Tinubu commends Dogara’s contribution to advancement of education 

By: Ajiya Ayuba, Bauchi

President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has applauded the former speaker of the 8th national assembly, Yakubu Dogara’s contribution to the advancement of education in Nigeria. 

He spoke at the foundation laying ceremony for the construction of Yakubu Dogara Institute for Legal and Democratic Studies  (YADILDS) at  Achievers University, Owo Ondo state at the weekend.

Represented by the Minister of State for Education, Suwaiba Ahmad, President Tinubu said: “let me use this medium to thank the former speaker, Yakubu Dogara, and members of his council, for this great project which is in line with our renewed hope agenda to boost educational standard in our dear country. This shows how committed and patriotic the former speaker is towards achieving quality education in Nigeria.”

“I hope that the Yakubu Dogara Institute of Legal and Democratic Studies (YADILDS) will be one of the Centres of Excellence that Nigeria and Africa will be proud of, especially in the area of legal and democratic studies.”

“It is our hope that this project will see the light of the day and, I call on many organizations and philanthropists to make a commitment towards financing this gigantic project that will impact positively, not only on the law and political science students of this great institution, but also the entire Nigerian society and beyond.”

On his part, Dogara noted that there are millions of out-of-school children in Nigeria not because they hate education but because they cannot afford it.  

He noted: “And there’s always a correlation between education and development. Look at all the countries where the level of literacy is high and you will see that advancement trails it. But where the literacy level is low, you will see underdevelopment trailing it.”

He commended President Tinubu’s educational intervention in education through the establishment of Student Education Loan which is helping fund the education of millions of students in the country. 

Dogara said: “ this institute is wonderful in the sense that it speaks of two things that are critical in society or to society. It is dynamic, it is organic but law is the fabric that glues everything on the tapestry that ensures progress of society. Science is wonderful. 

“Perhaps, my first love was to be a scientist. Apparently, I didn’t get to the science school at the end of the day so I ended up becoming a lawyer. But the beauty of the law like I said is it holds everything together. If you remove law and the social fabric collapses, then science itself, although it guarantees advancement, becomes destructive. 

“It just requires somebody pressing a button somewhere for all of us here to be eliminated but what stops that person from pressing that button  is the law. That is why we  always strive to ensure that we expand the boundaries of education beyond just reading books but by studying, understanding the dynamics, and the critical interplay of forces in society. “

“Someone has said democracy is a government by the people, for the people and by the people. Some remarked that it is not the best form of government except for the other ones that we have tried. So democracy, to me, still represents the most progressive idea of governance ever invented by man since the ancient  city state in Greece introduced direct democracy. 

“Democracy itself is a promise, it guarantees nothing. It is a promise that free citizens utilising the promises, the tools of democracy can better govern themselves, better organize themselves so that they can reach out for those potentials in themselves that guarantee progress.” he stressed.