Former deputy national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George, has flayed moves by old students of King’s College, Lagos, to take over control of the school.
He said last week, some notable elders from Lagos state visited President Bola Tinubu during his year-end celebrations to discuss taking over the control of the school by old students.
Chief George in a statement he signed stated that any curious mind should have used such a visit to discuss issues of utmost concern about Lagos state which he said is in its worst dilapidated state of decadence, socially and economically.
“I strongly believe it was also an opportunity for the elders to tell the president the true situation of things in the country.
“But to the chagrin of many of us, particularly Lagosians, whose expectations were high, nothing about the visit has been heard on what transpired between the elders and their host.
“Instead of discussing these urgent state and national issues, I was told some of these elders, who are old students of the prestigious King’s College in Lagos, told the president they wanted to take over the school.
“They even made the president an Honorary member of their Old Students’ Association, somebody who did not attend the school. All Nigerians know the story and history behind King’s College, a Federal Government school. How do these elders even think the government will hand over the school to them to run as a private enterprise?
“How do they intend to run the school? What is the blueprint? What are their education plans? Will old students of Queen’s College also ask for a similar favour from the president?” Chief George asked.
He stated that it is a well-known fact that those elders are prominent Lagosians from Lagos Island, the foremost commercial centre in Nigeria.
“I expected the elders to have made the issue of rehabilitation or overhauling of decayed infrastructural facilities in the state their utmost priority during their visit to the president.”
Chief George noted that the visiting elders from Lagos also missed the golden opportunity to demonstrate to the president the urgent need for the rehabilitation of the teeming youth population in the state, who are unemployed and economically stranded in their hundreds of thousands.
“They should have advocated for programmes aimed at lifting these individuals out of poverty through skills acquisition, in order to curtail the nefarious activities associated with social vices that have become prevalent across the state.”
He noted that issues concerning the rehabilitation of roads in the outskirts of Lagos, such as the Lagos-Abeokuta Express Road and Mile 2-Badagry Road, should have been a matter of urgent concern for the elders.
