A former Head of State, Retired Gen. Yakubu Gowon, has called for adequate investment in the education sector in order to build a formidable society.
Gowon stated this during a thanksgiving service to mark the 20th anniversary of Africa International College (AIC) and Africa Community School (ACS) in Abuja on Sunday.
Represented by his brother, Mr Dauda Gowon, he said issues in the education sector, such as out-of-school children, school safety and others were intractable, hence the need for involvement of all and sundry.
He commended the school management for giving attention to sporting activities to build both the physical and mental abilities of the students.
“The school is giving attention to sports because it is building the minds; not just the mental but also physical. If your body is weak, your mind could also be weak.
“The school has standard sporting facilities that will allow the minds to rejuvenate when the body is weak.
“Students who graduated from this school are all over the world. They achieve first class degrees; wherever they go, they make a mark, not just in academics but also in manners, character and influence.
“Also, there are lots of issues in the education sector which are intractable. If managers of education will invest in students, we will have good impacts on education,” he said.
Also speaking, the Executive Secretary of the schools, Mrs Caroline Yakubu, said that sporting activities had been discovered to be lucrative, adding that that was why they were encouraged in the school.
“The school is giving attention to sports because we believe if we want to raise a total child, every aspect of the child must be fully developed.
“That is captured in our vision as an institution to cover and develop the potential of the child. So sports are one of the talents we can draw out and help the students to fully develop.
“This is because sport is one of the things that takes the students to a very great height; not only will it help them to be physically fit but also mentally fit and also develop their social skills,” she said.
Chairman of the School’s Board, Mr Nda Yakubu, said that access to funds, land and other infrastructure had been the major challenges facing private school owners in the country.
He advised school owners not to relent in pressing forward in spite all the challenges in order to contribute their own quota toward the development of the country.
Mrs Mary Tebu, a parent, thanked God for the realisation of the vision by management of the school.
Tebu, who described education as the foundation of human day-to-day living and tool for liberation from ignorance, encouraged the school management to continue to strive to educate Nigerian children.