By Odion Ikhariale
It is a given law of nature that you cannot give what you do not have. Although, you may pretend to have it; yet, at the end, the truth will manifest. This is the scenario that has unfolded in Edo State. To be sure, this is not an attempt to revisit the protracted legal tussle over the certificate saga of Governor Adams Oshiomhole or another move to challenge his qualifications, which the court may have settled for now in his favour. However, the ungainly and halfhearted disposition of the governor to education issues affecting Edo State has raised some deep concerns and cast doubt on his acclaimed passion for education development. This is not to spite anyone or make an unfounded appraisal; the truth is that one can only protect or invest in what one values as a governor or a leader.
Unfortunately, there is nothing that suggests that the governor truly understands the worth of education since he assumed the leadership of Edo State about eight years ago. The good news is that Edo people have seen through the deception of using a number of schools which were renovated with red roofs but without corresponding funding for appointment of teachers to boost the content of teaching as a yardstick of performance. Even that project was largely UBEC sponsored for which the State Government only paid a counterpart fund. I stand to be corrected. There is no doubt that education is the most important sector of any society and it is the major foundation of development. By all standards, huge investment in quality education is what separates a flourishing society from those trapped in intractable conflicts and underdevelopment.
After more than seven years in the saddle, grandstanding as a comrade that knows it all, tertiary education is now a shadow of its former self in Edo State. Today, the people have realised too late in the day that they had elected a governor who merely pretended from the outset but did not actually appreciate the value of education or care genuinely about the future of their children. This is indeed a painful and dangerous development that has limited the potential of the state to tap into the infinite benefits of education as the greatest human resource. This development should henceforth spur our people not to take for granted the academic background and educational interest of candidates seeking their votes.
For instance, the latest non-accreditation of courses in Ambrose Alli University (AAU) is a major reference point of how badly education has been managed by the state government, although it did not come as a surprise to many keen watchers. There has been a consistent decline in the quality and standard of tertiary education under the administration of Oshiomhole. There has been no encouraging intervention or state commitment to assist AAU, the more than three decades old state government-owned university.
However, the establishment of a new university by the governor in his Iyahmo village should not be mistaken as a sincere venture to promote education or advance knowledge. There is no good sense in establishing a new university when the one in existence is having its courses being denied accreditation and lacking in quality teachers and teaching facilities due to poor funding. It is quite sad that Oshiomhole, by refusing to proactively fund the institution to be able to meet conditions for accreditation of all course on offer, has seriously undermined AAU, which was once the academic pride of the old Bendel State. In a latest sad development, six very important courses have lost their accreditation by the National University Commission (NUC). They are Architecture, Building, Botany, Political Science, Biochemistry and Microbiology.
It is quite painful that the governor is rather unperturbed by this traumatizing development and could not fathom the implications of the NUC verdict on the future of the state, the integrity of the university and psyche of the affected students. This eventually boils down to the singular fact that you cannot give what you do not have. This is a big lesson to the people of Edo State as the opportunity to make a profound statement through the ballot box beckons on September 10, 2016. On that day, it should be the responsibility of the electorate to make some bold statements by getting the right man to be governor to revive the waning standard of education in the State.
Unfortunately, a newly established university by Oshiomhole in his village-Iyahmo-is arguably said to have been conceived as his parting gift in the long run under a not-too-transparent business arrangement with some partners. It has been found to be an enterprise, most probably, for personal aggrandisement, which is also intended to achieve some less-than altruistic ends. In a mindless show of shame, they are believed to be currently making more money from the awards of bogus contracts in the name of construction and projects. The figures coming out as against the projects attached are nothing but scandalous. Money that could have been used to upgrade other State institutions is being allegedly misappropriated. The new University is tied to a Public Private Partnership (PPP) arrangement, but disguised as a business arrangement, which makes it fraudulent.
In the real sense of it, the university project was conceived with the underlying motive of making Oshiomhole the business owner of the institution after leaving office. It is strategically located opposite his house in Iyamho. Although 65% share has been conceded to a private firm, Afri-Invest, in which the current governorship candidate of the All Progressives Candidate (APC), Godwin Obaseki, owns substantial equity, the main conspiracy, according to sources, is to sell, in the long run, the remaining 35% said to belong to Edo State Government to Afri-Invest, which will in turn concede it to the Comrade Governor under another arrangement after leaving office. If this plan is true and is allowed to sail through, history will judge Edo people who, seized of the facts, would still allow it to happen and, indeed, posterity will not forgive them.
In conclusion, it was one-time South African President, the late Nelson Mandela, who once said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” This quote should reflect in the major thrust of all the candidates seeking the governorship seat of Edo State. Edo people must scrutinise their credentials, antecedents and temperament so that they do not install someone who does not have the right passion for education development. May God help Edo people as they decide on September 10.
Mr Ikhariale contributed this piece from Irrua in Edo State.
