Former president of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo has said that his administration invested heavily in the education system.
The former ruler who was president from 1999-2007, said teachers called the jumbo allowance “Gbemu Aremu”
Obasanjo’s middle name is Aremu, while ‘Gbemu’ is a Yoruba word that means windfall.
The former president stated this on Tuesday while speaking at the Education summit in the House of Representatives.
He said his admistration was so good to teachers and lecturers most of them built houses and bought cars.
He said: “In my time, we had it. And if any government had done anything for ASUU, my government did. They all started buying cars and building houses. Even primary schools teachers started buying cars. They called it ‘Gbemu Aremu.’”
Obasanjo also state that Nigeria must end the high out-of-school children before they become the next Boko Haram.
He explained that over 20 million children are out of school and their inability to have skills that would make productive might make them easy target for extremists.
In his remarks, the Speaker, Femi Gbajabiamila, warned that issues that led to the eight-month strike have not been resolved. He said the country must have a tough conversation on funding education.
He also stated that Senate was yet to pass the student loan bill he sponsored in 2019. He appealed to the upper chamber to concur with the bill.
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