To Have Prosperity, We Must Raise Education Standard – Gov Makinde

The Governor of Oyo State, Seyi Makinde, has said nations cannot develop with natural resources alone without education.

Naijaonpoint reports that Governor Makinde noted that Venezuela with a large oil reserve is poor, but Finland without oil is rich.

He stated this on Friday while responding to a sermon delivered by Bishop Williams Aladekungbe of Ibadan North Anglican Diocese at the funeral service of his older brother, Olufunmilayo Sunday Makinde, held at the Bishop Akinyele Memorial Anglican Church, Ibadan.

The Governor emphasized the need for more investment to be put into education to empower the citizens. He stressed that, like coal, the world may move out of oil.

“While preaching, the Bishop raised some issues. He said Nigeria does not have any reason to be poor because we do have natural resources. But natural resources alone do not lead to prosperity and that is just the reality.

“The country with the highest reserve of oil in this entire world is Venezuela and it is poor. So, to have prosperity, we must raise entrepreneurs and raise the standard of education.

“I was in Finland with my team, and I tried to make enquiries on why the country got so developed. I asked if they had oil, they said no. I asked if they had gold and silver and they said no. I asked of what they have and they said it is education,” he said.

Governor Makinde called for a shift of focus from natural resources alone to an economy that can withstand storms.

“So, in Oyo State, since we came in six years ago, we resolved to meet and exceed the UNESCO recommendation on education by allocating over 20 percent of our budget to the sector, it is because we know that some people will need to be entrepreneurs to turn the natural resources into something that can take us out of poverty.

“Yes, God has blessed us, and we should be thankful to Him for that. The first Industrial Revolution was coal. Nigeria was rich then because we had coal, but nobody is using it again because the world has moved to oil. Very soon, they will move away from oil to something else.

“So, we must be prepared. We must go beyond depending on natural resources to having an economy that can weather all storms,” he stated.