Students in Ogun State on Saturday threatened a showdown with the State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, following his refusal to appoint a substantive commissioner for the education ministry after 15 months of assumption of office.
The students, under the aegis of National Association of Ogun State Students (NAOSS) and the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Ogun Joint Campus Committee (JCC) gave the Governor a 21-day ultimatum to appoint an experienced Professor and a core educationalist as the substantive commissioner “failure of which we will embark on massive protests across the State until our request is met.”
The students gave the ultimatum on Saturday, at a press conference, jointly addressed by the National President of NAOSS, Comrade Oluwagbemileke Ogunrombi and the State Chairman of NANS, Ogun JCC, Comrade Tomiwa Bamgbose in Abeokuta, the State capital.
They expressed the view that, for the Governor to turn around the fortunes of education for good, he needs “a thorough, seasoned and reputable Ogun indigene, who is a professor and core educationalist with track records of unprecedented achievements,” to actualise his visions for delivering a quantitative and qualitative education to the people of the State.
The students lamented that the vacuum in the Ministry was responsible for the underdevelopment of the education sector in the State.
They noted that, as a major stakeholder in the education sector, they will not standby and fold their arms and watch the sector collapse as a result of the leadership vacuum in the Ministry of Education.
“While we believe in the leadership capacity of Governor Abiodun and trust his ability to turn around the fortunes of the State for good, we appeal to him to shop for a credible, reliable and capable Ogun indigene from tertiary institutions across the country to appoint as a Commissioner for Education,” they said.
The students’ body noted that the sector had been undeveloped and suffered for long in the hands of those they described as “nonprofessionals and emergency educationalists” who are just “mere window dressers”.
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