A lot of people have called to remind me that he is my friends father. If you know my trajectory, you will know that I love Bolanle Austen Peters to a fault.
But this is not about persons but about the sorry state of our nation and its continued glide into hopelessness.
You may also want to ask why I have pulled in Indimie into the matter. He was once reported to have offered a foreign school $100m at some point. Reported .
So now let me state my case very clearly. I refuse to agree with the popular notion that it’s his money, he can spend it anyhow he wants’
At that level of wealth, society expects a different engagement with it. Society expects that you give back and should give back.
You can not say that I have given enough and as such I will no longer give.
Let it be that you are not a giver, and we will understand that, but when you give with fan fare with no immediate correlation or value to your trigger society, then I have a problem.
So he has built a university and a college of medicine. He has done so well with Unilag and has given out countless scholarships and continues to be a flag bearer in philanthropic engagements in the space.
So cos of this the problem is over?. Remember, I have said if he wasn’t playing the philanthropic card in education, then maybe I would not be writing this.
Or do you see me even answer Dangote who has been buying Arsenal for ever when he doesn’t even knw what is happening to Kano Pillars or the young gun who is being reported to be gunning for the British club when no football team in his part of the country has a training pitch.
No. My grouse is with Mr Afe Babalola, who by this action is telling us very candidly that we no longer have any problem in the educational sector.
That infrastructure has been sufficiently provided and every child of school going age is in school and every indigent child can pay their fees and as such we should go and fund a British university so that African studies can better be researched there.
Then you will say, is he government and I will say we have been shouting that Government should pull out of tertiary education and allow the private sector to take over.
This woud solve the perennial ASUU problem, open up more schools as more resources will be pushed in and with the increased regulation that will come from the freeing up of funds we would begin to see light at the end of a dark tunnel.
But with actions like this, you will see that the private sector is really not ready.
If you are not a philanthropist in education, I keep repeating you will not get this my article but you cdnt have increased fees from N3.5m to 6.4m over a three year period and be dashing a British university what we have heard has been dashed.
His Ekiti state is in basic lack. We have over 20m out of school children, and our schools are no better than refugee camps, but we find it expedient to play to a global gallery.
My arguments may not hit pay dirt. However, no matter what, this will never sit well with me, and I will continue standing where I am standing on this matter.
Why are our elites like this. The other one says he is running an Aftica wide foundation and disburses so much funds across the continent, but what percentage is coming to Nigeria entrepreneurs whose markets you generate these resources.
My people, this is the things that kill me, and I am sorry, I can’t be emotional about this.
It’s just a very wrong move. Pls sir, If the check has not cleared, please collect t it back and come and invest it in your school.
My prayer is that I hope it was one of these our bank apps that he used to transfer the moeny so that network will catch it and reverse it.
Abeg
Duke of Shomolu
