Director-General, the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs (NIIA) Lagos, Prof. Eghosa Osaghae, has stressed the need for alumni of public schools to commit resources to lift their alma mater.
He noted that this had become imperative with government lacking the financial wherewithal to solely address the drift in the education sector.
Osaghae spoke as the keynote speaker at the ninth yearly dinner and award of Government College, Ughelli Old Boys Association (GCUOBA) last weekend.
His lecture was entitled: “The future of public schools in Nigeria.”
He noted that public schools had become a shadow of themselves, hence, old students were important to change the narrative.
He said: “Unlike what we had in the past when a parent would want his child to attend the same school he attended, parents now abandon public schools and send their children to private schools.
“Public schools have become a shadow of their past; it is even impossible to find competent teachers there – they have all moved. The situation started degenerating when the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund, IMF, convinced the government to reduce state participation in education.”
The NIIA boss hailed GCUOBA for upgrading facilities in their alma mater school.
The President-General of GCUOBA Worldwide, Charles Majoroh, said a team of consultants and old boys were negotiating with Delta State government to have the school handed over to the association.
He said the association had spent over N1.2 billion to provide and upgrade facilities in the school in the past years.
Majoroh noted that funding and administration of secondary schools required new strategies to ensure better standards and outcomes.
Chairman of the occasion, Prof. Olufemi Akinyanju, also an old boy, urged the old students to be committed to repositioning their alma mater.
Also, 24 old boys of the college were honoured with Lifetime Achievement Award. They included Prof. Fred Opute, an expert in Plant Physiology and the late union activist, Prof. Festus Iyayi.