Follow Us on Google
Joy Izekeme Atane
Federal Government’s inability to adequately fund public education has been termed a serious impediment to the development of the sector.
The immediate past president of the Chemical and Non-Metallic Products Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (CANMPSSAN), Mr. Abdul Gafar Mohammed, in his address at the union’s second quadrennial national delegates’ conference in Sango Ota, Ogun State, lamented that the responsibility of the federal government to insure the rights to a high quality education for all students has failed over the years.
He noted that education, which is the bedrock of development in any nation, is beset in Nigeria with multifaceted problems, including inadequate funding, poor infrastructure, overcrowding, inadequate classrooms and poor/polluted environment.
“Government has been unperturbed over the low budgetary allocation to the education sector, which is abysmally low compared to what countries poorer than Nigeria allocate to education,” he said.
He admonished government to always respect agreements entered into with various unions, especially the Academic Staff Union of universities and polytechnics.
“A situation where government would renege on agreements it entered into and allow the staff union to embark on strike for months will render the education sector meaningless and the adverse effect will be on the innocent Nigeria students,” he said.
In another development, he condemned the rate of crime in the country, stating that it was alarming and inhumane.
He said, “Cases of kidnapping, armed robbery, ritual killing, religious intolerance, breakdown of law and order and other sundry crimes seems to have eluded our combined security apparatus.
“The Fulani herdsmen’s crisis remains a major issue in Nigeria. Thousands have been killed, injured while others are evicted from their homes.The herdsmen sometimes seize these opportunities to rape, steal, burn houses and kill innocent members of the communities.
He added that CANMPSSAN, in its concern for the nation, “has come up with various write-ups and engagement with government at different levels.”
