Ighodalo, Peter Obi, call for investment in education, innovation in Nigeria varsities

Call for 10% increase in sector’s budget

The Chancellor of Wellspring University, Pastor Ituah Ighodalo, and former Governor of Anambra State, Peter Obi, have called for more funding in education to boost qualitative learning in the country.

They made this appeal during a chat with the Vice Chancellor of Wellspring University, Prof. Isaac Ajayi, on the ‘Future of Education in Nigeria’, at Wheatbaker Hotel, Lagos.

Ighodalo said the reason students go to study abroad is lack of innovation and investment in the educational sector and its focus on rote learning.

He said: “We have about 12 to 13 million children out of school. How can we be doing well in education when graduates leave school and are not employable, here, in Nigeria? Everyone is escaping to Canada, England. And when they go to those countries, they re-enroll for another course to be able to fit in.

“I know graduates of accounting and business who have gone to America to learn nursing and are working as nurses, even though they graduated in economics or accounting in Nigeria. America knows what they need is nurses,” he said.

On his part, Obi said Buhari and political office holders have failed the country by not improving the quality of education. He urged the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND) to provide funding for private universities.

Ajayi described learning in Nigeria as stringent.

He said learning remains difficult with no access to textbooks and quality facilities for teaching. According to him, this has made learners study under stringent situations to pass exams.

He noted that the system of education in the country is not producing any effect on the economy and that academic institutions are only pushing out graduates that cannot address issues.

He said the entire curriculum should be re-addressed, which, according to him, Wellspring has been doing; ensuring it is skills based, emphasises innovation and certification in ICT.

“Education is so critical and vital that government must invest in it. I was in Latin America, and when I entered into their classroom, I was surprised. In fact, some of the labs I saw in the US are bigger than many of our industries. If we must have a kind of education that will propel us to greatness, every citizen must be educated. And there is no amount of money too much for the Federal Government to achieve quality education,” he said.