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B N W: Biafra Nigeria World News |
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'No Going Back On Fees'
BY KAYODE OGUNBUNMI AND ISSAH IBRAHIM
THE Zamfara State government says it has no intention of banning indigenes from its public schools. But it restates its decision to impose the payment of school fees on non-indigenes in such schools in the state.
This clarification came amid a charge of "treason" levelled against the state government by the Federal Government on account of the reported decision by the state to ban non-indigenes from public schools.
The Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation, Mr Akin Olujinmi read the riot act to the administration of Governor Ahmed Sani.
He warned that any state policy that seeks to stop non-indigenes from attending public schools amounts to a threat to the unity and cohesion of the country and a violation of sections 18 (41) and 42 of the 1999 Constitution.
The Minister said the Federal Government was studying the Zamfara State policy to ascertain the need for intervention.
Only last Thursday, Nobel laureate, Professor Wole Soyinka labelled the Zamfara policy as "secession" from Nigeria.
At a public lecture on "Myth and history in the quest for identity" in honour of the Esama of Benin, Chief Gabriel Osawaru Igbinedion, Soyinka stated that Zamfara's education policy threatened the unity of the country more than the agitation by MASSOB for statehood for the Igbo.
His words: "Although the agitation by the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) had become a nightmare to the entire country, the real signal of secession is the decision and actions of Zamfara State government.
"Are you not aware that Zamfara State has seceded from the nation? Or, let me tell Mr President that Zamfara State has opted out of the federating unit."
But the Zamfara State Commissioner for Information, Alhaji Ibrahim Dan-Maliki Goga, at the weekend told The Guardian that reports suggesting that the state intended to ban non-indigenes from public schools were "false."
"We are not planning to ban non-indigenes from public schools. That was why we introduced school fees for non-indigenes. If you go to our schools you find that 30-40 per cent of the population are non-indigenes. Once any non-indigene is able to afford the schools we are going to charge, admission will be given," he said.
He lamented what he said "is the deliberate misunderstanding of the actions and policies of the state government" although such policies are aimed at improving the lives of the people of the state.
"This is what happened when we came up with the Sharia programmes. So many people think it is a time bomb and Nigeria is going to break as a result of the programmes," he said.
Goga noted that the outcry was hypocritical because Zamfara was not the first state in the country to introduce discriminatory educational policies, warning that any attempt to force the government to change the policy would be futile unless the others were made to change theirs.
'The state government is determined and we have made it a policy. The state executive met and decided to introduce school fees. No amount of pressure from any non-indigene would make us reverse that decision.
"The school fees has come to stay and we want the people living in the state to come to terms with this reality," he said.
Goga scoffed at the idea that the state's policy threatens the unity of Nigeria is scare-mongering. According to him, if the introduction of discriminatory fees by other states did not threaten the existence of the country, then Zamfara's policy would not either.
He said: "In so many states in the federation, particularly in the southern part of the country, non-indigenes are paying (higher) school fees. So, now that we have introduced the same, and it happens to be the last state in the federation that is introducing fees, people are shouting all kinds of noise.
"Zamfara State happens to be one of the most peaceful states in the country and the introduction of school fees would not make it to be the most violent state in the federation."
He said the responsibility of any state government is primarily to its indigenes and the Zamfara State government would not renege on its pledge to its people.
Stressing that the government would not charge its indigenes any fee to attend its public schools because "it is the duty of government to provide all its citizens with free education," he disclosed that the state had recently sent 200 students to India to study on scholarship.
"The federal allocation given to us is for the people of Zamfara. Other states, too, are being provided with similar cash allocation from the Federation Account.
"So, what we are saying is that Zamfara State is going to use the money realised from the federal allocation to ensure that the sufferings of the people, especially in the education sector, is put to rest by way of assisting them, and assuring that whoever among them wants to go to school is enrolled and provided with all the assistance necessary," Goga pledged.
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