CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.
"You don't believe me, do you?"
"Why should I believe you? When you called this whole country; as big as it is a barber's shop."
"Then what is this country?"
"Are you an alien? Even a baby knows this country is called Nigeria."
"Called you said, but what really is this country?
It is one thing to be called; it is another thing to be."
"What are you driving at?"
"I am not driving, even if I wanted to; where is the fuel? The best is to ride in a cart. pata pata pata …
The other day, I saw a filling station been used as a reception venue."
"Tell me something..."
"In the absence of fuel and cars to be refueled business must go on.
The fuel-less station was hired out for “owambe”.
Rather than cars I saw plastic chairs arranged neatly for the guests."
"The Mc and live band must have been imported
May be the petrol attendants were the ushers."
"How long have you been patronizing the barber's shop?"
"When we were kids, it was ordinary scissors they used to cut our hair and in the absence of the small scissors, they used the tailor's big scissors."
"Are you serious?"
"That was when Buhari was fighting war against indiscipline.
We heaved a sigh of relief when Babangida came with MAMSER, the mass mobilization thing. Jerry the talking Gana advised them;if you are a barber, barb well and they came with manual clippers chuku chuku chuku... hahahahahah. It tickled our spines each time it touched the back of our necks”
“I am sure Babangida meant ‘if you are a thief, steal well.”
“IBB as a double edged sword, they introduced comb and razor to barb us and officially HIV/AIDS was launched into the Nigerian mainstream."
"Quietly, the electric clipper set in, though it was a luxury.
With the drive for everything foreign, electric clippers took over the industry and before we could spell NEPA, low shedding was introduced.
In those days, barbers kept face caps as emergency bail out. Your hair could be half cut and NEPA will just strike. When we can't wait anymore we wore the caps to escape cynical looks on the way home."
"Abacha was held captive in Aso Rock by AL-Mustapha and Frank Omenka; he was never briefed about the decaying power situation."
"The barbers went a step further to become one of the highest generator patronizing groups in Nigeria. We heaved a sigh of relief as we could now go to the barber's shop without thinking of leaving with half barbed hair and face caps that were not out ours."
"But Obasanjo made them to pay exorbitantly for fuel and barbers charged us higher for it. We didn't mind though, all we wanted was to cut our hair and look smart for the girls or for interviews and subsequently for our customers."
"Now, there are no more caps in the barber's shop and Yar'adua is on sick leave."
“Here I sit, as PHCN has struck again, this time even with high cost of fuel; the barber's generator lies empty. The barber could not see fuel anywhere to buy at any rate. The barber leaves me with my half barbed hair and murmurs to himself as if that will save the situation. I am left in a barber's shop to worry about my fate."
"Talking about passengers without a driver on the wheels of a cart; pulled by two bulls to save fuel."
"Yes, Nigeria is truly a barber’s shop. As I sit wondering to myself how long it will take this barber to get fuel, if at all he will return with fuel or if he will come back with only an empty gallon."
"This barber's shop called Nigeria, and they said no going back on deregulation? When there is no fuel except scarcity and corruption to deregulate."
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Sunday, December 20, 2009
Thursday, December 10, 2009
BEFORE I DIE---
CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.
Before I die, can you be kind enough to stop killing me on the pages of the newspapers, and on the streets of your mouths?
Before I die allow me to pick my own successor in the manner Obasanjo hand picked me.
Before I die allow me to declare a state of emergency in the power sector and deregulate the petroleum sector.
Before I die, I need your patience to complete my electoral reforms and go on with the dredging of the River Niger.
Before I die, please excuse me to marry my daughters to more governors.
Before I die please grant amnesty to my ill-health as I did to the militants in the creeks.
What is the price I will not pay for patriotism? I will die for my fatherland. But I am not just dying of ill health. I am dying more of heart break. My two chambers in the National Assembly could not sit for me to present a budget proposal to drive home my seven points agenda. My promise to generate six thousand mega watts of electricity is reclining.
Before I die permit me to transfigure at Aso Rock and build three houses. One for Goodluck Jonathan, another for David Bonaventure Mark and the third for Hajia Turai.
Before I die, kindly forgive me for not been much of a Resident President. I know you hate me more for being a long distance President.
Before I die let me read my citation to you.
I am the only Nigerian President whose father was a Minister of the Federal Republic.
I am the only President whose brother was a Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters, a former Presidential hopeful and a Martyr for Democracy.
I am the only President who was a two time Executive Governor.
I am the first President to have Governors as my sons-in-law.
Before I die, let it be known to you all that I am not scared of dying. I am only scared of living as an ex-President.
Before I die allow my devil's advocate to seek for an injunction restraining the NBA from calling for my resignation.
Before I die allow me to finish my first term in office and possibly run for my second term which is permitted by the constitution of our great country.
Before I die---
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Before I die, can you be kind enough to stop killing me on the pages of the newspapers, and on the streets of your mouths?
Before I die allow me to pick my own successor in the manner Obasanjo hand picked me.
Before I die allow me to declare a state of emergency in the power sector and deregulate the petroleum sector.
Before I die, I need your patience to complete my electoral reforms and go on with the dredging of the River Niger.
Before I die, please excuse me to marry my daughters to more governors.
Before I die please grant amnesty to my ill-health as I did to the militants in the creeks.
What is the price I will not pay for patriotism? I will die for my fatherland. But I am not just dying of ill health. I am dying more of heart break. My two chambers in the National Assembly could not sit for me to present a budget proposal to drive home my seven points agenda. My promise to generate six thousand mega watts of electricity is reclining.
Before I die permit me to transfigure at Aso Rock and build three houses. One for Goodluck Jonathan, another for David Bonaventure Mark and the third for Hajia Turai.
Before I die, kindly forgive me for not been much of a Resident President. I know you hate me more for being a long distance President.
Before I die let me read my citation to you.
I am the only Nigerian President whose father was a Minister of the Federal Republic.
I am the only President whose brother was a Chief of Staff Supreme Headquarters, a former Presidential hopeful and a Martyr for Democracy.
I am the only President who was a two time Executive Governor.
I am the first President to have Governors as my sons-in-law.
Before I die, let it be known to you all that I am not scared of dying. I am only scared of living as an ex-President.
Before I die allow my devil's advocate to seek for an injunction restraining the NBA from calling for my resignation.
Before I die allow me to finish my first term in office and possibly run for my second term which is permitted by the constitution of our great country.
Before I die---
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Tuesday, December 8, 2009
EL-SALVADOR!
CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.
Christmas has never been my favourite season, not because I believe less in the Nativity but due to the gust it comes with which makes little sense to me. The peak of Christmas is 24th of December when all the rush and hush reach a climax. Sure, that goes with a lot of financial implications. Savings are depleted, debts are escalated. The rich show off and the poor become more miserable. Of course in a country like ours prices of commodities soar. Food, meat, clothing and many other things. The worse one is the cost of transportation. Fuel queues become a nightmare as the oil industry is notorious at this time.
It becomes more difficult to live a normal life because of the hype of Christmas. The roads become busier and more risky. Drivers are more reckless and do not give a hoot about safety. Crime rates of all magnitude multiply. From fraud to ritual killings to armed robbery and of course kidnapping the newest in town, in a bid to measure up to the merriment of a day or just hours. By mid day of 25th December all these will start fading.
As such I have always wished for a quick and quiet Christmas so that life will return to normalcy. Once it is past Christmas, the prices of goods will stabilize, the rush and queues will reduce, crime rates will fall and people like me who do not succumb to the madness of Christmas will regain our sanity once again.
Ironically, Christmas is a wonderful time. It is the peak of promise when God redeemed His pledge to His people. It is the symbol of a renewed hope for us because a fallen humanity is sent a child who will raise us up again. Unto us a son is born and the government shall be upon his shoulders. Not the kind of corrupt, tyrannical and selfish governments found around the world. He came to redeem a condemned people; he brings forth good news always.
In contrast it means we no longer have one Christmas but two. Over the years we have skewed towards the first Christmas which is our own creation. We have created an “Economic Christmas” to show our extravagance typical of our human weakness. We have mostly relegated the second Christmas, “the Spiritual Christmas” to the confines of the church.
This year however reminds me of that first Christmas and the nativity story. The simplicity of Jesus’ birth in that manger. It is this guilelessness that has been wiped away by the “economic Christmas” over the years. The Roman authorities who were colonialists of the Jewish people had compelled them to return to their villages for census. This year, the economic authorities who have also colonized our lives have returned us to our economic villages to take stock. Many of us will be in the manger like Baby- Jesus and his parents. This will for once take away the hullabaloo of the “economic Christmas” which has over the years eroded the serenity of the “spiritual Christmas.”
The meltdown will enable us to revisit the true meaning of Christmas and acknowledge him, who truly left all His riches and glory in Heaven to come down and live among us, and will eventually shed His blood, give up his life for us. He is truly our Saviour, the Saviour. El-Salvador! The Messiah, our Messiah.
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Christmas has never been my favourite season, not because I believe less in the Nativity but due to the gust it comes with which makes little sense to me. The peak of Christmas is 24th of December when all the rush and hush reach a climax. Sure, that goes with a lot of financial implications. Savings are depleted, debts are escalated. The rich show off and the poor become more miserable. Of course in a country like ours prices of commodities soar. Food, meat, clothing and many other things. The worse one is the cost of transportation. Fuel queues become a nightmare as the oil industry is notorious at this time.
It becomes more difficult to live a normal life because of the hype of Christmas. The roads become busier and more risky. Drivers are more reckless and do not give a hoot about safety. Crime rates of all magnitude multiply. From fraud to ritual killings to armed robbery and of course kidnapping the newest in town, in a bid to measure up to the merriment of a day or just hours. By mid day of 25th December all these will start fading.
As such I have always wished for a quick and quiet Christmas so that life will return to normalcy. Once it is past Christmas, the prices of goods will stabilize, the rush and queues will reduce, crime rates will fall and people like me who do not succumb to the madness of Christmas will regain our sanity once again.
Ironically, Christmas is a wonderful time. It is the peak of promise when God redeemed His pledge to His people. It is the symbol of a renewed hope for us because a fallen humanity is sent a child who will raise us up again. Unto us a son is born and the government shall be upon his shoulders. Not the kind of corrupt, tyrannical and selfish governments found around the world. He came to redeem a condemned people; he brings forth good news always.
In contrast it means we no longer have one Christmas but two. Over the years we have skewed towards the first Christmas which is our own creation. We have created an “Economic Christmas” to show our extravagance typical of our human weakness. We have mostly relegated the second Christmas, “the Spiritual Christmas” to the confines of the church.
This year however reminds me of that first Christmas and the nativity story. The simplicity of Jesus’ birth in that manger. It is this guilelessness that has been wiped away by the “economic Christmas” over the years. The Roman authorities who were colonialists of the Jewish people had compelled them to return to their villages for census. This year, the economic authorities who have also colonized our lives have returned us to our economic villages to take stock. Many of us will be in the manger like Baby- Jesus and his parents. This will for once take away the hullabaloo of the “economic Christmas” which has over the years eroded the serenity of the “spiritual Christmas.”
The meltdown will enable us to revisit the true meaning of Christmas and acknowledge him, who truly left all His riches and glory in Heaven to come down and live among us, and will eventually shed His blood, give up his life for us. He is truly our Saviour, the Saviour. El-Salvador! The Messiah, our Messiah.
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THE TRAIL OF LORD LUGARD
CredoWriters:Wakdok,Samuel Stephen
The trial of Lord Lugard is a substantive suit brought before the sovereign people’s court of Nigeria by the sovereign people of Nigeria against the colonial agent. Sir Fredrick was a captain in the British Royal Army who would not have been qualified enough to lead a battalion of soldiers. He could at best lead only a company of soldiers, consisting of about 33 men only. Here was a man who at the peak of his royal colonial duty; became the first Governor General of Nigeria after the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates in 1914 to form the present day Nigeria. The name Nigeria funnily was suggested by his girlfriend who eventually became his wife; Lady Shaw.
Prior to the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates, Lagos was a separate colony, the southern protectorate had its capital in Calabar until 1906 when the colony of Lagos and the southern protectorate were merged and Lagos became the capital. The Northern protectorate had its first capital in Lokoja, present day Kogi and later relocated to Zungeru modern day Niger State before it was moved to Kaduna in 1913. This was without prejudice to the different empires, kingdoms, emirates, and loosed federations which predated the arrival of the colonialists.
Sir Fredrick who later became Lord Lugard knew very well from his sojourns across the different lands in the Niger area that the people were each a distinct nationality, with their separate cultures, values and beliefs. Yet, for the sake of personal drive to impress the crown of England, the greed of the colonialists and ease of administration, Lord Lugard went ahead to amalgamate the Northern and the Southern Protectorates to bring forth Nigeria. One of the main reasons for the amalgamation was the success of indirect rule in the north. The Othman Dan Fodio Jihad of 1804 had earlier established a theocracy in some parts of the North with a caliphate in Sokoto which was the western capital of the Caliphate. The eastern capital had its headquarters in Gwandu, present day Kebbi state. Emirates were set up in Kano, Zaria, Adamawa, and Wase up to Ilorin. The Kanem-Bornu Empire with its headquarters in Maiduguri had long existed. Except for the independent states of the once strong Kwararafa kingdom, the north was ruled by the emirs, and this made it easier for the Lord Lugard to implement his indirect rule which he had earlier experimented in Eastern Africa. It gave the emirs the impression that they were still relevant even after the fall of the Sokoto caliphate to the British forces in 1903. This was the first real attempt of the divide and rule tactics of the British.
Impressed by the success of the indirect rule in the Northern part and determine to push this divide and rule tactics further, Lord Lugard amalgamated the North and the South in 1914. He attempted to rule the west through their chiefs and since the East was more of a republic, he had to create warrant chiefs to provide a structure for his indirect rule; however that didn’t succeed because the easterners revolted against these warrant chiefs. The amalgamation was never intended to unite the people but just the geography for economic and political purposes. This explains why at a time the South was pushing for Independence of the country, the north was not comfortable with the date.
More evident is the fact that after the Richard’s constitution of 1946 regionalized the country and the McPherson Constitution of 1954 gave Autonomy to these regions; the South opted for self rule in 1956 but not until 1959 before the North did on the eve of independence.
Ninety five years after Lord Lugard united a country without uniting her people, it is still ever glaring that the nation is confronted with a Herculean task of uniting her people.
When the Igbos were called to the witness box, they testified against Lord Lugard for the casualties and pains he caused them during the Biafran war .
The Tiv grieving in the witness box testified against a Lord Lugard who made it feasible for an Obasanjo to massacre their kinsmen in Zaki Biam.
The endangered Ogoni resentfully testified against Sir Fredrick who made it inevitable for General Abacha to hang their sons.
In a united voice, the Niger Delta people have testified against Lord Lugard for initiating the mismanagement of their resources and environment by the other parts of the country.
The West also stood in the witness stand to give evidence that Lord Lugard is the brain behind the annulment of June 12 election won by MKO Abiola.
The North are not left behind in bearing witness against Lord Lugard for exposing them to westernization from the coastal states of the south which is fast eroding their conservative values.
The Presiding Judge of the Sovereign people’s court having listened to the various arguments of the opposing counsels (examination and cross examination of witnesses) and the evidence before the court have found Lord Lugard guilty.
Interesting, the Trial Judges, the prosecuting and defense counsels all agree that Lord Lugard is long dead. The real Lord Lugard on this trial is the tiny clique which is holding the larger Nigeria to ransom. The cabal who has refused to allow this country to develop, the cult hindering our progress and the Mafia which is destroying us daily.
The Lord Lugard before this court is the cult that rigs election and robs Nigerians of their votes and hence voices. The gang who pockets contract sums dotting the place with abandoned contracts. The Lord Lugard who was found guilty is the mechanism which favours rent seeking,nepotism,tribalism,ethnicity,corruption,violence,crime,godfatherism, election gerrymandering all at the expense of merit, peace, transparency, development, good governance, respect for the rule of law and patriotism.
The Lord Lugard on trial is the system which turns our people’s hope into fallacy, the rot which twirls our Police into Thief. It is the law which transfigures our Prophets into Parasites and the structure which makes the world to jeer rather than cheer at us. The people reject the practice that gives corruption and failure parking spaces in our national life; and the DNA which inhibits our nation’s growth.
The Sovereign People ‘s court of Nigeria hereby pronounce this Lord Lugard and the agents of neo colonialism guilty on all counts; and sentenced to be banished entirely from our national sphere without option of fine or parole.
Any objection has already been overruled.
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The trial of Lord Lugard is a substantive suit brought before the sovereign people’s court of Nigeria by the sovereign people of Nigeria against the colonial agent. Sir Fredrick was a captain in the British Royal Army who would not have been qualified enough to lead a battalion of soldiers. He could at best lead only a company of soldiers, consisting of about 33 men only. Here was a man who at the peak of his royal colonial duty; became the first Governor General of Nigeria after the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates in 1914 to form the present day Nigeria. The name Nigeria funnily was suggested by his girlfriend who eventually became his wife; Lady Shaw.
Prior to the amalgamation of the northern and southern protectorates, Lagos was a separate colony, the southern protectorate had its capital in Calabar until 1906 when the colony of Lagos and the southern protectorate were merged and Lagos became the capital. The Northern protectorate had its first capital in Lokoja, present day Kogi and later relocated to Zungeru modern day Niger State before it was moved to Kaduna in 1913. This was without prejudice to the different empires, kingdoms, emirates, and loosed federations which predated the arrival of the colonialists.
Sir Fredrick who later became Lord Lugard knew very well from his sojourns across the different lands in the Niger area that the people were each a distinct nationality, with their separate cultures, values and beliefs. Yet, for the sake of personal drive to impress the crown of England, the greed of the colonialists and ease of administration, Lord Lugard went ahead to amalgamate the Northern and the Southern Protectorates to bring forth Nigeria. One of the main reasons for the amalgamation was the success of indirect rule in the north. The Othman Dan Fodio Jihad of 1804 had earlier established a theocracy in some parts of the North with a caliphate in Sokoto which was the western capital of the Caliphate. The eastern capital had its headquarters in Gwandu, present day Kebbi state. Emirates were set up in Kano, Zaria, Adamawa, and Wase up to Ilorin. The Kanem-Bornu Empire with its headquarters in Maiduguri had long existed. Except for the independent states of the once strong Kwararafa kingdom, the north was ruled by the emirs, and this made it easier for the Lord Lugard to implement his indirect rule which he had earlier experimented in Eastern Africa. It gave the emirs the impression that they were still relevant even after the fall of the Sokoto caliphate to the British forces in 1903. This was the first real attempt of the divide and rule tactics of the British.
Impressed by the success of the indirect rule in the Northern part and determine to push this divide and rule tactics further, Lord Lugard amalgamated the North and the South in 1914. He attempted to rule the west through their chiefs and since the East was more of a republic, he had to create warrant chiefs to provide a structure for his indirect rule; however that didn’t succeed because the easterners revolted against these warrant chiefs. The amalgamation was never intended to unite the people but just the geography for economic and political purposes. This explains why at a time the South was pushing for Independence of the country, the north was not comfortable with the date.
More evident is the fact that after the Richard’s constitution of 1946 regionalized the country and the McPherson Constitution of 1954 gave Autonomy to these regions; the South opted for self rule in 1956 but not until 1959 before the North did on the eve of independence.
Ninety five years after Lord Lugard united a country without uniting her people, it is still ever glaring that the nation is confronted with a Herculean task of uniting her people.
When the Igbos were called to the witness box, they testified against Lord Lugard for the casualties and pains he caused them during the Biafran war .
The Tiv grieving in the witness box testified against a Lord Lugard who made it feasible for an Obasanjo to massacre their kinsmen in Zaki Biam.
The endangered Ogoni resentfully testified against Sir Fredrick who made it inevitable for General Abacha to hang their sons.
In a united voice, the Niger Delta people have testified against Lord Lugard for initiating the mismanagement of their resources and environment by the other parts of the country.
The West also stood in the witness stand to give evidence that Lord Lugard is the brain behind the annulment of June 12 election won by MKO Abiola.
The North are not left behind in bearing witness against Lord Lugard for exposing them to westernization from the coastal states of the south which is fast eroding their conservative values.
The Presiding Judge of the Sovereign people’s court having listened to the various arguments of the opposing counsels (examination and cross examination of witnesses) and the evidence before the court have found Lord Lugard guilty.
Interesting, the Trial Judges, the prosecuting and defense counsels all agree that Lord Lugard is long dead. The real Lord Lugard on this trial is the tiny clique which is holding the larger Nigeria to ransom. The cabal who has refused to allow this country to develop, the cult hindering our progress and the Mafia which is destroying us daily.
The Lord Lugard before this court is the cult that rigs election and robs Nigerians of their votes and hence voices. The gang who pockets contract sums dotting the place with abandoned contracts. The Lord Lugard who was found guilty is the mechanism which favours rent seeking,nepotism,tribalism,ethnicity,corruption,violence,crime,godfatherism, election gerrymandering all at the expense of merit, peace, transparency, development, good governance, respect for the rule of law and patriotism.
The Lord Lugard on trial is the system which turns our people’s hope into fallacy, the rot which twirls our Police into Thief. It is the law which transfigures our Prophets into Parasites and the structure which makes the world to jeer rather than cheer at us. The people reject the practice that gives corruption and failure parking spaces in our national life; and the DNA which inhibits our nation’s growth.
The Sovereign People ‘s court of Nigeria hereby pronounce this Lord Lugard and the agents of neo colonialism guilty on all counts; and sentenced to be banished entirely from our national sphere without option of fine or parole.
Any objection has already been overruled.
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THERE IS NO BOOK IN FACE BOOK-THE MISEDUCATION OF NIGERIAN STUDENTS
CredoWriters: Wakdok, Samuel Stephen.
The good news is this: students no longer need to sacrifice their time and leisure to learn and pass exams. The bad news is: parents will keep wasting their scarce resources for their children and wards to re-write exams. The worse news is: government has blamed the students for the catastrophe. The worst news therefore is that education is now an illiterate in Nigeria. The miscarriage of our educational system is the craft of a nation deficient in sensitive leadership.
Only 25.99% of students who sat for the 2009 West African Examination Council SSCE passed the minimum requirements of credits in five subjects including English language and mathematics. This is said to be an improvement over the 13% performance of last year, 2008. Alarmed by this dismal performance, the government has set up a probe panel. Ironically, the government is responsible for the educational bankruptcy in the land. The government over the years is the chief failure. While United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) prescribe that a minimum of 26 % of nations’ budget be dedicated to the educational sector, Nigeria rarely achieves a double digit budget for education. The little that is budgeted is leaked out through inefficiency of resource allocation and other corrupt practices.
Education has never been the priority of any Nigerian government. There is paucity of funds, the standards have been abused and re-abused. Investment in education and its facilities are absent or very minimal to achieve positive effects. The quality of learning is further dampened by the level of poverty and the problems of insecurity and instability. Libraries and laboratories are either extinct or exist on life support programmes. Hostels, classrooms, furniture, dinning and sport/ recreational facilities are very inadequate. Students learn in over crowded classrooms, many sit on the floor or windows during teaching hours. Strikes have permeated the sector to the extent that secondary and primary schools remain shut for several months due to the inability of governments at various levels to meet up with teachers’ demands.
Finland has a 100% literacy rate. About 50% of Finland’s annual budget is spent on education. An educated nation is a developed nation, as it is said; the heart of education is the education of the heart. Nigerian Government can not be yelping over the failure rate of the students when the same government has debased education in the country through acts of commission and omission. The quality of teaching and teachers in Nigeria is unsatisfactory. The students are taught by teachers who either couldn’t pass their own exams or couldn’t get admission to other preferred tertiary institutions. We no longer have teachers by choice but by chance. The country churns out sub standard and disillusioned teachers. How can they produce an excellent or average crop of students?
To illustrate the importance of education in our nation, SSCE is the minimum requirement for contesting election in Nigeria. It is more rewarding to be a kidnapper these days than to be a serious minded student. It is more honourable to be a political thug than to be a committed student. Graduates roam and saunter the streets without employment, making years of study an exercise in futility.
Our government must urgently arrest this ugly descent into abyss by probing its own role in the mis-education of our students. Adequate funds and lasting investments must be provided to rescue the sector from ultimate collapse. The learning environment must be rescued from sliding further. Efforts should be made to reintroduce teachers colleges which will attract and enthuse our young generation to the teaching profession and grow them to become experienced and qualified teachers. The condition of service for teachers and those associated with teaching must be enhanced. Numerical and scientific based curricula should be upgraded and integrated into our national appetite.
A minimum of Diploma / NCE with credits in five subjects including mathematics or English language or both should be made the minimum requirements for contesting elections in Nigeria for a start. Rather than exporting scarce teaching skills through the Technical Aid Corps and other bilateral or multi lateral arrangements, Nigeria should flood our schools with adequate teaching manpower. The Parents Teachers Association (PTAs) must become watch dogs. They should not only stop at the provision of chairs and building of fences in the schools, but must actively superintend over the quality of academic and extra curricular contents taught in these schools. Teachers should be trained and re-trained, equipped with modern teaching aids and kits.
Nigerians as a whole must take more than a passing interest in the state of our educational system. It is high time corporate organizations adopted schools to nurture and wealthy individuals can donate teaching and learning materials. A teachers’ welfare insurance scheme should be designed and implemented. Internet based networking programmes should be developed and schools can be categorized and graded based on performance. Each school will have a vertical linkage to allow for interactions and exchange of information and ideas. There should also be a horizontal peer review to enable competition among schools of equal categories.
Above all, the government must stop playing politics with education in Nigeria. Qualified administrators and not non-challant politicians should be appointed to steer the educational system in Nigeria. Unfortunately, if we allow the level of mass failure to continue at such terrifying rate, then I dare say there is no book in face book and our children will only continue to browse and hit million clicks on the internet. This will not be for research or academic purposes but for cyber crimes, chats and pornography. The developers of face book and other internet sites will continue to rake in millions of dollars from online traffic and advertisements while our nation keeps collapsing from the excess luggage of a failed educational system.
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The good news is this: students no longer need to sacrifice their time and leisure to learn and pass exams. The bad news is: parents will keep wasting their scarce resources for their children and wards to re-write exams. The worse news is: government has blamed the students for the catastrophe. The worst news therefore is that education is now an illiterate in Nigeria. The miscarriage of our educational system is the craft of a nation deficient in sensitive leadership.
Only 25.99% of students who sat for the 2009 West African Examination Council SSCE passed the minimum requirements of credits in five subjects including English language and mathematics. This is said to be an improvement over the 13% performance of last year, 2008. Alarmed by this dismal performance, the government has set up a probe panel. Ironically, the government is responsible for the educational bankruptcy in the land. The government over the years is the chief failure. While United Nations Educational and Scientific Organization (UNESCO) prescribe that a minimum of 26 % of nations’ budget be dedicated to the educational sector, Nigeria rarely achieves a double digit budget for education. The little that is budgeted is leaked out through inefficiency of resource allocation and other corrupt practices.
Education has never been the priority of any Nigerian government. There is paucity of funds, the standards have been abused and re-abused. Investment in education and its facilities are absent or very minimal to achieve positive effects. The quality of learning is further dampened by the level of poverty and the problems of insecurity and instability. Libraries and laboratories are either extinct or exist on life support programmes. Hostels, classrooms, furniture, dinning and sport/ recreational facilities are very inadequate. Students learn in over crowded classrooms, many sit on the floor or windows during teaching hours. Strikes have permeated the sector to the extent that secondary and primary schools remain shut for several months due to the inability of governments at various levels to meet up with teachers’ demands.
Finland has a 100% literacy rate. About 50% of Finland’s annual budget is spent on education. An educated nation is a developed nation, as it is said; the heart of education is the education of the heart. Nigerian Government can not be yelping over the failure rate of the students when the same government has debased education in the country through acts of commission and omission. The quality of teaching and teachers in Nigeria is unsatisfactory. The students are taught by teachers who either couldn’t pass their own exams or couldn’t get admission to other preferred tertiary institutions. We no longer have teachers by choice but by chance. The country churns out sub standard and disillusioned teachers. How can they produce an excellent or average crop of students?
To illustrate the importance of education in our nation, SSCE is the minimum requirement for contesting election in Nigeria. It is more rewarding to be a kidnapper these days than to be a serious minded student. It is more honourable to be a political thug than to be a committed student. Graduates roam and saunter the streets without employment, making years of study an exercise in futility.
Our government must urgently arrest this ugly descent into abyss by probing its own role in the mis-education of our students. Adequate funds and lasting investments must be provided to rescue the sector from ultimate collapse. The learning environment must be rescued from sliding further. Efforts should be made to reintroduce teachers colleges which will attract and enthuse our young generation to the teaching profession and grow them to become experienced and qualified teachers. The condition of service for teachers and those associated with teaching must be enhanced. Numerical and scientific based curricula should be upgraded and integrated into our national appetite.
A minimum of Diploma / NCE with credits in five subjects including mathematics or English language or both should be made the minimum requirements for contesting elections in Nigeria for a start. Rather than exporting scarce teaching skills through the Technical Aid Corps and other bilateral or multi lateral arrangements, Nigeria should flood our schools with adequate teaching manpower. The Parents Teachers Association (PTAs) must become watch dogs. They should not only stop at the provision of chairs and building of fences in the schools, but must actively superintend over the quality of academic and extra curricular contents taught in these schools. Teachers should be trained and re-trained, equipped with modern teaching aids and kits.
Nigerians as a whole must take more than a passing interest in the state of our educational system. It is high time corporate organizations adopted schools to nurture and wealthy individuals can donate teaching and learning materials. A teachers’ welfare insurance scheme should be designed and implemented. Internet based networking programmes should be developed and schools can be categorized and graded based on performance. Each school will have a vertical linkage to allow for interactions and exchange of information and ideas. There should also be a horizontal peer review to enable competition among schools of equal categories.
Above all, the government must stop playing politics with education in Nigeria. Qualified administrators and not non-challant politicians should be appointed to steer the educational system in Nigeria. Unfortunately, if we allow the level of mass failure to continue at such terrifying rate, then I dare say there is no book in face book and our children will only continue to browse and hit million clicks on the internet. This will not be for research or academic purposes but for cyber crimes, chats and pornography. The developers of face book and other internet sites will continue to rake in millions of dollars from online traffic and advertisements while our nation keeps collapsing from the excess luggage of a failed educational system.
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