Defence minister tells unity school alumni to help fix education
- General Christopher Musa urged old students of Federal Unity Colleges to fund and repair their former schools.
- He spoke in Abuja at the 50th anniversary meeting of the Unity Schools Old Students Association.
- Alumni leaders admitted standards have fallen and pledged to track spending in the schools.
Dem don ask old students of Nigeria Federal Unity Colleges to step in and help repair di schools wey shape dem, as concern dey grow say standards dey fall for public secondary education.
Di call come on Saturday for Abuja at di 50th anniversary plenary and annual general meeting of di Unity Schools Old Students Association (USOSA), di umbrella body for alumni of di colleges wey Federal Ministry of Education dey run.
Minister of Defence General Christopher Musa, wey Major General Garba Abdullahi represent, talk say di alumni network na national asset wey suppose use dia money and reach to lift education and prepare young Nigerians for security and technology challenges wey dey ahead.
Musa talk say di schools don spend more than six decades dey mix students from different ethnic groups, faiths and regions, and say dis shared experience na defence against division.
You be living proof say our diversity no be point of vulnerability but our greatest collective strength,
na wetin he talk, according to one statement on di event.
He warn say di country no fit keep dey live on di achievements of past graduates, argue say security and di quality of education dey closely linked. He ask di alumni to set up endowment funds to build and maintain laboratories, libraries and hostels, so di schools go depend less on tight government budgets.
Alumni admit standards don fall
USOSA President-General Michael Magaji, wey dey prepare to hand over, talk say di 50th anniversary na moment to look back and to do more for education. He describe im time in office as service rather than position.
He talk say di association don grow into national network with strong presence abroad, including for United States, United Kingdom and Canada, and don partner with civic group BudgIT to track spending and improve accountability for di unity schools.
Di keynote speaker, Ibom Air managing director George Uriesi, talk say di schools once offer world-class education and give children from across Nigeria chance to meet at young age. He talk say overcrowding and other changes don weaken dat experience, to di point where some alumni no longer trust di schools with dia own children.
Uriesi urge di association to think beyond single schools. Fixing di whole unity school system, he talk, suppose be di goal, with results measured over di next 20 years.
For parents, di message matter because dem set up di unity schools to bring young Nigerians from different parts of di country together to learn and build friendships. If dia standards keep sliding, families wey hope to send dia children to di same schools wey dem attend fit look elsewhere.
Wetin go happen next
Di association never announce how much money e plan to raise or when repairs go start. Im partnership with BudgIT suggest say parents and alumni suppose expect more public scrutiny of how dem dey spend funds for di schools.
