Former INEC boss, Jega laments FG’s low budgetary allocation to education

Former chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, has lamented Federal Government’s low budgetary allocation to the education sector.

Jega noted that the Nigerian government has never allocated up to 15 per cent of its budget to education.

He praised the governor of Sokoto, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal for allocating 26 percent of its 2018 budget to education.

Jega, who made this known while speaking at a youth and students summit organized by Federation of Sokoto State Sudent’s Associations in Sokoto at the weekend, also said that Nigeria as a nation does not take the education sector seriously.

The ex-INEC boss said the move by Tambuwal will go a long way in addressing numerous challenges facing the sector.

His words, “Nigeria as a nation has never allocated up to 15 percent of its budget to education. “I was abroad and reading a newspaper when I came across a news item that Sokoto State Governor has allocated 26 percent of the state’s budget to education.

This is very commendable and I won’t the figures won’t come down in the next budget,” the Professor stated.

“My involvement in student activism and unionism and subsequently my involvement with the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), are the foundations of whatever I have become in life.

“So it’s very very important that as youths, you pay attention to your studies and show commitment to the service of others in your communities and the society at large,” he added.