President-elect, Muhammadu Buhari, has been urged to manifest his party’s ‘change’ mantra in the higher education sector through adequate funding.
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Prof. Rahamon Adisa Bello, appealed to Buhari to provides needed funds which he said would lead to positive reforms in the sector, The Guardian reports.
“We are pleading with the president-elect, Mr. Muhammadu Buhari, to ensure that the higher education sector particularly gets appropriate attention,” he said.
Bello, who spoke at the swearing-in ceremony of the 2014/2015 University of Lagos Students Union (ULSU) executive and parliamentarians, reminded the President-elect of his ‘change’ campaign slogan, adding that Nigerians would be waiting for the manifestation of that change, especially in the education sector.
“We look forward to what Nigerians have been clamouring for,” Bello said.
“They said there would be a change and that change has to be for the better. That is what we are expecting.”
“Without higher education prospering, there is no way the country can achieve its maximum economic development,” the VC said.
“If we look at those countries that we hope to overtake in our bid to become one of the 20th biggest economy in the world in the year 2020, they have economies that are research and innovation-based.”
He argued that providing adequate funding in the tertiary level of education will help solve Nigeria’s key societal and economic challenges and facilitate economic development.
“And it is only through proper funding of higher institutions and spreading of research outcomes that we can get to that stage.
“So we are pleading that higher education should be given priority in order for it not to be affected vagaries of the economy…”
It will be recalled the All Progressives Congress (APC), under which Buhari won the 2015 Presidential elections, ran its campaign with the “Change” slogan.
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