A Professor of Political Science at the Ekiti State University (EKSU), Ado Ekiti, Dr Kunle Ajayi, has lamented what he described as the low level of girl-child education in the state and called for steps to reverse the trend.
Professor Ajayi said it was worrisome the girl child education was “still at the lowest ebb in Ekiti State, in spite of the global recognition granted the state as consisting of highly educated citizens.”
Ajayi said time had come for the government at all levels to coalesce efforts to address the issue, saying it was a potential danger to building a virile future for the Nigerian nation.
Ajayi spoke in Ado Ekiti, on Wednesday during the presentation of free JAMB forms to 1,000 Ekiti indigenes by an All Progressives Congress (APC) Chieftain, Mr Bimbo Daramola.
The academic hinted that women play pivotal role in the building of any nation, saying taking their education with levity may spell doom for the country if not quickly addressed.
“Ekiti as a people has come to realize the immense advantages in education, every parent aspires to send their children to school but there is much to do when it come to the education of the girl child.
“Gone are the days when our fathers refused to send their female children to school, nevertheless, the ratio of the boy child in schools compared with the girl child remains extremely poor.
“Education is an investment and we stand to profit more if there is more efforts to train the girl child, the mothers of tomorrow. We must know that the hand that rocks the cradle rules the world,” he said.
Distributing the forms, Daramola, former member of the House of Representatives, said ‘The Team Them How to Fish Initiative’ under which the programme was midwife was borne out of his passion to restore the old glory when Ekiti blazed the trail in education industry.
Daramola, who is a governorship aspirant on the platform of the APC added that “This programme goes beyond just procuring forms for these admission seeker, it is to opening the destinies and potentials of Ekiti born and bred, 1,000 prospective medical doctors, Lawyers, Engineers etc that will drive the state in future.
“Now, Imagine Ekiti in four years having 1,000 graduates and professionals with this new orientation. Then, imagine the impacts this will have on our state and families, as against 1,000 young people whose potentials and hopes could have been dimmed if this door of opportunity is shut in their faces, who may actually become a risk to our society.
“I draw aspiration from my modest life as the son of teachers, not millionaires, born, and raised in Ekiti State for the first 23 years of my life. I believed that whatever he does could make or mar his future.
“So, giving back to these children in this form I believe would enhance their chances in future and put smiles on their faces if the opportunity is not allowed to slip off their fingers.”
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