UI students urge FG to prioritise education

The Students Union Government (SUG) of the University of Ibadan, has called on the Federal Government to preserve the future of the Nigerian students by making education its priority.

Mr Oluwanifemi Ojo, the president of the union, made this call while addressing a news conference on Tuesday at the union’s secretariat on campus.

Ojo, who called on the Federal Government to urgently pay attention to education, which could drive other development factors in the country, noted that education remained the key to the future of the youth.

“The decadence in the education sector is alarming and as a key stakeholder in the sector, we say no to the ill treatment being given to the sector.

“If there is anything that should be on top of government’s agenda, it must be the education of its citizens,’’ he said.

He wondered why government authorities released funds that could not pay the salaries of staff of the universities, adding that the budgetary allocation to universities was nothing to write home about.

Ojo, who decried the poor facilities in the universities, said government authorities needed to maintain the existing facilities and provide new ones in all the nation’s higher institutions.

The union leader, who lamented that the University of Ibadan was not getting enough fund allocations, urged the government to increase its monthly allocations to the university to foster development.

According to him, If the university, which is the first in Nigeria is currently underfunded, what is the fate of other federal universities and tertiary institutions in Nigeria,’’ he queried.

The union president, however, advised universities in the country to look into some ways of increasing their Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) through gainful ventures rather than increasing school fees.