During my secondary school days, I recalled that economics was one of the compulsory subjects offered by us in senior class one to three. Economics teaches students how to weigh different choices and alternatives. It is a subject that gives one a clue on what to do when entangled with varied unlimited needs. The important of economics is what we cannot rule in our private, social and business life.
It was from this very subject, I came to realization that the term “wants and needs’’ are two different things. From the study, I understood that the former is simply a necessity and something we cannot do without while the latter referred to what we desire to have but do not necessarily needs them.
These two words clearly depict various shade of opinion on the proposed new state-own University in Kogi State. As was the usual style of critics of Governor Yahaya Bello’s actions and policies, many people have started picking holes on the proposed University following Kogi government’s resolve to establish one in Adavi local government of Kogi State.
Pundits had added that the proposed University is not really the need of Kogi people as we already have an existing University. This school of thought has justified the existing State-owned University long established by late Prince Abubakar Audu at Anyigba. They hinted that with the creation of Kogi State, there was no single University and it was justifiable to have one then and therefore condemn in totality the move by the State government to establish a new one.
They described Governor Bello’s resolve as waste of State meagre resources. They termed the creation of a new State University as political and one aimed at advancing tribal motivated interest in the State.
As sound and intelligent their summation might look to some people; notwithstanding, the writer of this article have a contrary opinion.
To make my point clearer, when the first State-owned University was established by late Audu’s administration in the year 1999, the total population of the Kogi State hover within the range of 2Million. The existing State University was projected to feed the 2Milllion population then and as at now, the same Kogi population has increased to 3Million and it is expected to go further than this in the next years.
This is why I considered their stance as not tenable enough. I have a question for my reader. Has there been any period when the existing State-owned University absorbs all those seeking University admission in the State? I will not be wrong to say not even one-quarter of those who applied to Kogi State University Anyigba in the past years had been admitted.
To buttress my point also, the federal government of Nigeria has University in each State of the federation, yet she still considers it necessary to come up with new one as part of the necessity of the people. Some States were even privilege to have two to three federal own-Universities. Can we therefore say there is no need for any new federal University in any State of the Federation following the existence of the former? Despite the presence of not less than fifty Universities in Nigeria, they have not been able to meet the overall intake of University admission seeker.
Going by my explanation, we should therefore use our common sense before condemning Governor Bello.
– Shaibu Stephen Ojate, a Journalist and Public Affairs commentator, writes from Abuja.
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