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Nigeria urged to ignore Turkey over school closure

Nigerian Turkish Nile Univeristy - Library

Nigerian Turkish Nile Univeristy – Library

The Managing Director of Nigerian Turkish international colleges said Nigeria should disregard the request by Turkey’s Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr Hakan Cakil, to close down the schools.

Orhan Kertim, in a statement said the envoy’s call contained misleading information and would not have dignified it with a response.

According to Kertim, the schools have been operating in Nigeria since 1998 and as law-abiding schools they owe Nigerians a duty to expose the ulterior motives of the ambassador.

“The NTIC is not a Turkish government- run institution, but a privately funded institution by a group of Turkish investors.

“As a responsible organisation operating in Nigeria since 1998, we are conversant with the laws of the land’’, he added

Kertim, however, said the call by Cakil “is not only baseless, but also unfounded and of poor taste.’’

The government of Turkey through Cakil had on Thursday alerted the Nigerian government on the existence of the schools “owned by suspected terrorists.’’

The ambassador called on Nigeria to shut down the schools just as the Turkish government did in Turkey.

But Kertim urged the public to ignore and disregard the statement by the Turkish ambassador.

“ Our schools are fully functional and will continue to be’’, he stressed.

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