By David Olalekan
A former minister of youth development, and later sports, under the Goodluck Jonathan administration, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, yesterday commended the governor of Oyo state, Mr. Seyi Makinde for his decision to abolish school fees in the state-owned secondary schools.
Abdullahi, who posted his thought on the decision of the new Oyo state governor on his verified Twitter handle @BolajiAbdullahi, however advised him not stop at just scrapping school fees, but should instead ensure that his government pay the N3,000 per student on behalf of the parents. According to the former minister, “abolishing fees and not paying leaves the schools worse off and ultimately hurts the children”.
Detail of Mallam Abdullahi Twitter post goes: “Kudos to the new Gov. Makinde of Oyo State for abolishing fees in state secondary schools. Hope he will ensure every school gets full payments from govt.(3k/child). Abolishing fees and not paying leaves the schools worse off and ultimately hurts children.”
Having served as Commissioner for education in Kwara state for four years, during which he introduced a revolutionary education policy tagged ‘Every Child Counts’, many of Abdullahi’s followers on the social media network where he made his observation applauded him for what they described as a ‘well intentioned advice’.
It would be recalled that during his inaugural address as the 28th governor of Oyo state last Wednesday, Governor Makinde made the announcement abolishing the payment of N3,000 school fees in state-owned secondary schools, which was introduced by the government of his immediate predecessor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi.
See screenshot of Bolaji Abdullahi’s Twitter post below:
