Photograph — Daily Post

It’s barely a month since Bill Gates’ incisive comments on the state of the Nigerian health and education sector. He had firmly criticized the government’s Economic Recovery and Growth Plan for not prioritising human development; emphasizing the role of quality education and health to a prosperous nation.

Over the weekend, in one of the country’s top tertiary education centres owned by the federal government, the University of Ibadan, medical students were the latest at the receiving end of the continuous neglect of the education sector. These students who are set to become medical practitioners in just a few years were thrown out of their hostels earlier this week because they contested the new levies that would result in more than a 100 percent increase in the total fees for a session. 

The pictures below illustrate one of many other issues plaguing Nigeria’s educational sector and why these need to be properly addressed:

The budgetary allocation of Africa’s most populous country to the Education sector has been on a downward trend with 8 percent in 2016, to 7.4 percent in 2017 and now 7.04 percent for 2018. Federal universities have been jacking up their fees in order to measure up.
They are the future of the health sector…and yet, they are being pushed out
The school cut the power, food and water supplies to the students because they dared to disagree! It aligns with the poor treatment often meted out to health professionals who are beginning to leave the country in droves with more than 1, 500 doctors reported to have abandoned the country in the last 2 years.
Evicted students having to camp outside their hostel at night. Clearly, the present is bleak, the future could be total darkness for both sectors. Funding and good policies will determine a brighter day. But for now #SaveIbadanMedicine
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