The Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, has called for the shutdown of Nigerian schools that charge tuition fees in foreign currencies.
He made this known on Wednesday in Abuja during the Nigeria Gold Day Celebration, held as part of the 10th Nigeria Mining Week with the theme “Nigeria Mining: From Progress to Global Relevance.”
Dr. Alake said the act of collecting school fees in dollars or pounds contributes to the leakages in Nigeria’s economy and poses a threat to its growth.
“I will soon propose to the Federal Executive Council that all schools in Nigeria charging in foreign currencies should be closed,” he said.
According to him, such practices increase the demand for dollars and weaken the naira. “If your child attends a school in Nigeria and you’re paying $10,000 or £10,000, that means you’ll have to buy dollars with naira, which drives the dollar rate up,” he added.
He further noted that it is unfair for schools in Nigeria to demand foreign currency payments when no one can go to the UK and charge school fees in naira. “It’s only in Nigeria that we see such things that harm the economy,” he said.
The minister also said that the Federal Government is working on new digital systems to block all leakages in the country’s gold value chain. This, he explained, will reduce corruption and make Nigeria’s gold a major global asset.
Alake added that the government’s National Gold Purchase Programme (NGPP), run through the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF), aims to boost Nigeria’s foreign reserves and strengthen the naira. Through this programme, the government buys gold directly from local miners in naira instead of using foreign exchange to import it.
The Executive Director of SMDF, Fatima Shinkafi, said that gold exploration in Nigeria is growing, unlike in other parts of the world. She urged investors to take advantage of Nigeria’s gold opportunities and support the minister’s efforts.
“We believe that by next year’s Nigeria Gold Day, we’ll be celebrating a major turning point,” she said.
The Nigeria Mining Week is organized by the Miners Association of Nigeria in partnership with PricewaterhouseCoopers and the VUKA Group. It runs from October 13 to 15.
—Punch
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