FREE EDUCATION FOR ALL

I like that. But who is going to pay the bill? . Somebody has to.
More than two decades ago, Prof Francis Idachaba, Vice Chancellor at the Federal Government university in Makurdi joined the debate over fee-paying private universities in Nigeria and listed the many benefits of deregulating the Higher Education Sector. He attracted to himself excoriating commentary from people who closed their minds to following his arithmetic projections. All that is history now. I wouldn't want to waste any effort repeating his arguments. Water under the bridge, they say. Just like at the Nursery, Primary and Secondary school levels, (expensive) private education, as an enterprise, is now a fact of Nigerian life in the area of Universities.

Which brings us to the latest fool's errand by the victorious new and improved governor of Ekiti State. This is a state, like many others, with an incredibly tiny taxable population, individual and corporate. The record of revenue generation/collection has been dismal. The people of Ekiti, unlike their cousins up north, are noted for their attachment to education from time immemorial. The name Christ High School, Ado-Ekiti rings a bell everywhere. It can safely be assumed that the people of Ekiti State value education so much that they have been ever ready to pay for it. Why then would Fayemi "fall his own hand" now? At a time he can use all the revenue that he can lay his hands on? !

The time to blame Fayose for unpaid salaries is gone. The ball is finally back in Fayemi's court. He should play it, looking to the future, in the long term interest of Ekiti people. . I hate to make comparisons. However I must point out that in Igboland, no matter how hard things are, a man that refuses to provide for his children's education, is essentially an outcast. Ekiti people should be encouraged to put their money where their mouth is. Ekiti State cannot afford free education. Period!