By Inalegwu Shaibu
ABUJA—THE Senate has confirmed former Oyo State Commissioner of Education, Professor Taoheed Adedoja, as a Minister of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, in replacement of the former Minister of State for Finance, Mr. Remi Babalola.

Professor Adedoja, who was yesterday confirmed after a two and half hour screening, blamed the collapse of Nigeria’s education sector on obsolete and poor policy.

Answering questions from senators on why the education sector was in total disarray, despite huge government investment over the years, Professor Adedoja told the senators that poor policy, insufficient funding, lack of instructional materials, frequent shut down of schools and poor staff welfare were  the factors militating against the growth of the nation’s education sector.

He said: “Nigeria, as a country, has had education policy since the 1970s. It is sad to note that the national policy that should impact development in this country has never been reviewed.

“Nigeria has suffered neglect in the education sector, the poor performances are as a result of negligence.  In the last 15 years, schools have been shut down 71 times, instructional materials are not sufficient and today, parents of students care less about what they do in schools.”

Professor Adedoja, further lamenting the decay in the education sector, said it was so bad that Nigerian universities were not in the first 50 best universities in Africa, stressing that for the nation’s education sector to move forward, there must be periodic reviewing of education policy, including adequate funding.

At the conclusion of the screening, Senate President, Senator David Mark, who also expressed concern over falling standard of education in the country, charged the new minister to work hard to resuscitate the nation’s education sector.

He said:   “I think we need to do something about our ranking, not only in Africa, but also internationally as well.

“If you go through the net, we are not among the first 1000 universities in the world. I think we are around 4000 or thereabout. For me, that is not good for a nation yearning for development in all facets.”