Invest 10%Constituency Allowance in Education, CRUTECH Alumni Tells Lawmakers

Bassey Inyang in Calabar

The Cross River State University of Technology (CRUTECH) Alumni Association has called on every indigene of the state in the National Assembly to invest at least 10 per cent of their constituency allowances in education.

The National President of the association, Mr. Eyam Abeng, who made this known while briefing journalists in Calabar on the poor condition of education in the state, said there is an urgent need for every action to be taken to reverse the trend.

Abeng described the poor standard of education in the state as worrisome and needs urgent attention from all indigenes. He said though the state government is doing its best to revive the sector, stakeholders at all levels should support its efforts to invest in education or risk destroying the future of the next generation.

The president, who regretted that Cross Riverians are not feeling the impact of the lawmakers, especially in the area of education, said in other states, National Assembly members attract a lot of federal projects to their states tertiary institutions.

“The task to develop the education sector in Cross River cannot be left to the state government alone. What are the National Assembly members doing with their constituency allowances? If things continue like this we may risk destroying the next generation because of our poor standard of education.

“I have travelled to over 20 states in Nigeria which includes states in the South-west, South-east and some states in the South-south geopolitical zones. I have seen how federal lawmakers attract projects to their state owned tertiary institutions especially but here, they don’t seem to have any interest in the education sector.

“We have heard that the federal government is about to commence disbursement of their constituency allowances. Before now information like this was exclusively reserved for government officials but today, we are all aware. So I want to urge our NASS members to invest at least 10 per cent of their constituency allowances in education.”

This he said will go a long way in tackling the high rate of criminal activities in the state as “many young people involved in crime are suffering from poverty of the brain which is a product of the fallen standard of education in the state and Nigeria at large.”

While commending the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Anthony OwanEnoh for the rapid infrastructure development at the university, he appealed to the state government to invest more in CRUTECH.
“Cross River economy and indeed Nigerian economy can only grow in an atmosphere of quality education. If we must overcome our economic challenges as a state, the government should be ready to invest more in CRUTECH.

“I want to reiterate our call on the state government to establish an education endowment fund where all firms operating in the state will be compelled by law to invest one per cent of their profit before tax annually to the development of education in the state,” Abeng stated.

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