Prof. Chris Imumolen, the Presidential Candidate of the Accord Party, says he will commit 20 per cent of Nigeria’s annual budget to finance education, if elected in the forthcoming general elections.
Imumolen made the promise on Tuesday at an interactive session organized by the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPPS), Kuru, near Jos.
The candidate, who maintained that education remained the bedrock of any society, said such move would address all the challenges currently facing the nation’s education sector.
”We can not be talking about development if we have a faulty educational sector, but by the time we come on board, we will give this sector the desired attention.
”According to UNESCO standard, 10 per cent of total budget should be committed to education, but currently less then seven per cent is allocated to that critical sector.
”But when we come on board, we will devote 20 per cent to the education sector because we believe that’s the only road to sustainable development.
”That way, lecturers won’t go on strike, our schools, from primary to tertiary institutions, will have adequate infrastructure that will enable quality teaching and learning,” he said.
He added that ”If we don’t build a better educational sector for the future, we will be raising a voiceless and worthless population that will take us no where”.
Imumolen promised to fund innovative research in universities, adding that such move would provide practical solutions to some of the challenges facing the nation.
He also promised to revamp the power sector with a view of improving energy supply, thereby providing enabling environment for investors and private sector to thrive.
”In Ghana it takes just nine months to set up a company, it took us one year to set up university in Togo, but in last 12 years, we couldn’t do that in Nigeria
”So, we will review our policies and all the bureaucracies so we can ensure ease of doing business, that way we will have a private sector driven economy that will create jobs for our teaming youths,” he said.
On security, the candidate, who disclosed that there were over 4,000 illegal entry points into Nigeria, promised to restructure the porous borders against external aggression.
Imumolen also promised to complete on going projects and abandoned projects, particularly ones that would have dire impact on Nigerians.
Earlier, Prof. Ayo Omotayo, the Director General of the institute, said that NIPPS decided to provide the platform for all presidential candidates to reel out their manifestos to Nigerians.
Represented by Prof. Fummi Para-Mallam, the Director of Studies of the institute, Omotayo thanked the candidate for accepting to appear on the platform and urged others to take the advantage of the opportunity to interface with Nigerians.
