Emmanuel Aziken
25 November 2008
The Senate Committee on Education has flayed the re-allocation of two plots of land belonging to the Teachers Registration Council in Abuja to a former Minister of Education and a South-West governor during the immediate past administration.
The Committee at the end of an oversight visit to the TRC in Abuja yesterday vowed to summon the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory to explain the revocation of the council's lands which has led to the stoppage of construction of the council's headquarter building.
The Committee also yesterday lamented what it claimed was the gradual fall in the standard of education in the country as reflected in the ranking of Nigeria at the 18th least favoured country to attain the goal of education for all by the year 2015 among 150 countries.
Committee members including the Committee chairman Senator Joy Emodi and vice-chairman Senator Adamu Aliero were in the team that also visited the National Library.
Receiving the Senate delegation, the Registrar and Chief Executive of the TRC Prof. Addison Wokocha lamented that the council had been unable to utilize the N92 million appropriated for it in the 2008 budget for the building of its headquarters as a result of the revocation of the land earmarked for the building.
"This land has been part of this compound and all of a sudden for no just cause and for no reason the fence was demolished and the land allocated to private individual individuals, corporate land a land meant for corporate use and for teachers."
The land off Aminu Kano Expressway in the Wuse 2 area of the federal capital according to sources were reallocated to a former Minister of Education and a governor from the Southwest during the Obasanjo administration.
Wokocha complained to the Senate delegation that the council has tentatively been allocated zero allocation for its capital budget in the proposed 2009 federal budget.
Expressing displeasure at the revocation of the TRC land, Senator Emodi expressed disgust at the action of the FCT authorities and the private individuals.
"We are going to ensure that the Teachers Registration Council gets back its land, it is unacceptable and it shows how insensitive our people are when it comes to matters that have to do with education and that is why we are lagging behind," she said.
"Under the UBE programme, the goal signed by Nigeria and other one hundred and fifty three countries, we are now eighteen down the line and it is unacceptable for a big country, respected country that is supposed to be the giant of Africa."
"It is something like this that is impeding the development of education in this country and we have to invite the Minister of FCT to tell us the reason why they would revoke this land and give to individuals.
I know that you can revoke a land if it is in overriding public interest but in this case, there is nothing like that. We have to look into this matter and see how we are going to sort it out."
Senator Emodi also used the opportunity of the oversight visit to give notice of education summit planned by the Committee scheduled for next month.
"The summit is going to be different from the usual summits we know because we have gone round the institutions under the Federal Ministry of Education and discovered that education is in a state of coma," she said.
Also speaking on the education summit, Senator Aliero said:
"The summit we are going to have will involve both the legislature and the executive, we have seen the decay in the educational sector and we are going to invite all the major stakeholders, discuss with them and take far reaching resolutions and make sure that the resolutions are implemented for the betterment of Nigeria."
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The poor rate of UBE Education in nigeria is noting to talk about, the techers are not been paid their salaries, in abia state those techers that were employed in oct 2006 they are own salaries of about 1yr and, and what the state gov did was to sack them by nov 2008, pls those in authourity do someting my parients are both techers write now i`m out of school, i don`t know the next thing to do if to join millitant or armed robbring, pls investigate on this matter,. PLS i beg you who so ever that is involve in this issue should do someting, put yourself in my shoes. THANKS, NWANERI.