By Henry Umoru

DEPUTY  President of the Senate, Ike Ekweremadu, yesterday, said the days where Nigeria  relied on oil was over, just as he urged the government   to look beyond oil if we must secure economic prosperity for the country.

According to him, it has become imperative to diversify sources of foreign exchange and put aside oil as the nation’s main source of revenue.

Speaking in Abuja at the one year anniversary of the Brickhall School, Abuja, founded by former Chairman, Senate Committee on Education, Senator Joy Emodi, Ekweremadu regretted that while the fruits of massive investment in human capital development made by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo through free education in the old Western Region; the late Nnamdi Azikiwe and the late Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sarduana of Sokoto in the Eastern; the late Northern Region were still being reaped by Nigeria, education has been subsequently neglected.

The senator, however, underscored the fact that the way to go for sustainable growth of the country is education from birth to adulthood.

He said: “Our economy is in the throes of pain today because we thought the oil windfall would last forever. Even while it lasted, we dismantled all the necessary structures, such as fiscal federalism, that would have encouraged competitive development and massive investment in human capital to enable us maximize our vast potentials as a nation.

“Without prejudice to the place of petroleum resources in our national life, we must face the reality that the days of oil as super earner of foreign exchange are numbered, if not over. Those who still look up to petroleum resources for the revival of Nigeria’s weather-beaten economy live in the past and are only building castles in the air”.

He urged other privately-owned educational institutions to emulate the Brickhall School in providing high standard, but pocket-friendly education, tasking government and public-spirited individuals and businesses to prioritise support to educational institutions, whether private or public, through the provision of adequate supervision, infrastructure, grants, donations, and tax rebates.

He commended  Emodi for exhibiting the drive for excellence and national development through  provision of quality education, adding, “Importantly, Brickhall School has demonstrated that private-owned educational facilities could provide high quality education at affordable costs and devoid of exploitation.”

Earlier in   her opening remarks,  Emodi, who also urged governments at all levels to invest heavily in education, stressed that she was propelled by her training and the decay in the education system observed during he tenure as the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Education to better the nation’s education sector in her private capacity.