come from education”. In saner climes, he will resign right after such a shame-packed comment. Euro-American universities make billions from education. Recently, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) noted that Nigerians spend billions of naira to study abroad yearly. Education is, of course, a source of revenue for Euro-American countries. Talking about funding railways. Now, the engineers building railways in Nigeria are Chinese. If Nigerians are deployed to build the rails, it will be cheaper, and importantly, the money returns to Nigeria and Nigerians. Unfortunately, our universities are ill-equipped. We do not have the equipment to train our students. It is sad!We should ask these simple questions: one, why are Nigerian politicians bent on sending their children and family members to study abroad? Two, why is it that Nigerian scholars are thriving in universities abroad? It is basically the system. Universities abroad are “critically” funded! It is the reason they attract both foreign students and scholars. Their lecturers are paid handsomely, and also beautifully. The Minister’s barren comment only points to the directionlessness of this regime, and points also to where its priority lies. Universities are shut down, and an education minister has declared his intention to run for presidency of an educationally distressed nation. Somebody is not “seeing” clearly! In saner climes, he will be fired if not jailed. He has failed to custody what was put in his care. This simply goes to express the truism that those in the corridor of power are purely “opportunistic” people who are not interested in the education of the generality of the poor masses. After all, their children are schooling abroad; they are feeding fat from tax payers’ monies, which they loot to oil barren political ambitions. And lecturers’ take-home-pay only leaves them at the thresholds of their ill-furnished offices. Government cannot borrow to fund education. Yet, we have seen how in the midst of the ASUU strike the government has released billions of naira to private electricity companies, to commercial banks, and we have also seen the swift move by the Senate to avert the planned aviation strike. Oga no wan waka for bad roads! Without beading words, it tells you in clear terms that the government is less concerned about the welfare of the common man. If the government could fund all these sectors, could stand by Afghanistan with millions running in US Dollars, how criminal is it to fund public universities both at the federal and state levels? For us as a Union, we continue to fight for the liberation of the soul of education in Nigeria. And, be rest assured, this battered soul will be liberated.Aluta continua!Victoria acerta!Edor J. EdorChairpersonASUU USB 10/05/2022