Ogun students tell Yayi: Give education 26% of state budget if you become governor

• Ogun students asked Senator Solomon Adeola (Yayi) to dedicate 26% of the state's budget to education if elected governor.

• The demand was made during a solidarity rally in Abeokuta attended by over 10,000 students.

• Students praised Adeola for recently awarding bursaries and scholarships to 5,312 Ogun students and urged him to upgrade campus infrastructure.

• The student movement also pledged to mobilise 250,000 votes for Adeola in the 2027 Ogun governorship election.

The students, under the umbrella of the Students' Wing of the Yayi Progressive Movement, on Wednesday asked the senator to commit to allocating 26 per cent of Ogun State's annual budget to education if he becomes governor in 2027.

They made the demand during a solidarity rally held in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital.

Speaking at the event, the Coordinator of the Students' Wing, Oladotun Opaleye, said the 26 per cent allocation is in line with the education funding benchmark often associated with the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

According to him, students won't just support Adeola's ambition; they will also hold him accountable if he eventually wins the governorship election.

"We have a UNESCO standard of 26 per cent. Apart from the fact that we are supporting him, we are going to be on him to ensure that there is a budgetary allocation of 26 per cent to education."

"I believe that he's going to do it as somebody who has value for qualitative education," he said.

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Opaleye said the rally was organised to appreciate the senator for what he described as his commitment to education, especially after he recently paid bursaries and scholarships to thousands of students across Ogun State.

According to him, over 10,000 students participated in the solidarity walk.

He said: "Just a few days ago, he paid bursaries and scholarships for 5,312 students in Ogun State."

"This is without any precondition. This is no mean feat; no other person in the history of Ogun State has ever done that."

Beyond bursaries, the student leader also urged the senator to improve learning conditions in the state's tertiary institutions by investing in infrastructure such as classrooms, laboratories and other facilities.

"Our campuses are in dire need of infrastructural development. We are hoping that he's going to bring so much development in terms of laboratories, classrooms and things like that."

"We are going to push, and we are hoping that he's going to do that for Nigerian students," he added.

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Opaleye also expressed confidence that students across Ogun State would play a major role in the 2027 governorship election.

He said the movement is already working towards delivering 250,000 votes for Adeola.

"Our target is to ensure that we deliver 250,000 votes for him in the forthcoming 2027 elections."

"By the grace of God, with what is on the ground and the kind of work we are doing, he is going to get it from the students' angle," he said.

The call comes at a time when education funding remains a major issue across Nigeria, with students and education stakeholders repeatedly urging governments to increase investment in schools, infrastructure, research and student welfare.