ABEOKUTA– Ogun State 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) has issued a 21day ultimatum to the State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun to appoint a substantive Commissioner for Education.
The students threatened a showdown with the state governor following his refusal to appoint a substantive Commissioner for the Education Ministry after 15 months of assumption of office, adding that, “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 accused Governor Abiodun of insincerity and lack of commitment to reposition the education sector as he has always been publicly proclaiming.
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 has been 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.
They demanded that Governor Abiodun appoint an experienced educationalist who is not lesser than a professor as the Commissioner to pilot the affairs of the Ministry of Education in the State.
“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.”
The student body noted that, the sector has been undeveloped and suffered for long in the hands of those they described as “nonprofessionals and emergency educationalists” who are just “mere window dressers”.
