South Africa’s Zuma signs education deal with Nigeria

South African President Jacob Zuma has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on education with Nigerian state governor Rochas Okorocha.

The MoU between the Jacob Zuma Education Foundation and the Rochas Okorocha Foundation College of Africa was penned during the South African leader’s visit to to Nigeria on Saturday.

President Zuma glorified education as the catalyst of Africa’s progress and freedom.

Africans, he said, were carrying the burden imposed on them by the colonialists and the only way they could confront such challenges was through education.

President Zuma spoke in Owerri, the Imo State capital in South East Nigeria where he signed the MoU.

He warned that a nation without education did not have the tool to face challenges.

“I devoted my life for the fight for freedom of my people and Africa, but I have discovered that it is not only freedom that can change the lives of Africans, education is the key as power comes through knowledge and knowledge comes through education.

“We Africans are manipulated by those who benefit from our sufferings,” he said.

“Part of the reasons why I am being attacked in South Africa is because I believe that our rights have been maligned and our people are being exploited by our colonial masters and this can only be corrected through education empowerment of our people which Rochas Foundation is giving,” he said.

President Zuma described Okorocha, the governor of Imo State, as one amongst men who had understood the problems of Africa and knew what to do to correct them.

The President and Founder of Rochas Foundation College of Africa said he was glad that the vision he had 17 years ago had grown.

He said that the Foundation has over 15,000 students across the nation and over four thousand graduates in different fields.

President Zuma, noted Okorocha, had travelled widely for charity and humanitarian reasons.

Okorocha said he had dedicated 75 percent of his wealth to charity.