Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Mania Petroleum Marketing Company Limited, Dr Shina Amoo, has urged the Federal Government, 36 governors and the Minister of Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to declare a state of emergency on education.

Amoo made the call on Wednesday shortly after he bagged a Ph.D. in Business Administration at the convocation ceremony of Lead City University, Ibadan, Oyo State. He also called for the adoption of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and adequate use of information communication technology in educational institutions.

He said it would help create strategies that would improve the quality of education in the country, thereby putting an end to strikes, threats of strikes, poor teaching environments and poor academic outcomes, among others.

He added: “The educational sector should be improved upon. A state of emergency should be declared in the educational sector. If you look around, a lot of people are taking their wards and children abroad for learning, either secondary or tertiary education. We need to ensure the development of the educational sector in the country.”

He called for the adoption of AI in such a way that it would not make pupils and students lazy and mentally redundant.

On his doctorate, he said it had always been his aspiration to become an associate professor to impart his knowledge to students and help mould them to become useful citizens of the country.
MEANWHILE, as President Bola Tinubu prepares to present the 2025 budget, the Unity Schools Old Students Association (USOSA) is advocating for a significant boost in funding for the education sector.

USOSA President General (PG), Michael Magaji, gave the charge in an interview with The Guardian.

He said that Nigeria has consistently fallen short of the UNESCO-recommended benchmark of allocating 15 to 20 per cent of the national budget to education.

Instead, the country has historically allocated significantly less, such as the 7.9 per cent allocated in the 2024 budget, highlighting a persistent gap in prioritising education funding.

Speaking on the matter, Magaji admitted that although Nigeria has not yet reached the UNESCO-recommended 25 per cent allocation of the budget to education, there has been steady growth in the education budget over the years.

He argued that education has consistently been a top priority for the government, ranking among the top five areas of focus out of numerous sectors.