Allen Onyema, Obaigbena Seek Collective Action To Reform Nigeria’s Education Sector

Chairman of Air Peace, Allen Onyema and Prince Nduka Obaigbena of Thisday Media Group and Arise News Channel, have called for a collective action to salvage education sector in Nigeria.

Both men made the call on Sunday, October 30, 2022, when they were honoured by the alumni of Government College Ugheli (GCU) in Delta State, for their distinguished role in Nigeria’s Aviation and Media sectors.

The prominent alumi association of GCU Class of Friends honoured Onyema and Obaigbena for their innovation and industry.

While Onyema was awarded “Man of the Year” for his landmark strides in Aviation and his humanitarian interventions, Prince Obaigbena was honoured with the title, “Marina of the Century.” The alumni of GCU  refer to themselves as The Marinas.

The awardees during the ceremony called on well-meaning Nigerians to rally together and make significant contributions in salvaging the country’s education sector.

Onyema and Obaigbena maintained that government alone lacks the capacity to fund the education sector, especially at the tertiary level, and urged corporate individuals to see the need to channel their humanitarian assistance in that direction. Education, according to them, remains the key to national development.

“No government anywhere in the world can fund education alone, especially tertiary education,” said Onyema.  ”You can do that at the primary and secondary schools level, but at the tertiary level, it’s difficult to depend on government alone to fund education.

“So, I call on corporate citizens, the corporate world to show a little more CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) towards helping in the funding of education. I will suggest may be a kind of education tax, because without education we will be no where. Education is the key to everything we desire.

Obaigbena, on his part, charged alumni of schools across the country to see the need to take up projects to improve and sustain teaching and learning in their almae matres, as a means to revive Nigeria’s education sector.

“We all have to wake up together to save education sector in this country… We have to ensure that we fund a means to salvage education because government alone cannot fund education.

“Old boys of every school must first take over their schools as trustees to raise funds for the school,” Obaigbena stated on Sunday during the award ceremony.

Like Allen Onyema, Obaigbena, a media mogul, also recently got the national honours award of the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).