A former Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, has called for attitudinal change towards education among Nigerians. He decried the subsisting situation of, in his words, “the lack of treating education with the seriousness it deserves by classifying money spent on it as expenditure rather than investment”.
Making this observation on a visit to Good Shepherd Anglican Academy, Lokoja, Kogi State, Obi urged Nigerians interested in the meaningful development of the country not to leave the task of improving education to Government alone. He appealed to wealthy Nigerians to deny themselves the pleasure of the huge expenditure on the things and habits they do not necessarily need, and commit some of that money to support schools across the country.
Elaborating on his mission to Lokoja, Obi revealed: “Some years ago, I joined in the advocacy for the policy of adopting schools; where you take it upon yourself to provide necessary epistemic infrastructure to the school adopted – laboratories, computers & Internet connectivity, power-generators, sick bay, among others. For the WASC and NECO examinations, one could also undertake to pay the registration fees for a number of candidates.”
Obi, who commended the Anglican Archbishop of Lokoja, Most Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Sokowanju Egbunu, for his efforts to promote education, demonstrated his support for his school with the sum of N2 million for its infrastructural improvements. He further advised the students to remain focused on their school work as education is “the most potent currency for competition in the world”.
Earlier the Archbishop of Lokoja Province of Anglican Communion, Most Rev. Dr. Emmanuel Sokowanju Egbunu, had described Obi as a modern day apostle of education. He said he was humbled by Obi leaving Anambra State and visiting and supporting schools in all the parts of Nigeria, from Abia State, to Nasarawa, to Sokoto, to Benue, to Kogi and every part of the country.
Describing Obi’s views on education as borne out of practical experience, considering what, according to him, he did in Anambra State, he encouraged other wealthy Nigerians to key into his vision.
