Victor Ezeja
InFormer Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Presidential aspirant of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) Prof. Kingsley Moghalu has promised to dedicate 20 per cent of the country’s annual budget to education if elected in the 2023 election.
Prof. Stated this on Tuesday when he went to pick his expression of interest and nomination forms at the ADC Secretariat in Abuja.
Prime Business Africa’s checks revealed that between 2016 and 2022, Nigeria’s annual education budget has been on the average of 6.7 per cent. The 2022 budget has only 5.4 per cent earmarked for the education sector. This is against the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) recommendation that every country should allocate 15 – 20 per cent of its budget to education.
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Moghalu who has been stressing in different fora about the need to give urgent attention to the country’s education system, noted that education is the bedrock of national development.
He added that the lingering ASUU strike is something his administration would tackle to see that it ends once and for all.
“ASUU strike will never happen again when I become President. I will dedicate 20 per cent of the country’s annual budget to education. This is because I understand the importance of education and will invest in it.”
The ADC presidential aspirant highlighted other areas of intervention which he would focused when elected to include, security and the economy. For insecurity, he blamed it on lack of political will be the leaders to tackle it squarely.
Moghalu said, “If Nigerians vote for me to become the President, insecurity will become a thing of the past. Because for me, the first thing to fight insecurity is the political will. I will take out anything that threatens the lives and properties of Nigerians.
“I will also invest heavily on intelligence. The USA is able to keep terrorists away and security its territory due to its high intelligence.
“We will also look at the Police Force because a breakdown of the Police Force is a breakdown of the country’s security. I will employ 1 million Nigerians into the Police to expand its workforce for efficiency”.
Commenting on the raging debate about the eligibility of the CBN governor, Godwin Emefiele to contest the presidential election, Moghalu said it is a breach of law, especially the CBN Act.
According to him, “Section 9 of the CBN makes it clear that the governor and the deputy governor are not allowed to engage in any other employment or vocation. A vocation is something that could take up your time, it may not be a job, it may not be something you could put your hands on, but once your mind is there but for the CBN Governor, his heart and mind is in politics up to the extent of going to a law court to support his ambition.”
He said the apex bank boss is not suppose to show interest in partisan politics, but focus on managing the economy.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
