In an informal chat with “ Daily Sketch” (a defunct Nigerian newspaper) on May 17, 1983 that was four years before his transition to the world beyond, Papa Obafemi Awolowo – the foremost Nigerian politician and a second-to-none statesman of Nigeria stated that “any society that attempts to stifle intellectual opinion merely does so at its own peril”, because as he rightly observed, by nature of division of labor in the society, universities are certainly the ears and eyes of the nation it is therefore the duty of any government committed to democratic principles and ideals to ensure that its universities function in an atmosphere of unfettered academic freedom. All he was saying then was that the need for students to secure university scholarship should not be a Herculean task.

When asked about what he would like to be remembered for he said: “I would like to be remembered for helping to build a strong and united multi-ethnic state. I want to be remembered for creating the basis for an irreversible revolution in education, in provision of social amenities and in the fight for social justice in Nigeria. I have not yet succeeded in all these but I have set a pattern which no other Nigerian can ignore or reverse. What an incontestable altruism because before he ever came into Nigeria’s political scene and after his demise on May 9, 1987 no other living or dead Nigerian has been able to get near the record of papa’s achievements let alone break them.

It was his administration, even when the country was still under the colonial rule, that would be the first to provide free education at all levels, free health scheme, the first modern day stadium in Nigeria, the first television network in the country and industries to cater for the need of his people, fundamental rights and general welfare. By the time he took over the reign of government, he raised the number of scholarship for the indigenes of the region from five to 200 and even ensured that loans given to students for tuition and upkeep were written off and it is quite a pity that all papa’s legacies are now in the drains since his successors only paid lip service to the painstaking efforts.

It is quite a shame today that owing to lackadaisical attitudes of the powers that be, our education industry is in total shambles, the gates of nearly all our universities are always shut because of the ceaseless rifts between the government and the academic union. Today the standard of education, in the country, has fallen so low to an extent that it is nothing to write home in the world university index, this is because our policy makers in the education industry care less about the future of the grassroots populace because their own children are abroad pursuing qualitative education at the nation’s expense.
Our focus is always on how our young ones can have easy access to grants and scholarships that will enable them pursue and catch the proverbial Golden Fleece abroad.

Today, we still offer to everyone “The Scholarship and Grant Guide” which can put an end to time wasting, scholarship searching efforts they must have been making for quite some time.

Author's Bio: 

Ade Adenekan is the Executive Director of Pan-African Reconciliation Center (PARC) and African Center for Peace Education (ACPET), a self improvement blogger and enthusiast. In case this article is of appeal to you, feel free to get more of it at www.pafrec.org/journal