Compare the record.

Earlier this month, my dear sister @AishaYesufu called to give me the disturbing information that there were no computers, functional laboratories, or electricity in the Secondary School in Chibok, the same school where over 200 girls were sadly kidnapped by Boko Haram in 2014, with 70 still unaccounted for. With a population of over 2,500, the school had only one desktop computer. Aisha Yesufu respectfully requested that I buy an additional two and help install solar lighting, even if it was only for the computer classroom. While I was trying to contact His Excellency, my brother Governor Zulum, to enable me to visit the school, I was advised against doing so due to security concerns. Aisha Yesufu accordingly arranged a meeting between me and the Chibok community leaders in Abuja, where I presented them with 10 laptops and 3 printers as a start. I also donated the sum of ₦2 million each towards providing some items for the lab, the computer classroom, and a handheld motorised borehole, totalling ₦6 million. I promised to do more and made it clear to them that what I was doing was not a donation, but a sincere commitment and a promise to the future of our community. However, occasions like this are deeply disturbing and cause me to reflect and personally question our priorities and the rising costs of misgovernance. One wonders why we live in a nation where our students don’t have labs, books, or even pencils, while our leaders live in opulence, spending billions to renovate conference centres, build car parks, and furnish new lodges of international standards. I continue to plead on behalf of all of us that the time has come for self-examination. We must prioritise critical areas of development, education, healthcare, and pulling our people out of poverty. -PO

Following the SOS appeal I got last week and my subsequent visit to the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Nigeria, Nsukka, I received a similar SOS appeal from the Faculty of Dentistry, University of Calabar on Saturday, highlighting a similar issue. Today, I was in Calabar to meet with the students, and after my interaction with them, I offered my commitment towards ensuring their education is not derailed. I made a modest donation of ₦20 million to support the Faculty’s immediate requirements of providing dental chairs to equip the studies of the students. I urge the Government to prioritise critical areas of development of education, healthcare and pulling people out of poverty. The government is to give this situation urgent attention by providing both financial and institutional support to the university leadership and assisting these students who have worked so hard to ensure this issue is resolved and their education remains uninterrupted. I thank the Vice Chancellor and her team for all the hard work they have put in to ensure that these students are not made to suffer for circumstances that are in no way their fault. At this critical time in our nation, we must stop neglecting healthcare, education and pulling people out of poverty. We must, as leaders, build a country where our students can focus on learning without a lack of basic facilities and tools. We must do better as a nation. Our children must not continue to lose their future in Nigeria. A New Nigeria is POssible. -PO