The former President of Nigeria, General Olusegun Obasanjo, has hailed President Akufo-Addo for implementing the free Senior High School policy.
According to him, education was one of the major issues that President Akufo-Addo paid much attention to, regardless of the cost to the nation.
Appreciating President Akufo-Addo for investing in education, Gen. Obasanjo said, “You (Akufo-Addo) said it, and you did it.”
The former Nigerian president was speaking in Accra on Tuesday, July 16, 2024 at the Presidential-Level Briefing on Foundational Learning in Africa.
“Secondly, I know that one of the major issues that you paid attention to when you came into government was education, making it free up to secondary school level, I believe. You said it and you did it,” he said, adding that “I know how much that has cost,” he said.
Referring to statistics, Gen. Obasanjo noted that education was for development and that “without education, there is no development. It’s an issue of development.”
Organised by Human Capital Africa, an advocacy organisation for improved literacy and numeracy skills among African children, the event was a prelude to the 6th Mid-Year Coordination Meeting of the African Union, slated from July 18 to 21, 2024.
The presidential-level briefing was on the theme: “Prioritising foundational literacy and numeracy to achieve African Union Agenda 2063 goals.”
Participants included President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, General Oluṣẹgun Ọbasanjọ, former President of Nigeria; Joyce Banda, former President of Malawi; Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, former President of Tanzania and Chairperson, Global Partnership for Education and Board of Directors; and Ellen Sirleaf Johnson, former President of Liberia.
Others were representatives from the African Union Commission, Aliko Dangote, Founder and President/Chief Executive of the Dangote Group, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, Founder and CEO of Human Capital Africa (HCA), and former World Bank Vice President, Africa Region.
PRIORITY
The event discussed the need for African governments and leaders to prioritise foundational learning to provide the continent with future opportunities and long-term prosperity.
The participants discussed and concluded that there was the need to expand investment in foundational education and skills to ensure that Africa’s youth could contribute to the continent’s socioeconomic progress.
Gen. Obasanjo urged African leaders to implement a lifelong education plan for the continent’s socio-economic growth. He emphasised that education must be considered a matter of life and death to maximise the continent’s human resource potential.
President Akufo-Addo, on his part, prompted Africa to recognise the deficit in education investment.
According to him, the continent was in crisis when it comes to promotion of education even though it is the only path to development for any nation across the world.
“It is important for all of us in leadership on the continent today to recognise, as the data shows that we are in a severe existential crisis. We are not going to be able to overcome the challenges to development, which are the existential crises that we have to confront, unless we get right the reasons why we’re here, foundational learning,” he said.
Telling the Ghana story, he said that the country had accomplished a lot in education since 2017, when he became president.
President Akufo-Addo remarked that education in Ghana had curricular reforms, expansion of infrastructure, motivation of teachers and other improvements, but that “Obviously, still a lot needs to be done.”
“We’re in a position whereby we can say that Ghana is making very serious efforts to come to grips with this matter.
“That’s the first. The second, of course, is to define the interventions that make sense, the interventions that are doable, and that will also have maximum impact,” he emphasised.
