President of National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS), Dr. Sally Bolujoko, disclosed this in Abuja while unveiling plans to stage the first private schools sport fiesta.
She says the government pays lip service to economic growth because of her neglect of the sector that is the main engine of growth, the MSMEs.
“Every time the Federal Government talks about start-up MSMEs but you, don’t make the business environment easy for them. They can’t access land. They can’t access credit. They can’t even access knowledge, because people who give knowledge are not even paid well”.
“Our university lecturers are on strike every year several times because they are not paid well. But it is the university that would churn out the knowledge that would develop this land” she reminded.
“Sincerely speaking, the President’s approval of N30,000 minimum wage is long overdue, considering the state of the economy, the rate of inflation and the general suffering of the populace”.
She said: “The economic environment wherein we function and operate our business is a lot harsh. Nigeria is ranked 104 in the ease of doing business. That is to say that doing business in Nigeria is a lot tougher than in Ghana, Mali, Togo, etc”.
“You can’t imagine that in the country where we have no light, we don’t have optimum amount of good roads. So to invest in Nigeria becomes an issue for both local and foreign investors”, she added.
Until this developmental challenges are addressed, she advised, mere salary review may not assuage the suffering of the Nigerian worker.
She argued that addressing these challenges demands running better structured merit based government where, “People who understand the economy are engaged, and not on the basis of people who come from one place or the other; or do appointments purely on the basis of political patronage”.
“There are enough people in all parts of this country who can make policies to make Nigeria investor friendly and grow the economy at a faster rate again”.
She disclosed that as private players in the educational sector, all the 16,000 members of NAPPS could do is to aim to deliver on quality content that will produce children that are worthy in character and learning. She said this objective was behind the decision to organize the first national private schools sport fiesta scheduled to take place between November 18 and 22, 2019 in Abuja.
“The event shall take place at all levels, starting from the Local Government where the best shall be selected to compete at the state level. The best at this level shall also be made to compete at regional level and the grand finale shall be the national fiesta where the best from all regions shall slug it out for laurels in Abuja between November 18 and 22”.
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