Invest 10% of Constituency Allowances in Education, CRUTECH Alumni to C'River NASS Members

By Inyali Peter, Calabar

Cross River University of Technology (CRUTECH), Alumni Association have urged all National Assembly Members from Cross River state to invest at least ten per cent of their constituency allowances in education.

The National President of the Association Mr. Eyam Abeng who stated this while briefing newsmen in Calabar said that the poor standard of education in the state was worrisome and as such needs urgent attention from all Cross Riverians.

He said that although the state government is doing it best to revive the education sector, stakeholders at all levels must support the efforts of the government to invest in education or risk destroying the future of the next generation.

Abeng who decried that Cross Riverians were not feeling the impact of the NASS members especially in the area of education noted that in other states, lawmakers attracts a lot of federal projects to their States tertiary institutions unlike in Cross River.

According to him, "The task to develop the education sector in Cross River cannot be left to the state government alone. What are the National Assembly members doing with their constituency allowances? If things continue like this we may risk destroying the next generation because of our poor standard of education.

"I have travelled to over 20 states in Nigeria which includes states in the  South West ,South East and some states in the South South geopolitical zones. I have seen how federal lawmakers attract projects to their states owned tertiary institutions especially but here, they don't seem to have any interest in the education sector.

"We have heard that the federal government is about to commence disbursement of their constituency allowances. Before now information like this was exclusive reserve for government officials but today, we're all aware. So I want to urge our NASS members to invest at least ten per cent of their constituency allowances in education".

Explaining further, he said that this will go along way in tackling the high rate of criminal activities in the state as " many young people involved in crime are suffering from poverty of the brain which is a product of the fallen standard of education in the state and Nigeria at large".

While commending the Vice Chancellor of the university Prof. Anthony Owan Enoh for the rapid infrastructural development in the university, he appealed to the state government to invest more in CRUTECH.

"Cross River economy and indeed Nigeria economy can only grow in an atmosphere of quality education. If we must overcome our economy challenges as a state, the government should be ready to invest more in CRUTECH. CRUTECH should be given top priority because if we must begin to look inward for the solutions to our problems.

"Honestly, if not because of the quality of leadership we have now, there would have been no university as CRUTECH again. At some points, the university was like an orphan but we thank God for the VC Prof. Own Enoh who has continued to look beyond the challenges", he said.

Continuing, Abeng said that, " I want to reiterate our call for the state government to establish an education endowment fund where all firms operating in the state will be compelled by law to invest  one per cent of their profit before tax annually to the development of education in the State ".

Jonathan Dodges Questions on Corruption Cases Against Aides, Officials At Aso Rock

The Former President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday dodged questions from reporters bothering on corruption charges against some of his aides and official, insisting that he would speak about the issue at the “appropriate time”.

The former President speaking to State House correspondents Wednesday in Abuja after meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari, said: “I don’t want to talk about that, because there are too many cases that are in court, it will not be fair to make comments, ThisDay Newspaper reports

“I will talk at the appropriate time when most of these things are resolved.”

The former president said he was in the State House to brief the president on his mission to monitor the upcoming elections in Zambia and called on Nigerians to work towards a united country.

He also solicited for peace in the Niger Delta, saying that there could be no development without peace.

Jonathan said: “It’s not just about me but about all the traditional rulers, elders and opinion leaders that are of the Ijaw ethnic nationality.

“We have been in touch to see that peace reigns in the country. Those of you who have followed my stand when I was here; my emphasis was that we need a united Nigeria and I always emphasise that Nigeria is great not just because of oil.

“So many countries produce more oil than Nigeria, but nobody notices them. We are great because of our size, the human resources we have, the diversity we have, so if we fragmentise the country into small components we will be forgotten by the world.

“That has been my focal position and without peace there cannot be development anywhere in the world, we are all working collectively to see that issues are resolved.”

Providing further insight on his visit to the State House, the former president said: “You asked why I came to see the president today; one key thing is that having been a head of a government, a former president, you become state property.

“That’s the privilege you have, but every privilege has its corresponding responsibility, and once you become state property, your international engagements that have to do with public addresses and some international assignments becomes national assignments, so you must brief the president.

“Even when I was here, former presidents used to do that and came to brief me. I have been coming here; most times I come at night, that’s why you don’t see me.

“So I came to brief the president on some of my engagements. As you are aware, I will be leading the AU elections monitoring team to Zambia. I came to brief the president about some of these external engagements. It is the tradition.”

After leaving the State House, Jonathan was reported to have held a meeting with the Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) last night in Abuja.

Although details of the meeting were sketchy, party sources said the meeting was slated to discuss the protracted crisis in the PDP following the removal of its former national chairman, Senator Ali Modu Sheriff, and how to resolve the problem.

The division within the PDP and a retinue of court orders and counter-orders pose a serious threat to the future of the party as a counter-balance to the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

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