DTSG, Old Boys Disagree On Schools' Return to Proprietors
This Day (Lagos)
November 17, 2005
By Patrick Ugeh And Agha Ibiam, Lagos

Secretary to the Delta State Government, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, yesterday stated that the government will return schools, including Government College, Ughelli (GCU) to their original owners or interested groups by 2007.

However, in a swift response to Uduaghan's allusion to the fact such schools might be self-sustaining, Mr. Gamaliel Onosode, President-General of the old boys association of the school, said it was not proper for government to withdraw totally from funding some of the best institutions.

Rather, he suggested that government should consider grant-in-aid for those schools, such as GCU, noted for high standards. Such grant, he said, would serve as an instrument to control the running of the institution.

Both personalities spoke at the diamond jubilee lecture delivered by law professor, Itse Sagay (SAN) as part of activities to mark the 60th anniversary of GCU organised by its Lagos branch of old boys.

Sagay urged the Delta State government to establish new secondary schools and renovate existing ones to the standard of GCU of old, which was comparable to the best schools in England such as Eton. He advised that such schools should be replicated nationwide, a move which would solve Nigeria's problems as education remained the most important tool to attain el-dorado in the development of the country.

Buttressing the fact, the chairman of the diamond jubilee planning committee, Mr. Alfred Okoigun, said bringing GCU to its former international standard would boost government's quest for foreign exchange as it would attract international students like the UK which earns billions of pounds annually from foreign students.

Sagay suggested that efforts be made to meet the international requirement of 26 percent of the budget for education but the Delta State SSG said to achieve that would place a huge burden on government's funds which he said were grossly inadequate. To underscore this, he said the state government would need N529 billion to deal with transport problems, especially in the riverine areas where N21 billion is needed for the infrastructural development of schools. Already, he said, N8 billion has been spent on education since 1999.

To free more money for the states to use, Uduaghan appealed to the Federal Government to withdraw from running secondary schools as they would be better run by state governments, although at a cost to parents.

"There should be a limit to offering education and health free," he opined.

Mindful of the need to make an input into the development of GCU, Okoigun announced plans to launch a N250 million fund this Saturday in Lagos by the old boys.

He called on all well-meaning people to contribute their widow's mite to save the school from degerating further.