ASHENEWS reports that the Speaker of the Niger State House of Assembly, Rt. Honorable Abdulmalik Sarkindaji has said that government need to prioritize funding public vasities in order to arrest the rising crime rate and youths restiveness across the country.
According to him, the proliferation of private universities has made education expensive as several youths cannot afford to go to private universities.
The Speaker who spoke after he was awarded an Honorary Doctorate degree in political science by the ESCAE University, Cotonou in Benin Republic said that by not funding the public universities, the universities will not have the necessary tools to educate its students.
“We must prioritize education and fund it. If we think that education is expensive, the prize for ignorant will be too huge for us to cope with.
“While I recognized and welcome healthy competition between the private and the public universities in the country, we must not allowed our public Universities to die for the sake of Nigerian youths who can not afford the private ones”.
Sarkindaji pointed out that there is heavy prize to pay by any society that ignored the education of it youths and that is why government at all levels must take a deliberate steps towards adequate funding of our public Universities in the country.
The Speaker maintained that public universities in Nigeria remain the best in terms of academic excellence stating that adequate funding will bring the universities back to their former glories.
He appreciated the ESCAE University for the honor of awarding Jim with a Doctorare degree of Philosophy in Political Science (Honorary Causa).
The Vice Chancellor of ESCAE University Professor Mehoba Theodore said the Speaker was chosen for the award because of his track record of achievements in his political journey spanning almost two decades.
He said that the Honorary Ph.D of the university is conferred on individuals who hava achieved remarkable progress in public service and contributed to the development of the grassroots.
