Nigeria Senate may stop public officials’ kids from schooling abroad

IF a bill proposed by Senator Basheer Garba Mohammed succeeds, children of public office holders would be restricted from schooling abroad, except for specialized programmes or courses not offered in the nation’s educational institutions.
The bill among other objectives is aimed at restoring the nation’s public educational system by discouraging public officials from sending their children and wards to foreign schools.

Besides, senators have accused some committee heads of using their positions to influence the implementation of only constituency projects in their senatorial districts.

Mohammed noted that aside from neglect suffered by public schools, the desire of many public officials to educate their children overseas had been a major source of capital flight and brain drain. He stressed that in this regard, there was the need for the Senate to adopt drastic measures to rescue the ailing educational system.

“Today, in this digital age, the pupils sit on bare floor. You then ask, what manner of leaders of tomorrow are we producing? You may also ask, where are the children of senators, honourable members, ministers and governors? If our children attend such schools, can we afford to leave them in such a sorry state?”

The senator representing Kano Central stated that the country’s educational system had continued to suffer serious setbacks because political office holders and policy makers had given an impression that they had no confidence in the quality of education.

He described the bill as a patriotic call for sacrifice to restore confidence to the country’s educational sector.

“We should be proud of what we have and Nigeria cannot develop without a sound educational system. You cannot be a minister or commissioner of education or of health and refuse to patronize your own system and expect the system to improve”, Mohammed said.

The bill, however, proposed an option of a special tax for defaulters, which would be channelled toward revamping the ailing educational system in the public sector from primary through secondary to tertiary levels. According to the sponsor of the bill, the tax would be determined in due course.

Some senators yesterday accused the Works Committee headed by Senator Ayogu Eze (Enugu North) of giving priority to the projects earmarked for the South East geopolitical zone of the country.

Senator Ita Enang (Akwa Ibom North East) raised the matter when the Senate went into the Committee of the Whole to consider the report of the Committee on Works on the screening of Nnoli Nnaji for appointment as a member of the Governing Board of the Federal Road Maintenance Agency (FERMA).

Shortly before Enang raised the matter, Senator Ahmed Lawan (Yobe North) had remarked that the committees on works in both the Senate and the House of Representatives are headed by lawmakers from Enugu State-Senator Ayogu Eze and Ogbuefi Ozomgbachi respectively. He prayed that despite the constitution of the committees in such a manner, other lawmakers should be carried along in the implementation of projects.

Senator Ita Enang, argued that the roads earmarked for repairs in the South East should not be done because there was no appropriation for them in the 2012 budget. He stressed that FERMA was not representative of the entire country because the membership was skewed in favour of a particular part of the country.
Source: Guardian