by Dyepkazah Shibayan,
Ayodele Fayose, governor of Ekiti state, on Friday said all his children are studying in the country.
According to Lere Olayinka, spokesman of the governor, Fayose said this at Covenant University, Ota, Ogun state, while attending the convocation ceremony of Ayorogbayimika, his son.
The governor said the standard of education in the county will improve if public office holders enrol their children in Nigerian universities.
He said the country would save foreign exchange if public officers are compelled to have their children school in the country.
“Even children of President Muhammadu Buhari that they told us lived a modest life attended universities abroad,” he said.
“Shouldn’t President Buhari have lived by example by enrolling his children in universities in Nigeria?”
The governor said there was no reason for children of public office holders to study outside Nigeria, except in cases where the courses they are interested in are not offered in the country.
“We talk and do. Whatever we say is what we practice. Apart from the fact that none of my children attended schools abroad, I have never travelled out of the country for medicare,” Fayose said.
“Even though the views of people like us might not be popular among the powers that be because we say the truth and act the truth, we won’t stop telling them what they do not like to hear and one of such is that the only way to improve the standard of education in the country is for children of holders of public office to experience what children of ordinary Nigerians are experiencing in schools in the country.
“During my first tenure as governor, I took my son from a private school and enrolled him in SUBEB model primary school in Ado Ekiti. Today again, I am here to witness the graduation of my son and I make bold to say here that none of my children attended a tertiary institution outside Nigeria.
“That should be the spirit not a situation where someone is the minister of education in Nigeria and his children are schooling abroad. And by enforcing this too, we will be saving Nigeria a lot of foreign exchange being wasted on medical and academic tourism.”
The governor said he would continue to ensure that Ekiti maintains its position as “leaders in the education sector.”
