Ayodele Fayose, Governor of Ekiti State, says that despite the seeming modesty of President Muhammadu Buhari, his children attended university abroad.
According to Lere Olayinka, Fayose’s spokesman, the Governor made the remarks at the graduation ceremony of Covenant University, Ota, Ogun State, where one of his sons, Ayorogbayimika Fayose, was among the graduands.
Fayose decribed himself as a leader by example, saying none of his children studied abroad, and he had never travelled overseas to seek medical treatment.
He insisted that public office holders have no reason to send their children to universities outside the country, except in cases where courses their courses of interest are not offered by Nigerian universities.
“We talk and do. Whatever we say is what we practice. Apart from the fact that none of my children attended schools abroad, I have never travelled out of the country for medicare,” fayose said.
“Even though the views of people like us might not be popular among the powers that be, because we say the truth and act the truth, we won’t stop telling them what they do not like to hear and one of such is that the only way to improve the standard of education in the country is for children of holders of public office to experience what children of ordinary Nigerians are experiencing in schools in the country.
“During my first tenure as governor, I took my son from a private school and enrolled him in SUBEB Model Primary School in Ado Ekiti. Today again, I am here to witness the graduation of my son and I make bold to say here that none of my children attended tertiary institution outside Nigeria.
“That should be the spirit, not a situation where someone is the minister of education in Nigeria and his children are schooling abroad. And by enforcing this too, we will be saving Nigeria a lot of foreign exchange being wasted on medical and academic tourism.
“Even children of President Muhammadu Buhari that they told us lived a modest life attended universities abroad. Shouldn’t President Buhari have lived by example by enrolling his children in universities in Nigeria?”
Fayose said his administration had invested heavily in the provision of quality education in Ekiti State, “one of the most education-advantaged states” in the country.
“We are first in NECO examinations and we are among the best in WAEC and the only industry in Ekiti State is education and we can’t afford to let it depreciate,” he said.
A total of 1,426 students graduated from Covenant University this academic session, 188 of whom made first class.