26 June 2009
Lagos — Chancellor of Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, Dr. David Oyedepo, has urged the Federal Government to jettison its planned privatisation of its Unity Schools.
Oyedepo who was speaking with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday in Lagos, said that rather than cede the schools to others, the government should generate the resources to upgrade their facilities and keep them going.
"It would be irresponsible of government to make any proposal toward privatising these schools. There is no nation where the government takes its hands completely off the education of her citizens," he said.
The chancellor also urged the government to evolve ways to restore the past glory of these schools and the education sector in general. "If you do not invest in education and provide adequate welfare to the workforce, you cannot get the best out of them.
"Even if you try to force these people to work, it will not yield any positive result and I feel it is all about government taking up its responsibilities," he said.
Oyedepo said there was the need for the government to preserve what it had and improve on it, whenever the need arose."We need a radical departure from what it used to be and start thinking of creating the future we all desire," he added.
The chancellor pleaded with the government to accede to the demands of teachers in the Unity Schools to restore hope in the future of the Nigerian child.
Teachers in the schools embarked on an indefinite strike in January and May over purported plans by the government to privatise the schools.
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