Mkpoikana Udoma
Port Harcourt — Former Anambra State Governor and Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi, has called for deeper public accountability and moral responsibility following allegations surrounding the immediate past Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Midstream and Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Authority, NMDPRA, Farouk Ahmed, over the reported cost of his children’s education abroad.
Obi’s intervention followed claims by Aliko Dangote, President of the Dangote Group, that Ahmed allegedly spent about $5 million on the secondary school education of his four children in Switzerland, an allegation that has since triggered widespread public debate and calls for investigation.
In a strongly worded statement, Obi stressed that the controversy goes beyond personal choice and enters the realm of public responsibility, particularly in a country grappling with deep social inequality and an education crisis.
“The issue here is not education itself, but scale, context, and moral consequence, especially when such spending is attributed to a public official in a country with extreme inequality,” Obi stated.
He noted that at current exchange rates, the alleged $5 million, about N7.5 billion, could fundamentally transform access to education for thousands of Nigerian children, especially in a country with over 18 million out-of-school children, the highest number globally.
Obi argued that such resources, if deployed locally, could establish a self-sustaining education ecosystem, capable of educating 6,000 children annually, employing 450 teachers, and funding infrastructure, salaries, and learning materials indefinitely.
“In effect, the system becomes permanently self-funding, without touching the original capital,” he said, outlining a model where education infrastructure is supported by long-term investment yields.
Drawing a broader moral contrast, Obi said the debate reflects a deeper national dilemma about privilege and responsibility in public life.
“The Farouk controversy is not merely about one man. It is a mirror held up to our collective conscience, asking whether privilege will continue to coexist comfortably with abandonment, or whether responsibility will finally rise to meet opportunity,” he said.
He further warned that neglecting education carries far-reaching consequences for governance and national stability, invoking the words of Plato that “when education is neglected, the damage does not stop with children, it spreads to everything else.”
Obi concluded by urging Nigeria’s political and economic elite to see education not just as a private investment, but as a national imperative capable of reshaping the country’s future.
“An educated society produces better governance, safer communities, stronger institutions, and a more dignified nation,” he said, adding, “A new Nigeria is possible.”
