- Safiu Kehinde
The 2023 Labour Party’s Presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has disclosed how the $5 million alleged used by former Managing Director of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority (NMDPRA), Farouk Ahmed, in sponsoring the secondary school education of his four children would have provided quality education for 6,000 children with Nigeria also earning N1.1 billion annually.
Obi made the disclosure while reacting to the allegation made against Farouk.
NPO Reported that Nigerian billionaire businessman, Aliko Dangote, had made the allegation against the former NMDPRA boss with a release of information revealing how Farouk had disbursed the huge amount in funding his children’s secondary education in Switzerland.
Dangote had demanded probe on how the NMDPRA boss accumulated such amount of money as a civil servant with the Africa’s richest man petitioning the Independent Corrupt Practises and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC).
This had led to the resignation of Farouk from his position as the NMDPRA Mananging Director.
Reacting in a statement issued on his official X handle on Monday, Obi analysed how the said $5 million, which, according to recent foreign exchange value, will be approximately N7.5 billion, would have greatly benefitted Nigeria’s education sector and also generate revenue for the country.
“With ₦7.5 billion, it would be possible to build 25 school blocks, at ₦35 million per block, fully covering construction, furnishing, and basic learning infrastructure.
“This amounts to ₦875 million in capital expenditure. Each block contains 6 classrooms.Each classroom accommodates 40 students.
“That means: 240 students per block 25 blocks × 240 students = 6,000 students educated every year Each block would employ 18 teachers, giving a total of 450 teachers.
“At a monthly salary of ₦125,000, each teacher earns ₦1.5 million per year, bringing the total annual wage bill to ₦675 million.
“After construction (₦875 million) and one full year of teacher salaries (₦675 million), total expenditure is ₦1.55 billion. This leaves ₦5.95 billion from the original ₦7.5 billion.
“If the remaining ₦5.95 billion is invested in Nigerian government bonds at 19%, it would yield approximately ₦1.13 billion annually.
“From this yield, allocating ₦10 million per school block per year for libraries, laboratories, utilities, learning materials, meals, and maintenance would cost: ₦250 million annually (₦10m × 25 blocks)
“This still leaves ₦880 million per year. From this balance: ₦675 million comfortably pays teachers’ salaries every year.
“Over ₦200 million remains as surplus, ensuring reserves, expansion, and long-term stability.
“In effect, the system becomes permanently self-funding, without touching the original capital.” Obi wrote.
The former Anambra state governor further disclosed that getting same amount of money from 2,400 individuals like Farouk would have helped in construction of 60,000 school blocks across the country with 14.4 milliion students adequately educated annually.
This, according to him, would have created a self-sustaining education ecosystem for Nigeria.
“The Larger Question Nigeria has a population of about 240 million people.
“In a system described by former British Prime Minister David Cameron as “fantastically corrupt,” and by the U.S. President Donald Trump as “a now disgraced country,” it is reasonable to assume that there are at least 2,400 individuals – just 0.0001% of the population – who, like the Farouks, have access to extraordinary resources largely derived from public office. If 2,400 individuals each sacrificed $5 million, it will achieve the following: