Governorship candidate of the People Democratic Party, PDP, has chided outgoing Governor Abiola for always allocating between 3 to 4 percent to education in the state’s annual budget since he took over.
The oil magnate in a recent interview on Crossfire, a weekly programme anchored by Mayor Isaac Brown on Fresh 105.9 FM, and monitored by OYO INSIGHT expressed sadness over the state of education in the state.
Revealing how each of the 391, 000 secondary school students are made to cough out N1000 per term, Makinde said there is nothing to show for the over N1 billion generated annually from the compulsory levy.
The 51-year old described the last 7 and a half years under Ajimobi, especially as it regards education, as ‘years of the locusts’.
Hear him: “For close to 7 years now, we are stalked in number 26 on WAEC ranking. We have analysed, and reanalaysed. Oyo has been allocating between 3 to 4 percent allocation to education. Teachers are not paid as and when due. I am not happy with the state of education in Oyo State. Many states should be behind us and not as it is.
“If I am elected by the grace of God, I will devote a minimum of 10 per cent to education. I will scrap the N1000 Levy they are asking students to pay. If we multiply 391, 000 secondary school students with the N1000, that would give you N391,000,000. This is anti-people. How do you tax the already poor parents of these future Nigerians? Remember students of Olodo Community Grammar School recently protested because of the levy.”
Speaking on how his efforts to give facelift to some schools were frustrated, Makinde narrated how an alumnus of Bishop Philip Academy, Monatan, his alma mater, Alhaji Gbadamosi, assisted the school with a CBN intervention project.. “I have wanted to do something in schools, approvals have been delayed.”
