Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Nigeria’s first female Professor of Mass Communication, Professor Stella Okunna, has called on the Igbo intellectuals to mount pressure on South-East Governors for adequate investment in education.
The Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Paul University Awka, who spoke while featuring on Ikengaonline townhall meeting Thursday night, decried the falling standard of education in the zone which once prided as the education advantaged area.
The former Commissioner for Information, Anambra State, who spoke on the topic: “Education, Mentoring and Career Building in the South-East,” said it was unacceptable for any Governor in the South-East to allocate less than 25% budgetary threshold for education and be allowed to get away with it.
She said: “Those who are educated in Igboland should stand against those who don’t have value for education.
“Igbo people have always been known as lovers of education, and we shouldn’t have allowed anybody no matter who it is to derail us.
“Igbo intellectuals should begin to form pressure groups to pressurise the Governors to invest more in education.
“It should be totally unacceptable for anybody to give anything less than 25% of the budget threshold.
“We need to follow up on this and encourage intellectuals in the South-East to put pressure on the Governors to give more attention to education.”
The Professor of Mass Communication, however, commended Enugu State Government for coming tops as the state with the highest budget provision for education in the South-East in 2024, and the second in the country after Lagos State.
She urged other states in the zone to take a cue from Enugu State.
“If Enugu State which is not even an oil producing state can do it, why can’t others do it also? It’s a matter of priority.
“No Igbo Governor should be allowed to abandon education because if we don’t get it right in the education sector, we will be failing.”
The Deputy VC regretted the exclusion of tertiary institutions from the South-East in the disbursement of the first tranche of the students loan by the Federal Government, and urged students from the zone to key into the scheme.
“I know the Nigeria nation is marginalising us but it’s unfortunate the way we are also marginalising ourselves. Nigeria is not giving us our due recognition as a major ethnic group.
“But I advise that we should be courageous. The way we bounced back after the civil war with almost nothing should remain our mentality and resolve. No matter how badly we are treated here, we should not isolate ourselves from Nigeria. As long as we are here, we must occupy our place by working hard.
“I know there are Igbo people students who need the student’s loan. They should go for it. It belongs to us all not other zones alone. The South-East should not be left out. Our leaders should not isolate their people from the centre.”
Ikengaonline, a South East focused accountability and good governance online newspapers, holds a virtual townhall meeting every last Thursday of the month from 7:00pm to 8:30pm.
