Governments at all levels in Nigeria have been urged to stop wasting money on infrastructure that is abandoned and scattered across the country, and instead redirect such funding towards education.
The call was made by the former Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, while speaking at the 50th anniversary of Nakam Memorial School, Panyam, Mangu LGA, Plateau State, on Sunday.
He explained that education is the engine for any meaningful development of a nation because only through proper education can the country be lifted out of poverty.
He therefore urged governments at all levels to focus more on improving access to quality education in Nigeria, rather than on infrastructural development, which has turned into what are often referred to as “white elephant” projects over the years, if they truly want to lift Nigerians out of poverty.
He narrated, “Recently, I got into an argument about the place of education (human capital) versus physical capital, such as roads, electricity, bridges, and the like. My contention was simple: we need more investment in human capital development than in physical capital development. Imagine our future without education.”
The former Speaker added, “For any government to be taken seriously, it must prioritize education because if we don’t educate our citizens, there is no way they can compete and thrive in the future unfolding before our eyes. And that is the surest pathway to poverty.”
According to him, “If you are educated, even in the absence of infrastructure, the educated mind will produce the infrastructure that is lacking. Those who are educated will build the schools we don’t have, they will build the roads, and generate and distribute the electricity we never have enough of for domestic use and industrial production.”
He further emphasized, “As a matter of fact, the resources in this country are vast, especially here on the Plateau. When we talk about God’s endowment, we have a lot of minerals buried beneath the earth’s surface, but the truth is, we need education to bring them out. Where you lack quality education, both the human beings and the resources buried beneath your ground will decay.”
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Yakubu Dogara lamented, “Unfortunately, that has been the case with Nigeria. But when you train your citizens and empower them with knowledge, even in the absence of resources, they can turn their country into a first world. We’ve seen that with South Korea, and we’ve seen it in several other countries, especially the Asian Tigers.”
He added, “Just as we were making our way here, we lamented the fact that although Kenya doesn’t have our population size and doesn’t have oil or many of the resources we have here in Nigeria, it is shocking that Kenya’s budget is higher than that of Nigeria.”
The former Speaker further stated, “That means Kenya has managed to build more wealth than Nigeria. Just go back home and think about that. Ponder hard as to why that is the case. It may be because Kenya’s literacy level has risen significantly, while in Nigeria, we are struggling to educate our citizens.”
However, he clarified that he is not opposed to infrastructural development, stating, “I am not saying that infrastructure is bad, but the truth is, without education, the infrastructure will decay. We need educated people to maintain the infrastructure and keep it functional.”
“So, honestly, we should prioritize investment in education in this country. Otherwise, we are simply wasting our time if we think we can make progress while keeping our people ignorant,” he stressed.
The former Speaker added, “I looked at the needs in my own community and quickly identified the shortcomings. I now run a foundation that offers scholarships to indigent students. Currently, we have about 200 students in my network, studying at Nigerian universities. That, of course, is just a drop in the ocean and nowhere near enough.”
While congratulating the students and the Old Students’ Association on the 50th anniversary of the school, he urged the latter to invest not only in the physical improvements of the school’s infrastructure, but also in the quality of teachers to provide quality education to the students. He also suggested setting up a scholarship fund to ensure that students from households that would never have had the opportunity for education can be trained there.
“That will open the pathway for the future we are enjoying, instead of locking the door against those who are coming behind us,” he concluded.
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