FG urged to allocate 3% oil and gas income to primary education

Vice chancellor, Al-Hikmah University, Ilorin, Prof Taofeek Ibraheem, has suggested that three per cent of Nigeria’s oil and gas income should be earmarked for primary education.

Prof Ibrahim reminded that primary education remained the foundation of the future of any nation and her citizens, noting that Nigeria should channel more resources into the cadre for better socio, political and economic growth.

Speaking with reporters at the 9th convocation ceremony of the university, the vice chancellor said the move would ensure proper and adequate foundation for Nigerian children towards upscaling future developmental challenges.

Besides, he urged education stakeholders to encourage early introduction of science education among primary school children, noting that their interest in science would have grown as undergraduates.

“We expect that 70 per cent admissions into our universities should be into science, technology and engineering courses, yet, all that children are exposed to throughout their basic education for 6-9 years is ‘talks and stories’, without any exposure to basic science laboratories, tools and equipments”, he said.

As part of his address on state of the nation during the event, the vice chancellor called for purposeful dedication of five per cent of Nigeria’s oil and gas income to agricultulral development annually, saying that the move would “make us overcome youth unemployment in the shortest time and enable us to attain the trajectory of emerging as one of the topmost 10 economies in the world by 2030”, he said.

He called for the establishment of agriculture farm settlements with standard schools, health care and recreation facilities to attract Nigerian youth to agribusiness and agripreneurship.

Prof Ibraheem appealed to the Federal Government to include private universities among beneficiaries of TETFUND grants and projects.