Former president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Cardinal John Onaiyekan, has attributed mass failures in public examinations conducted by the West African Examination Council (WAEC), National Examination Council (NECO), Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), to neglect of public education in the country.

Onaiyekan, who lamented the appalling condition of citizens in Nigeria, particularly urged lawmakers to come up with laws that would better the lot of the Nigerian populace instead of anti-people laws and policies that would further impoverish the citizenry.

He decried the Nigerian situation where children of the poor in rural communities are still learning under trees after about 64 years of Independence of Nigeria as a sovereign nation.

The former CAN president spoke at the weekend during the graduation and prize-giving ceremony of Pacesetters’ College, Wuye, Abuja where 320 students and pupils graduated.

The Cardinal who equated the school leaving certificate in the past to the first degree now, equally called on the federal government to fix the education sector, while paying adequate attention to the delivery of quality education in rural areas.