Former Registrar of the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), Dr. Iyi Uwadiae, has called on the Federal Government to prioritize education, stressing that it is fundamental to national development.
Speaking at his 70th birthday dinner, held in his honor by associates and friends at Yellow Chilli, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, he lamented the declining state of the sector and urged the government to take decisive action.
“I am calling on the Federal Government to prioritize educational growth and development by giving it further impetus, in order to arrest its dwindling fortune,” Uwadiae stated. “There is no alternative to education, it is a necessity, it is a foundation for development. It helps citizens to navigate. But unfortunately, we are not doing enough, government is not doing enough to promote education.”
He emphasized the need for proper planning and adequate funding, urging the government to align with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization’s (UNESCO) recommendation of allocating 15 to 20 percent of the national budget to education. Currently, Nigeria’s N3.52 trillion educational budget for 2025 represents only 7.3 percent of the total N49.7 trillion budget, far below the global benchmark.
Recalling an argument with a former education minister about splitting the education system into multiple components, Uwadiae said: “I told him it would not work. But he was telling WAEC to go and organize examinations along that line. I told him the years it requires for curriculum planning and implementation in a nation’s education.”
He pointed to the failure of Nigeria’s 6-3-3-4 education system compared to its successful implementation in Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Gambia, attributing the country’s struggles to poor planning and political interference.
Uwadiae also decried the declining status of educators in society, noting how politicians and even cyber fraudsters now wield more financial power than academics. “It is sad that a councillor is now better than a professor, with a ‘Yahoo’ boy boasting of being capable of paying the salary of a lecturer,” he said.
A more alarming issue, he noted, is the rising number of out-of-school children, driven by financial constraints and a growing disinterest in education. As Nigeria grapples with these challenges, Uwadiae’s call for urgent government intervention echoes the concerns of many who believe education must be placed at the heart of national progress.
