The Chairman, The Maiden Grand Home-Coming of The Alumni of College of Postgraduate Studies, University of Nigeria, Nsukka Prof. Florence Onyebuchi Orabueze, has called for a policy requiring elected and appointed public office holders in Nigeria to educate their children in the country’s schools, arguing that such a move would compel leaders to invest in the nation’s education sector and other public institutions.
Orabueze, the Director, Institute of Maritime Studies, University of Nigeria, Enugu Campus, made the call during an interview with Freedom Square Tv, by Uchenna Cyril Anioke Ph.D, where she reflected on the state of education, governance and national development.
According to the scholar, Nigeria’s political leaders have shown insufficient commitment to improving public education because many of them rely on foreign schools for their children’s education.
She argued that meaningful reforms would only occur when those in positions of authority become direct stakeholders in the system they oversee.
“Any government that is serious, any government that feels it is working for the people and wants the educational system to survive in Nigeria, the first thing it should do is make a law that if you want to run this country, your children must live and study in Nigeria,” she said.
Orabueze maintained that such a policy would have a ripple effect beyond education, extending to healthcare and other critical public services.
According to her, many public officials patronise foreign hospitals and educational institutions because they are insulated from the challenges confronting ordinary Nigerians.
“It is not only the educational system that will benefit. It will also affect health and even security because our politicians and many other leaders have their children abroad. Almost all of them do. When they are sick, they also travel abroad. Since they are not affected by the poor state of our institutions, they do not feel the urgency to improve them,” she stated.
The professor lamented what she described as the steady decline in Nigeria’s educational standards, citing deteriorating infrastructure, overcrowded hostels, obsolete library resources and inadequate learning facilities across public universities.
Drawing from her decades-long experience as a student, lecturer and professor at the University of Nigeria, Orabueze said the country’s tertiary education system has witnessed a significant decline compared to earlier decades.
“The truth is that there is no doubt that the educational system has gone down. Look at the infrastructure. Look at the hostels where students live. Look at the libraries with outdated books. Many facilities that supported quality education have either deteriorated or disappeared,” she said.
She recalled that Nigerian universities once attracted international students and maintained facilities that ranked among the best on the continent.
According to her, institutions such as the University of Nigeria were once recognised for academic excellence, vibrant exchange programmes and functional teaching hospitals that served not only Nigerians but also visitors from other African countries.
The academic attributed much of the decline to poor policy implementation and inadequate political will, stressing that leaders who depend on foreign institutions for essential services often lack the motivation to strengthen local systems.
Beyond government responsibility, Orabueze urged citizens to demand greater accountability from public officials and to support efforts aimed at rebuilding confidence in Nigeria’s educational institutions.
She expressed optimism that the country could restore its educational standards if leaders demonstrated genuine commitment to reforms and invested adequately in infrastructure, research, staff welfare and student development.
The professor, who has spent virtually her entire academic career at the University of Nigeria—where she earned her bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees before rising through the ranks to become a professor—said education remains the foundation upon which every other sector of national development depends.
She argued that no nation can attain sustainable development without first investing deliberately in quality education, adding that the future of Nigeria would largely depend on the decisions made today regarding its schools and universities.
“Our leaders must understand that education is not an expense; it is an investment. Once they have confidence enough to entrust their own children to Nigerian schools, the reforms that our educational system desperately needs will naturally follow,” she said.