According to the Minister of Solid Minerals Development, Dr. Dele Alake, schools in Nigeria charging tuition in foreign currencies fuels demand for dollars and puts pressure on the naira, describing it as a major loophole weakening the nation’s economy, said he would propose to the Federal Executive Council (FEC) that all such schools be closed.
Speaking in Abuja during the Nigeria Gold Day Celebration at the 10th Nigeria’s Mining Week, themed “Nigeria Mining: From Progress to Global Relevance,” Alake said, “If your child is schooling in Abuja or Lagos and paying in pounds or dollars, you will be looking for naira to buy dollars, driving its value up. You can’t go to the UK, establish a school, and charge in naira it’s not done,” he said.
Alake stressed that Nigeria must change its value system to support productive and constructive activities that strengthen the economy. He also highlighted the government’s digital reforms to block leakages in the gold value chain, citing the National Gold Purchase Programme (NGPP) implemented through the Solid Minerals Development Fund (SMDF) as a key initiative to curb corr¥ption and boost foreign reserves.
