Culled.THE Oyo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has criticised the state government over the recent step to stop the payment of the West African Examination Council (WAEC) fees for students sitting for the Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination and the introduction of school fees. This is just as it flayed the government for cancelling the sponsorship of annual Hajj pilgrimage. The PDP, speaking through its chairman, Alhaji Yinka Taiwo, said the recent decisions were direct indictments on the government, showing how badly the governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, had been running the state in the last four years.
Though the state government explained that its decisions was due to the economic situation of the state, the PDP was dissatisfied, noting that the government’s inability to properly plan for the future and its crass dependence on federal allocations brought the state to its present sorry situation.
Taiwo stated that with such decisions that would hurt the people of the state, the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government in the state had proven to the people that it was “deceptive, dishonest and incapable of leading the state successfully.”
The PDP compared Ajimobi to King Rehoboam in 1 Kings 12:11, who, immediately after ascending the throne, promised to add to the people’s yoke, noting that it was curious that the governor, despite not paying salaries as and when due and running an economy that was harsh to the survival of businesses, had decided to pile more woes on the people with such harsh decisions.
“It is not only shameful that Ajimobi, who promised free and qualitative education, has cancelled the payment of WAEC fees and reintroduced school fees, it is appalling that under his watch, the educational standard of the state has gone down, with the state coming a distant 34th and failing to meet the national average, which was 31.29 per cent in the 2014 WAEC results.
“And we must add that we are not surprised that Ajimobi cancelled the sponsorship of pilgrims to the holy land, a worthy ideal that the PDP never failed to sustain in all its eight years in government, the incumbent state government is only living up to expectations as a government without human face,” Taiwo stated.
In a similar vein, the Accord Party has berated the state government for stopping the payment of the West African Examination Council fee for secondary school students in the state, describing the decision as retrogressive.
The party also condemned the re-introduction of school fees under Governor Abiola Ajimobi’s new educational policy which requires parents and guardians to pay N3, 000 on each of their wards.
In a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Dr Nureni Adeniran, on Saturday, the party said Ajimobi had gone down in history as the first governor to abolish the free education policy “faithfully implemented by the Lam Adesina, Rashidi Ladoja and Adebayo Alao-Akala governments.”
Adeniran said it was obvious that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC,) which claimed to have taken its roots from the progressive ideology of Chief Obafemi Awolowo, had committed an ideological suicide with the “unconscionable policy” and should not claim to run a free education policy.
“Nothing but misplacement of priority was responsible for the financial crisis in Oyo State. The governor cannot and should not blame his deficient managerial ability on anyone. The government used consultants who fed fat on the resources of the state for everything it did. Contracts were awarded at cut-throat values.
“Ajimobi wanted to build six model schools at the cost of N3.6 billion. Many of such schools had been demolished with no replacement in sight. Teachers are being owed months of salary arrears and no running costs were given to schools. There is no conducive environment for learning in the state and now parents are to pay in pain. Yet, debt is piling up.
“Chief Awolowo launched the free education policy in Ibadan, the capital of the defunct Western Region in 1955, which automatically made the state the intellectual capital of Nigeria.”
The statement urged parents, civil servants and the people of the state in general to continue to endure the hardship being experienced for a little more time, adding that they had sown with tears and would soon reap bountiful harvest in joy.