Owei Lakemfa a Labour Activist, writes on the state of the education sector in Nigeria

COLONALISM was like slavery, one of the most vicious crimes against humanity. But the last 50 years of political independence in a country like ours deepened that tragedy; the colonial masters seemed more humane. The same banditry and misappropriation of our national wealth goes on except that each stage seems a worse pedestal than the previous.

Soon, I joined the chorus of those who talk about ‘the good old days’ When I visit our campuses and see the sub human state our student compatriots study and live, I am usually tempted to talk about the glorious days in Ife. We had manageable space, did not need to bother about power failure even when the rest of the country was usually in darkness; many of us could afford good meals at the cafeteria as we managed the little from home and the generous bursary from the states.

Those who found the going tough were assisted in various ways, including temporary jobs in the cafe offered by the university which guaranteed free meals and some pocket money. We walked to the lecture rooms, strolled to the library and reading rooms. When a few students had to be accommodated off campus in Ifewara, the university took it upon itself to transport the students in a big bus or buses and ensure that their stay was comfortable. Even with these, when the Ifewarites, as we called them complained, it was phased out.

These were before the new bad days when the military led by Generals Muhammadu Buhari, Babatunde Idiagbon, Ibrahim Babangida and their fellow travellers struck. One of the first targets of the obdurate Buhari regime was the university system which it tore down with so much venom that you would have thought it was the primary aim of the tragic coup. The cafeteria system was torn down, lecturers harassed, free discourse and symposia became crimes and student leaders were arrested and in some cases kidnapped.

When Babangida took the mantle of destruction from Buhari, the demolition was completed with campus cults replacing patriotic student unionism, and the culture of fearless inquiry by students and lecturers worn thin. Since then the tertiary education system has been on a downward slide to the extent today when in many cases, we have poultry sheds passing for state or private universities, and men of God who should be winning souls, diverting to exploit Nigerians in the name of university education. A number of them are so greedy that almost all their members who contributed the wealth that led to the establishment of this money spinning business, cannot afford the fees.

This was why I was stunned when I read about the Onitsha Catholic Province led by its Archbishop, the Most Reverend Valerian Okeke building a 1,200-room luxury hostel for students of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University in Amansea, Anambra State. The two-year old hostel with its own generator, is also being fitted with a solar energy.

The rooms, the report says, are fitted with flat-screen television sets connected to satellite dishes. The hostel with a gym and swimming pool is serviced with a 24-hour internet connection. Three air-conditioned Coaster buses ferry the students and lecturers to and from the university, while the students were fed free for the first five months before paying a token for feeding and transportation. All these for N40, 000 per session!

This is truly amazing as the Church is not even discriminating against the beneficiaries on the basis of religion or denomination. I have travelled a bit and I know that it is difficult to get a better standard of student accommodation in the world. This is a far better standard than the Ife I reminiscence about; in fact not in my wildest imagination could I have thought that a Nigerian student would live in such an academic and price-friendly environment. Yet the Church is not relenting as it wants to duplicate this hostel which is for women; it plans to begin construction of the men hostel from next year.

The Onitsha Catholic Province has demonstrated that another Nigeria, in contrast to the gloom and the wholesale theft and impoverishment, is possible. That as individuals and collectives, religious and social groups, political parties and civil society organisations, leaders and followers, we can in various ways cause positive, sustainable and edifying change. Father Okeke and his province solidify my belief that all is not lost; that Nigeria can still largely, be redeemed.

Another lesson in this project is that while the contractor had charged N5 billion, the Church through direct labour was able to construct this wonder for a little over N1 billion. I reflected that if the $16 billion the Obasanjo administration had wasted purchasing darkness had been utilized on such a rewarding project, we would have been able to build 2,400 such hostels, or if the $12.5 billion Gulf war oil windfall misappropriated by the Babangida regime in the 1990s had been used, we would have built some 10,000 of such modern hostels across the country.

But due to mismanagement and outright theft of public funds, our students in most cases live in places that are not even suitable for animals. It is in such environment we are producing our leaders of tomorrow; people whose tomorrow has been mortgaged. About two years ago, I was at one of our oldest universities, UNIBEN. The Ekosodin area where many are condemned to live is untarred, dirty, with many of the houses in different stages of disrepair.

The students in Ekpoma live under worse conditions while the under developed state of the Nasarawa State University stares you in the face. The Abuja University which still operates mainly from its temporary site is undeserving to be called a university. But like I said, another country is possible but not with those who destroyed our future at its head. That is why when I hear people who damaged our country talk about their constitutional right to ‘contest’ elections under a zoning formula, I feel insulted. Do you?

Home Analysis News Nigeria’s development is dependent on a competitive educational system- Experts

Nigeria’s development is dependent on a competitive educational system- Experts WEDNESDAY, 17 MARCH 2010 01:08 PHILIP OKAFOR

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Experts agree that Nigeria will continue to be underdeveloped so long as the country’s educational system remains un-competitive, un-planned and irrelevant to contemporary needs

Countries that have successfully passed through rapid transitions from one economic phase to another tend to have been those that have also been big investors in education. Take Hong Kong and Singapore, both have expanded their higher education sectors enormously in the past 20 years. They have also restructured their higher education (HE) institutions substantially to make them fit for purpose. One cannot compete in 21st Century markets with a 19th Century model of a university (i.e. one where there are well entrenched hierarchies and limited mobility amongst staff). Universities can be like laboratories where the leaders, entrepreneurs and visionaries of the future are given the space to think and to experiment with answers and solutions to pressing contemporary problems.This is the view of Steve Brown, a professor in Organisational and Social Psychology, University of Leicester, UK.

Brown, who spoke to BusinessDay recently while on a visit to Nigeria, believes that developing the higher educational sector is one of the key factors to human capital development.According to the professor, we live in a world dominated by global collaboration and communication. Every country occupies a place in multiple networks of activity. This creates opportunities for learning and for exchanging practices. In Europe, we have strong partnership networks that enable the movement of students and researchers between institutions. In Leicester, we have had large numbers of Nigerian students – why should the reverse not also happen? I look forward to the day when students in the UK would choose to study in

Nigeria, to sample a distinctive African education.

Citing examples with some African countries, the visiting professor pointed to higher education in Ghana, saying that its higher education has been redeveloped and expanded in the past decade or so. Said Brown: “Equally, South Africa has invested in its universities, to the point where many local researchers have begun to return home to pursue their careers there. I don’t see any

reason why given serious commitment the same could not apply to Nigeria. We have trained many Nigerian doctoral students alongside MBA students. The capacity is there if Nigeria is prepared to open up its institutions to allow these highly trained researchers and teachers the opportunity to develop their careers hereâ€. �

Like Brown, sound education, according to experts, is the only thing that can propel a country, any social living entity forward. This premise means that sustainable

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education is not just any education but education in terms of the growth of the economy. It means that different types of education, training and development must be tailored to a country’s needs. Fakunle Odifa, country director (Nigeria) for LeadMode Consult Limited, a leading provider of accredited flexible learning, management training, in comparing the emerging economies such as China, Malaysia and Singapore to Nigeria’s in terms of how sustainable and quality education have boosted their human capital development, painted a sordid picture of the poor state of Nigeria’s educational system. To him, it has become apparent that contemporary students in the nation’s tertiary institution are not being taught anything that is sustainable to enable them to be competitive in the world.

Odifa, a doctorate degree holder in Economics from University of Leicester, UK, said the level of Nigeria’s human capital development in terms of its economic goals is reflective of the country’s educational system. He called for planning of Nigerian educational system towards its national needs. “The United States, UK, the Chinese, Indians and all other Asian Tigers, they all have one thing in common. They look at their national needs and plan the educational systems towards their needs. That is what they do. Until Nigerians sit down and say where they want this nation to be in 2020 and how to get there, then they can plan the education system appropriatelyâ€, he posited. �

Stressing further, he added: “If you want to be leader in a particular aspect then focus on that one thing and craft your resources and target towards that. For instance, to be the best in oil and gas sector, you will have to develop your curriculum to suit the oil and gas sector. If you want to be the best in engineering, you will then have to craft your educational needs to develop competence in engineering. This applies to ICT, the arts etc. All this must be in line with international standards.â€. �

Perhaps, if there is one voice that truly captures the present state of Nigeria’s human capital development, it is that of the incumbent head of department, Industrial Relations and Personnel Management, University of Lagos, Isaac Sola Fajana.Fajana traced the human capital development challenge to the criminal neglect of government concerning its promises to the citizens in the areas of investment in education, which, according to him, has remained largely undelivered on account of primitive expressions of greed by the political elites.

The labour and human relations expert was also of the opinion that the country’s inability to identify the pressing needs of the nation for human capital investments has contributed largely to the present state of affair.“Today, the US has identified the need for nurses and care-givers for the elderly on account of an ageing population. Strategically, they have provided for the needs that would become very predominant in the next 50 years for this class of professionals and have made strategical moves to fill the gaps. The adopted strategy is to increase pay and improve working conditions for nurses at parity with those of medical doctors and thereby make nursing very attractive, increase the future supply of professionals into that function in the future and secure the future of the elderly ones.

In Nigeria, we do not even know our population, we are unble to determine what group of the society to plan for and have resigned to planning for the use of human

resource by guesswork, intuition and other unscientific approachesâ€, Fajana had �remarked.

Toki Abiodun, chief executive of Tom Associates, like others, believed that the present human capital challenge is huge. He specifically pointed to the current curriculum used in tertiary institutions, noting that it has failed to meet the expectations of contemporary business world.

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NIGERIA AT 50: I CRY FOR DILAPIDATED SCHOOLS, PUPILS –OKHAREDIAWritten by cooljoe Education Sep 21, 2010 Nigeria at 50: I cry for dilapidated schools, pupils –OkharediaBy SAM OTTITuesday, September 21 , 2010

The Proprietress of Temple School, Ilupeju, Lagos, Mrs Shirley Okharedia wears a frown on her face whenever she remembers the state of public schools in the country. Like the late sage, Tai Solarin, her zeal to educate all Nigerian children burns like an unquenchable fire.Speaking with Daily Sun in her office recently, Okharedia could not hide her post-independence shock on the state of the education sector. She said the potentials of millions of street children are wasting away in the slum, a situation that deprives the nation of inestimable human resources for rapid development.Like a hunter that knows every bush path, Okharedia dissected the problems afflicting the education sector and urged the government at all levels to save the sector from total collapse.The educationist noted that the poor commitment to standard education by policy makers over the years has resulted to huge loss of human capital needed for transforming the nation.According to her, the nation’s education system is moving at a snail-pace when nations of the world, and even neighbouring African states are taking giant leaps in information and technological learning. Her assessment of the quality of graduates in the country was by no means cheerful.She said: “We have watched people with mere standard six qualification who could be compared with what we produce today as graduates. These graduates cannot function in isolation with the rest of the world. Our students need world-class education in order to fit in the competitive labour market. If you go online, there are numerous job opportunities for competent teachers in different countries. Do we really train our teachers to standard? We need to re-train the trainers in line with new techologies and global standard”.She recalled, with a sense of pride, her blossoming days at Queens College, Yaba, and decried the high rate of out-of-school children in the country.She said the seething population of pupils struggling with insufficient and often dilapidated infrastructures in schools across the country evokes pity, as decrepit structures serving as classrooms fall short of expectations.

According to her, children need a better learning environment in order to bring out the best in them. She said the cheap resort to make-shift structures by past leaders in some states to accommodate the high enrollment figures invariably watered down the envisaged standard. According to her, the population of children who poured out into schools could not match the staff strength and existing facilities, thereby resulting to poor standard.Okharedia, an educationist with over 20 years experience in reputable schools in Lagos State, threw posers as she decried the denigration of public schools by successive administration.“Nigeria is 50. How much more time would we stay on the drawing board? For how long must we continue to do the same thing the same way, even when it is clear we are not achieving positive results. We want a change!”.She said Temple School took up the task of mentoring the Children Transit Home, Idi-Araba for the past four years, providing them with educational support facilities.“Aside placing the staff on our payroll, we also provided beds, IT lab, and our children visit them regularly as part of their community service programme”, she said.She surged stakeholders to look up to th Lagos state government and embark on massive rehabilitaion of redolent schools to make quality education accessible to all children, irrespective of their social status.The proprietress expressed disappointment with the poor attitude of some staff to the profession, citing their lack-lustre performance during classes.Okharedia urged teachers to be proud of their profession by showing the desired commitment that would uplift the standard of education in the country.“We believe that every child can succeed at something. It is our responsibility as teachers to discover that hidden talent in every child and develop it. Every child has an opportunity to shine. I want the government to know that setting up a private school is not for profit motive. Rather, it is a vocation of love and a desire to nurture our children to greater heights”, she explained.As part of the crusade to salvage deprived schools, Okharedia said the children of Temple School would on October 1, stage an awareness march for education to the Governor’s office, Alausa, Ikeja to intimate the government on the plight of educationally-disavantaged children nationwide.Her words: “Even if it means visiting our governor, we want a march for education in this country. We want to let our leaders know that we really care about our youths, from the primary to the tertiary level. These youths are the work force of this country in the near future. Our politicians are busy setting up businesses everywhere. Who do they hope to employ?”

Nigeria at 50: I cry for dilapidated schools, pupils –OkharediaBy SAM OTTITuesday, September 21 , 2010Okharedia Photo: Festus Odofin•Photo: The Sun Publishing More Stories on This Section

The Proprietress of Temple School, Ilupeju, Lagos, Mrs Shirley Okharedia wears a frown on her face whenever she remembers the state of public schools in the country. Like the late sage, Tai Solarin, her zeal to educate all Nigerian children burns like an

unquenchable fire.Speaking with Daily Sun in her office recently, Okharedia could not hide her post-independence shock on the state of the education sector. She said the potentials of

millions of street children are wasting away in the slum, a situation that deprives the nation of inestimable human resources for rapid development.

Like a hunter that knows every bush path, Okharedia dissected the problems afflicting the education sector and urged the government at all levels to save the sector from total

collapse.The educationist noted that the poor commitment to standard education by policy

makers over the years has resulted to huge loss of human capital needed for transforming the nation.According to her, the nation’s education system is moving at a snail-pace when nations of the world, and even neighbouring African states are taking giant leaps in information and technological learning. Her assessment of the quality of

graduates in the country was by no means cheerful.She said: “We have watched people with mere standard six qualification who could be compared with what we produce today as graduates. These graduates cannot function

in isolation with the rest of the world. Our students need world-class education in order to fit in the competitive labour market. If you go online, there are numerous job

opportunities for competent teachers in different countries. Do we really train our teachers to standard? We need to re-train the trainers in line with new techologies and

global standard”.She recalled, with a sense of pride, her blossoming days at Queens College, Yaba, and

decried the high rate of out-of-school children in the country. She said the seething population of pupils struggling with insufficient and often dilapidated infrastructures in schools across the country evokes pity, as decrepit structures serving as classrooms fall

short of expectations.According to her, children need a better learning environment in order to bring out the best in them. She said the cheap resort to make-shift structures by past leaders in some

states to accommodate the high enrollment figures invariably watered down the envisaged standard. According to her, the population of children who poured out into schools could not match the staff strength and existing facilities, thereby resulting to poor standard.Okharedia, an educationist with over 20 years experience in reputable

schools in Lagos State, threw posers as she decried the denigration of public schools by successive administration.

“Nigeria is 50. How much more time would we stay on the drawing board? For how long must we continue to do the same thing the same way, even when it is clear we are not achieving positive results. We want a change!”.She said Temple School took up the

task of mentoring the Children Transit Home, Idi-Araba for the past four years, providing them with educational support facilities.“Aside placing the staff on our

payroll, we also provided beds, IT lab, and our children visit them regularly as part of their community service programme”, she said.

She surged stakeholders to look up to th Lagos state government and embark on massive rehabilitaion of redolent schools to make quality education accessible to all

children, irrespective of their social status.The proprietress expressed disappointment with the poor attitude of some staff to the profession, citing their lack-lustre

performance during classes.Okharedia urged teachers to be proud of their profession by showing the desired commitment that would uplift the standard of education in the country.“We believe that every child can succeed at something. It is our responsibility as teachers to discover that hidden talent in every child and develop it. Every child has an opportunity to shine. I want the government to know that setting up a private school

is not for profit motive. Rather, it is a vocation of love and a desire to nurture our children to greater heights”, she explained.

As part of the crusade to salvage deprived schools, Okharedia said the children of Temple School would on October 1, stage an awareness march for education to the

Governor’s office, Alausa, Ikeja to intimate the government on the plight of educationally-disavantaged children nationwide.Her words: “Even if it means visiting

our governor, we want a march for education in this country. We want to let our leaders know that we really care about our youths, from the primary to the tertiary level. These

youths are the work force of this country in the near future. Our politicians are busy setting up businesses everywhere. Who do they hope to employ?” Financing Higher

Education in the Federal Republicof Nigeria:

Developments and Trends  

culled from: http://www.gse.buffalo.edu/org/inthigheredfinance/region_africa_Nigeria.html

I. A Brief Description of the Nigerian Higher Education System

The higher education system in Nigeria is composed of universities, polytechnics, institutions of technology, colleges of education that form part of, or are affiliated to, universities and polytechnic colleges, and professional, specialized institutions (IAU, 2000). They can be further categorized as state or federal universities, and as first, second, or third generation universities (Hartnett, 2000:1). Federal universities are owned and funded by the federal government, while state universities are owned and financed by the states (there are 36 states). First generation universities are the six universities established in the 1960s and early 1970’s; second generation universities are seven universities established in the mid 1970’s; while third generation universities refer to the eleven institutions, including the universities of technology, established in the 1980’s and 1990’s (Hartnett, ibid).

According to the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (2000) there are 43 higher education institutions in Nigeria: 11 state universities, 3 approved private universities; and 29 federal universities including 3 agricultural universities, 1 military university, and 4 inter-university centers.

Three levels of university education exist in Nigeria. The university level first stage offers a Bachelor’s degree after a minimum of three years and a maximum of six years (e.g. in medicine). The university level second stage offers a Master’s degree following one year of post-Bachelor’s study. The university level third stage offers the doctorate degree two to three years after the Master’s. To gain admission into the first level of university education, one has to pass the competitive University Matriculation Examination (UME) (IAU, 2000).

Higher education in Nigeria can be further divided into the public or private, and the university or non-university sectors. Public universities, owned by the federal and state governments, dominate the higher education system.  Private universities and other tertiary education institutions are a recent phenomenon.  In recognition of the need to encourage private participation in the provision of university education, the Federal Government issued a decree in 1993 allowing private investors to establish universities following guidelines established by the government. [1]   More than 60 applications have been received by the government from private university sponsors since the decree’s promulgation. Of these, only 7 have been approved. [2]

The non-university sector is composed of polytechnics, institutions of technology, colleges of education, and professional institutions, most of them operating under parent ministries. There is no sharp distinction between the university and the non-university sectors; most of the institutions in the latter sector are affiliated with universities.

The Nigerian higher education system, in spite of being Africa’s largest higher education system with nearly 400,000 students, is unable to admit all qualified applicants every year (ADEA, 2000:3; Ajayi, T., & Alani, R.A. 1996:23). For example, in the academic years 1990, 1991, and 1992, only 15.31 percent, 16.71 percent, and 14.73 percent respectively of the applicants were able to gain admission through the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) (Ajayi, T., & Alani, R.A. ibid). In 1998, just 35,000 new students were admitted to university study out of some 400,000 applicants (ADEA, ibid).

Numerus clausus is applied in admission to some disciplines determined by the National Universities Commission (NUC) and conditioned by the availability of instructional facilities at the level of institution (IAU, 2000).

Three parallel strategies are being pursued in order to expand access to higher education in Nigeria. First, distance higher education programs are being established; second, good quality private universities are being encouraged and third, plans are in the works to expand all university campus enrollments to a maximum of 30,000 students (ADEA, op cit.).

The participation rate in higher education is 395 per 100,000 persons. Women accounted for 34 percent of total enrollments in the 1997/1998 academic year. Female students also represented 35 percent of new entrants in the same academic year, a significant increase from the 26 percent recorded in 1988/89 (Hartnett, 2000:4).

The Federal Government controls universities and other higher education institutions through the following organs: the Federal Ministry of Education; the National Universities Commission, which among other things allocates funds to federal universities and also prescribes the spending formula, and the Committee of Vice Chancellors of Nigerian Federal Universities, which acts as a coordinating body and offers advice to government and universities governing councils on matters of general and specific concern to higher education. Each university is administered by a Council and a Senate, and is headed by an appointed Vice Chancellor as CEO. Within universities and colleges, the institutes and centers are more autonomous.  The Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU) safeguards the interests of the academicians in the Nigerian university system.

II. Financing Higher Education in Nigeria

The Federal Government maintains a policy of no tuition fees in federal universities while at the same time allowing students enrolled in state universities to pay tuition fees in addition to room and board. In May 2002, the Federal Government issued an order “forbidding” the charging of tuition fees at all 24 federal universities as these universities were contemplating charging tuition fees as a cost recovery strategy. The Government believes that it has a duty to provide qualified Nigerians with free university education. Before this presidential decree, federal universities intended to charge a tuition fee ranging from US$ 200-400 per semester. [3] (See The Higher Education Chronicle, Tuesday May 28, 2002).

The Government through the National Universities Commission makes it mandatory for all federal universities to generate 10 percent of their total yearly funds internally through various revenue diversification means (Odebiyi & Aina 1999: vii, 36).

The Education Tax Decree No. 7 of 1993 enforces the payment of 2 percent of profits of limited liability companies registered in Nigeria as an education tax to be disbursed according to the ratio of 50: 40: 10 to higher, primary, and secondary education respectively. The share of higher education is further allocated to the universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education according to the ratio of 2: 1: 1 respectively (Ajayi & Alani op cit.).  As of Summer 2002, no information was available to show the amount of funds collected and disbursed since the promulgation of the education tax decree. It is known that the Education Bank was supposed to be a depository of the funds collected through the decree.

All federal universities receive the bulk of their financing (almost 95 percent) from the Federal Government through the National Universities Commission (Hartnett, 2000: 1). Furthermore, the federal universities’ budgeting processes and expenditures have to adhere to budgeting and expenditure formula stipulated by NUC as follows: 60 percent total academic expenditure; 39 percent for administrative support; and 1 percent for pension and benefits (Hartnett, ibid. 7).

At the general level, four sources finance university education in Nigeria (Ogunlade, 1989: 523):

(a) support from federal and state governments constituting more than 98 percent of the recurrent costs and 100 percent of capital costs,

(b) student contributions towards living expenses on campuses constituting less than 1 percent of the total operating costs of institutions. While there is no evidence to suggest this percentage of students contribution is capped by the government, anecdotal evidence suggest that successive administrations in Nigeria (civilian and military) have been reluctant to charge more than nominal fees probably to obtain and maintain public support. Charging realistic fees has been unpopular among policy makers (Ogunlade, ibid. 525),

(c) private contributions by commercial organizations in the form of occasional grants for specific purposes, and,

(d) interest earnings on short-term bank deposits and rents of university properties.

Other sources of finance to higher education in Nigeria include endowments, fees/levies, gifts, and international aid from international organizations. For example, the World Bank has financed a US$ 120 million project titled: Federal Universities Development Sector Operation (Odebiyi & Aina 1999: 28-29; Babalola, J.B., Sikwibele, A.L., & Suleiman, A.A. 2000).

Cost Sharing Measures in Higher Education in Nigeria

 To respond to the problem of chronic under-funding, Nigerian public universities adopted an array of cost sharing measures, notable among them being the following:

Student contributions. Student contributions are made through a multitude of fees: tuition in state and private institutions [4] , acceptance, registration and certification, caution (equivalent to security deposit in US), sports, identity cards, late registration, examination, laboratory, transcript, and medical center registration fees. These fees vary in amount paid from one university to another (Ajayi & Alani op cit. 12). In all federal universities, undergraduates pay the following fees: examination NGN 200 (US$ 3.7); registration NGN 150 (US$ 2.77); Students Handbook for new students NGN 200 (US$ 3.7); accommodation (excluding food) NGN 90 (US$ 1.66); hostel maintenance NGN 200 (US$ 3.7); sports NGN 150 (US$ 2.77); and acceptance fees for new students NGN 300 (US$ 5.55). Other amount of fees charged include: caution NGN 100 (US$ 1.85) for science students and NGN 150 (US$ 2.77) for arts students; students union fees NGN 60 (US1.11); medical registration NGN 100 (US$ 1.85), identity card NGN 400 (US$ 7.40); departmental registration NGN 50 (US$ 0.92) for parent department and other departments NGN 25 (US$ 0.46), and library fees NGN 50 (US$ 0.92). Students also are required to pay NGN 300 (US$ 5.55) for management information system; NGN 200 (US$ 3.70) for examination results verification for new students; and late registration NGN 1000 (US$ 18.51) (Prof. J.D. Amin, Personal Communication, March 10 2002). Students’ contribution to university financing for the period 1988-1994 ranged from 0.28 percent to 3.89 percent (Ajayi & Alani op cit. 12).

Private sector contributions. Contributions from the private sector to education in Nigeria are limited to the endowment of prizes and professorial chairs, and voluntary donations. Campaigns to raise endowment funds in Nigerian universities dates as far back as the 1950’s when the University College, Ibadan started an endowment drive. From 1988-1994, the University of Ibadan generated approximately NGN 22.02

million from endowments and grants, which was the highest during the period (Ajayi & Alan op cit. 12). Decree # 9 of 1993 authorizing individuals and private organizations to establish private higher education institutions has also enhanced the private sector contribution to financing of higher education.

National Youth Service Corp Scheme is another cost sharing measure adopted by the Federal Government. The scheme was introduced in 1973 for graduates of universities, polytechnics, and colleges of education. Participation is mandatory for holders of first degrees and higher national diplomas from polytechnics and universities from within and outside Nigeria who have not attained the age of 30 years (Ajayi & Alani 1996:13). These graduates offer their services to the community/nation for a period of 12 months for a monthly stipend of N 900.   This scheme becomes a cost recovery measure because these graduates do not collect full salaries and allowances for the services rendered to the community that presumably would have been paid for by the government or the community.

Student Loans in Nigerian Higher Education

The Nigerian Student Loan Board was first established in 1972. Between 1972 and 1991, it provided loans totaling NGN 46 million (US$ 3.8 million) to help students finance undergraduate or graduate studies within Nigeria and abroad (Chuta, 1992: 443). By 1992, the Board had made loan awards of over N 46 million and faced the problem of recovering outstanding loans over NGN 40 (US$ 3.34 million) leading to its suspension (Chuta, 1992: 445; Ajayi & Alani 1996:4).

The Nigerian Student Loan Board was replaced by the Nigerian Education Bank under Decree #50 of 1993. The roles of the Education Bank are to: serve as a major intermediary in Nigeria’s education credit market; harness private sector resources for the funding of education; and take over part of the Nigerian government’s educational funding responsibilities. The main and specific functions of the Nigerian Education Bank are: student lending, lending for publishing, equipment leasing, project financing, funds mobilization and provision of advisory services for educational purposes (Chuta, ibid. 423). The Bank’s share capital is NGN 400 million (US$ 3.34 million) fully subscribed to by the Federal Government of Nigeria. The long-term plan of the government is to privatize the Bank and make it a stockholder-owned corporation (Chuta, ibid. 426).

Loans to undergraduates are designed to place a likely debt burden on students ranging from NGN 24,000-NGN 32,000 (US$ 201-268) for four years in 1998. Within this range, student loans are assumed to vary according to the type of course taken, duration, level (e.g. professional, or non-professional), degree or non-degree. Loans are structured to meet the higher costs of students in professional fields such as medicine, law, accountancy, architecture, quantity surveying etc.

Other functions of the Bank are to mobilize educational savings from parents and teachers by advising parents to take out educational insurance policies and initiate savings schemes for their children. The Bank also provides advisory services and undertakes scientific research on economics and financing of education; analyzes recurrent and capital costs of education, undertakes cost-benefit analysis of educational investments; and advises on manpower development issues. The First

Bank of Nigeria PLC has also launched a new product called First Education Savings Scheme (FESS) that affords parents the privilege of providing their children with quality education to any level in their quest for personal development and achievements. [5]

“THE STATE OF BASIC EDUCATION IN NIGERIA: THE WAY FORWARD”BEING A PAPER PRESENTED BY OBONG I. J. OBONG, SECRETARY GENERAL, NIGERIA UNION OF TEACHERS (NUT) TO THE 47TH ANNUAL CONFERENCE OF SCIENCE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION OF NIGERIA (STAN) HELD AT CALABAR FROM 13TH – 19TH AUGUST, 2006

In this paper, an attempt is made to discuss operational framework of basic education in Nigeria in the light of one of the reform programmes of the Federal Government with a view to highlighting its impact on the future of Nigerians and with particular reference to its meeting the EFA and MDG’s. This discourse may not be elaborate as time, space and research are major constraints militating against its comprehensiveness.

However, the discourse will take the following pattern:1) Definition of Basic Education,2) Features of the Reform programme as it affects Basic Education,3) Legal justification and fundamental issues of the law4) Universal Basic Education Mid-Term (2006 – 2008) targets5) Funding Arrangements6) Monitoring and Evaluation 7) Gains and Challenges8) The way forward9) Conclusion.

1) What is Basic Education?The National Policy on Education (NPE 2004) section 3 defines Basic Education as “Basic education shall be of 9 – year duration comprising 6 years of primary education and 3 years of junior secondary education. It shall be free and compulsory. It shall also include adult and non-formal education programmes at primary and junior secondary education levels for adults and out of school youths”.

The Compulsory, Free, Universal Basic Education Act 2004 defines Basic Education’ thus:“Basic Education means Early childhood care and Education and nine years of formal schooling”.

The same Act also defines “Universal Basic Education” thus:“Universal Basic Education means early childhood care and education, the nine years of formal schooling, adult literacy and non-formal education, skills acquisition programmes and the education of special groups such as nomads and migrants, girl-child and women, almajiri, street children and disabled groups”.

A close look at the above shows that, in the context of the law, ‘Basic Education’ bears a restrictive definition while Universal Basic Education is broadly defined, but the critical features of education as defined here include ‘compulsory’ ‘free’ and ‘universal’ education for every child of primary and junior secondary school age.

2) Features of the Reform Programme as it Affects Basic EducationConsistent with the National Policy on Education and the relevant laws, the Universal Basic Education reform programme of the Federal Government of Nigeria is aimed at removing distortions and inconsistencies in basic education delivery and reinforce the implementation of the National Policy on Education as well as to provide greater access to, and ensure quality of, basic education throughout Nigeria. In summary, it is intended to:

*   ensure an un-interrupted access to 9 – year formal education by providing free, compulsory UBE for every child of school going age;*   Reduce school drop-out and improve relevance, quality and efficiency; *   Acquire literacy, numeracy, life skills and values for lifelong education and useful living;*   Provide mid-day meals to enhance children access, retention and completion of the school cycle;*   Emphasize on curriculum diversification and relevance to effectively and adequately cover individual and community needs and aspirations;*   Disarticulate Junior Secondary Schools from Senior Secondary Schools;*   Realign/integrate Junior Secondary Education with primary education;*   Individualize teaching methods;*   Introduce rudiments of computer literacy;*   Appropriate continuous teacher professional development and*   Encourage community ownership of schools including participation in decision-making process in schools.

3) Legal Justification and Fundamental Issues of the Law: Under Section 18(1) and (3) of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Government is enjoined to provide Free and Compulsory Basic Education amongst other education objectives. This section provides as follows:1) “Government shall direct its policy towards ensuring that there are equal and adequate educational opportunities at all levels”;3) “Government shall strive to eradicate illiteracy; and to this end, Government shall as at when practicable provide:-

(a) free, compulsory and universal primary education;(b) free secondary education; (c) free university education; and(d) free adult – literacy programme”.

In keeping with the provisions of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria aforementioned, Mr. President assented to the UBE Bill on the 26th May, 2004 titled: “An ACT to Provide for Compulsory Free, Universal Basic Education and other related matters”.

* The Act mandates every Government to provide free, compulsory and universal basic education for every child of primary and junior secondary school age. Parents are obliged to ensure their children enroll and complete the basic education cycle. Penalties are prescribed for non compliance by parents.* Services in public primary and junior secondary schools shall be free of charge. Penalties are prescribed for persons who charge or receive fees in respect of primary and junior secondary education in public schools.* While recognizing the statutory, responsibility of States and Local governments in the provision of primary and secondary education, the ACT provides for Federal Government’s intervention in basic education as assistance to States and Local Governments in Nigeria for the purpose of uniform and qualitative basic education throughout Nigeria.* The Act establishes the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) its functions, membership, and terms of appointment of members.* The Act provides three sources of funding for the implementation of the UBE, viz:(a) Federal Government Grant of not less 2% of its Consolidated Revenue Fund;(b) Funds or contributions in the form of Federal Guaranteed Credits;(c) Local and international donor grants.For any State to benefit from the Federal Government block grant such a State shall contribute not less than 50% of the total cost of projects as its commitment in the execution of the project. (The responsibilities for the disbursement of the funds lies with the Universal Basic Education Commission).* The Act also provides for the establishment of State Universal Education Board (SUBEB) and Local Government Education Authority (LGEA) for States and Local Governments respectively.

The UBE is a holistic approach by the Government to achieve Education for All (EFA) by year 2015. The enactment of UBEC Act in 2004 and its domestication by the States and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) further emphasizes Government Commitment to ensure that every Nigerian child has access to quality basic education. The legal implication of the UBE Act is provision of universal, free, and compulsory 6 years of primary education and the first 3 years of secondary education.

Furthermore, the Act provides sanctions for parents who fail to send their children and wards to school. The Act is also a call-to-action on the issue of poverty as a hindrance to schooling. This has led to the abolition of user – fees and provision of free textbooks in the core subjects.

With the take off of the UBE programme in September, 2006, steps must be taken to ensure that it is free from all impediments to access, quality and equity. The approval given by the National Council on Education (NCE) for the abolition of Federal and State Common Entrance Examinations for placement in Junior Secondary Schools and the issuance of a standardized Universal Basic Education Certificate at the end of the 9 – year Basic Education UBE programme is therefore aimed at ensuring equity.

In the pursuance of its commitment to the achievement of Education For All (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), the Federal Government initiated the Home Grown School Feeding and Health Programme in 2005. This programme is targeted at providing equal opportunity and access to free education to all Nigerian children by reducing hunger and improving their health and nutritional status. This initiative has been launched at the Federal level and is being implemented on a pilot scale in 12 States and the FCT. It is my opinion that for the objectives of the UBE to be achieved, this initiative should take off simultaneously in all the States of the federation and not selectively done as have been hitterto the case.

4) UBE Midterm Targets: 2006 – 2008As envisaged by the Universal Basic Education Commission, the UBE is set to achieve within September 2006 to 2008, the following:

* Access:* 100% to graduate from Basic Education (BE) in situations, possessing literacy, numeracy and basic life skills so as to live meaningfully in the society and contribute to national development.

* Quality:* 80% of B.E Teachers to have the Nigerian Certificate in Education (NCE).* 50% of B.E. Schools have conducive teaching and learning environment.* 60% of Head and Assistant Head-Teachers undergo training in School Management.* Establish an efficient institutional framework for monitoring learning and teaching process at all levels.

* Periodic Review and Effective Implementation of Curriculum:* Complete Revision of B.E. Curriculum to conform with the reform agenda.* Produce educational materials* Establish libraries and information resource centres* Involve local craft people in the delivery of vocational education in schools.

* Promote Information Technology:* 10% of BE graduates are computer literate* 50% of school managers are computer literate* 50% of BE teachers are trained in computer skills.

* Improve Gender Equity:* Eliminate gender disparity in BE by 2008.

* Reduce Spread of HIV and Mitigate the Impact of AIDS:* Achieve 100% awareness by 2008.

* Mobilize and Develop Partnership with International Partners, Private Sector and Local Community to Support and Fund Education:* Improve collaboration* Achieve 80% community involvement in management of schools.* Achieve 60% private sector involvement in managing and funding Basic Education.

5) Funding ArrangementsAs had earlier been stated, the UBE Block grant of not less 2% of the Consolidated Revenue Fund (CRF) is shared according to the approved Federal Executive Council sharing formula of December 2005 as follows:

* Matching Grants to States on 50% - 50% basis - 70%

* Educational Imbalance - 14%

* Grants to States adjudged as performing well                     - 5%

* Grant to States to support their efforts for the    education of physically and mentally challenged children    - 2%

* Grant to States for School Feeding Programme                  - 5%

* UBE Implementation Fund - 4%

Total  100%

However, the following conditions for assessing the matching Grant (70% of 2% Consolidated Revenue Fund) apply:

* Enactment of the State Universal Basic Education Law in compliance with Section 12(1) of the UBE Act, 2004.* Establishment of State Universal Basic Education Board in compliance with Section 12(1) of the UBE Act, 2004.* Opening of separate Bank Account with the Central Bank titled “UBE Matching Grant Account” and forwarding the particulars to UBEC.* Evidence of lodgment of States’ counterpart contribution in compliance with Section 11(2) of the UBE Act, 2004.* Development and submission of State Action Plan to UBEC for approval, in compliance with a requirement imposed by the Federal Executive Council, June 2005.* Submission of Projects Technical Report and Financial Reports indicating that the earlier disbursement has been judiciously utilized.

There are also regulations for the fund utilization criteria for UBE intervention fund. These are also in agreement with the Federal Executive Council approved criteria for fund utilization of the UBE intervention fund to States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as follows:

(a) Pre-Primary Education                                - 5%(b) Primary Education                                      - 60%(c) Junior Secondary School Level                     - 35%

Other expenditure by activities in each of the components of the UBE programme are:

(a) Infrastructural Development                        - 70%

This includes the following:

* Classroom construction* Classroom furniture* Classroom renovation/rehabilitation* Laboratory/workshop equipment* Introductory Technology equipment* Borehole construction* Construction of toilets, etc.

(b) Textbooks and Working Materials               - 15%

These include the following:

* Development/procurement of textbooks for pre-primary, four basic core subjects for primary and five basic core subjects for junior secondary schools.* Library Books* Development/procurement of teachers’ guide for pre-primary, four core subjects for primary schools and five core subjects for junior secondary schools.* Teaching aids (excluding consumables), etc.

(c) Teacher Professional Development                 - 15%

This includes:Short-term training and re-training of teachers at the three levels: pre-primary, primary and junior secondary schools, with more emphasis on primary, JSS and pre-primary, in that order to be conducted by either the National Teachers’ Institute (NTI), Colleges of Education (COEs) or Institute of Education and NIEPA to conduct those for managers of UBE institutions.

Before the funds are disbursed, there are stipulations that both UBEC and SUBEB must enter into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to the effect of spelling out the details of the projects/programmes that the funds shall be applied to.

The MOU also states the penalties to defaulting States which shall include suspension or outright stoppage of the funds. However, and not withstanding these provisions, a due process committee shall also be established and charged with the responsibility of disbursement. To further strengthen the checks and balances, a broad based committee of six charged with the responsibility of monitoring and reporting the use of funds to the Federal Government must also be put in place.

6) Monitoring and Evaluation In order to ensure a successful implementation of the basic education programme, a monitoring and evaluation department has been established at UBEC charged with the responsibility of keeping the UBE programme on course through the following activities:

• Designs and implements monitoring activities for the UBE• Monitors the implementation of the UBE programme in SUBEBS, LGEAS, and Schools.• Sets standard and indices for evaluating projects.• Appraises and regularly evaluates the UBE programme in primary and junior secondary schools to ensure consistency with government policies.• Prepares regular reports on existing projects.• Liases with the Special Project Units (SPU) in the evaluation of Development Partner’s input into the UBE programme.• Oversees the operation of the Zonal Affairs of UBEC.

7) Gains and ChallengesAccording to a recent survey conducted by the UBEC, the following gains and challenges have been identified:

GAINS OF UBE

A. GROWTH

1) EARLY CHILDHOOD CARE DEVELOPMENT AND EDUCATIONThere were:* 13,648 ECCDE centres across the country* ECCDE centres had 741, 886 enrolment with 53.93% male and 46.07% females enrolled* ECCDE had 53.04% of its care-givers as Males and 46.96% as Females.

2) PRIMARY SCHOOLSThere were:* 55,497 public primary schools* 24,768,497 pupils* 55.56% boys and 44.44% girls.

3) JUNIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLSThere were:* 6,330 junior secondary schools* 2,523,029 students* 56.27% male and 43.73% female.

B. DEVELOPMENT

a) 20,005 new classrooms constructed by SUBEBs in 34 States and the FCT from 2000 – 2005.b) 40,926 classrooms were renovated by SUBEBs in 32 States and the FCT from 2000 – 2005.c) 748,595 units of furniture were provided by SUBEBs to schools in 28 States and the FCT.d) Federal agencies, namely UBEC and ETF funded the construction and renovation of 17,192 and 12,811 classrooms respectively and provided 228,175 additional units of pupils’ furniture between 2000 – 2005.e) UBEC and SUBEBs initiated various teacher professional development programmes in conjunction with Nigeria’s National Teachers Institute.f) Twenty-six SUBEBs have special welfare packages as incentive for teachers in their respective States.g) All in all, the Federal Government alone spent N48,324,126,627.06 between 2000 and 2005 in implementing UBE.h) Within the span of five months from the release of Federal Government Intervention funds (July, 2005), the following achievements have been recorded:

(i) 32 States and the FCT have passed their UBE law.(ii) 32 States and the FCT have established SUBEBs.(iii) 32 States and the FCT have accessed the 1st Quarter Matching Grant.(iv) 18 States and FCT have accessed the 2nd Quarter Matching Grant.(v) 5 States and FCT have accessed the 3rd Quarter Matching Grant.(vi) 4,522 communities have benefited from UBE Self-Help funds of N2.910bn to improve educational facilities and narrow the gap between educationally developed and educationally less developed States/Local Government’s framework of poverty alleviation.(vii) Intensive advocacy and social mobilization by UBEC engendered greater awareness and reception of the UBE reform agenda.

C. CHALLENGES

a) More than eight million children 6 - 11 years are not in school.b) Drop-out rate in primary school is 9.3%.c) Transition rate to secondary school is 61%.d) UBE program is in dire need of more than 40,000 qualified teachers, 336,467 additional classrooms, 336,144 additional chairs and tables and 950,430 units of toilets to meet the present requirement.e) Fast tracking the process of getting States that are lagging behind in accessing the UBE intervention fund.f) Employment and retention of teachers of good quality.g) Tracking Federal funds to ensure effective and efficient utilization.

8) The Way ForwardAnswers to the questions below will offer the way forward:

* How ready are we for the implementation of the UBE?* Are the schools and classrooms sufficient?- are they worthy of being used as centres of learning judging from their stage of dilapidation.* Do we have enough teachers for the programme?* Will 100% transition from primary to junior secondary compromise quality education?* How do we place the pupils from primary schools in junior secondary schools?- from public primary to public secondary- from private primary to public secondary* How prepared are the teachers?- for the pupils population explosion- for the expanded curriculum – HIV/AIDS, ICT, Road Safety, etc- are they adequately trained- do they have sufficient refresher courses and workshops- are the teachers computer literate, who is teaching who between the teacher and the student.* Are the teachers sufficiently motivated?

* How ready is government to retain the teachers and attract more into the system?* Have we mass-produced instructional materials?* Are our laboratories and introductory technology workshops well equipped for UBE?* What of libraries – have they been expanded and more books stocked?* Can the infrastructures and available amenities in schools support computer education?* What has been done about sports grounds and equipments?* How about the boarding facilities?* Are the inspectorate division of our ministries ready?* How adequate is the funding?* Is UBE science oriented or consistent with computer age?* Will our UBE provide quality along with quantity education?* Is our UBE modus operandi analogue in a digital world?* Is government promoting privatization of education or abandoning provision of adequate access to public education?* How moderate are fees in private schools?- can government moderate them to avoid creation of class distinction in the society- can the high fees work against the realization of education for all by 2015 * Will implementation of Teachers Salary Structure not guarantee teachers retention for effective prosecution of the UBE scheme?* Have we started thinking and planning for where to empty the graduates of 9 years basic Education?* Have we begun to plan for expansion of senior secondary school to cater for expected population upsurge at the end of 1st 9 years?

9) ConclusionFrom what has so far been discussed in this paper, it must be recognized that the business of education is multifaceted and multi-dimensional. Therefore, for the programme of UBE to succeed, we cannot take too lightly the challenges that are before us. The universal Basic Education Commission, and other relevant agencies of Government, Civil Society Organisations, Teacher Associations, and Communities must tackle frontally the challenges enumerated hereunder:

• Adequate funding for the implementation of basic education especially at State level.• Proper utilization of FGN funds for Basic Education by States.• Increased funding by Development partners to address funding gap required to achieve basic education.• Work assiduously to eliminate socio-cultural barriers to girls education and socio-economic problem of boys.• Adequate number of qualified teachers • Enforcement of the minimum standard of NCE for teachers. • Institutionalization of teacher-in service training as provided for in the UBEC Act.• Adequate ICT equipment and other teaching and instructional materials.• Adequate infrastructural facilities (note that at present 336,467 classroom, 336,144 chairs and tables and 950,430 units of toilets are needed).• Pressure from HIV and AIDs.

In our efforts to face these challenges, we must not fail to focus on the teacher and recognize the pivotal role and responsibilities thrusted on him in our determination to provide for our children unfettered access to Quality Basic Education. Every opportunity, therefore, must be used to draw attention to the plight of teachers who are under pressure from rising school enrolment, poor motivation, and poor teaching/learning environment. Apart from adequately addressing the issues of quantity and quality, retention of qualified teachers must be pursued vigorously through motivation and the institutionalization of a separate salary structure and welfare packages would make the teaching profession lucrative, attractive and check the paucity or dearth of teachers thereby ensuring adequate manpower for effective delivery of basic education to our children.

The report claims that an astounding 8.2 million children are not provided with adequate education in Africa's most populous country.

‘Nigeria has the highest number of children out of school' By Ayo Okulaja

September 22, 2010 01:43PM

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In ranking Nigeria amongst the worst place for a child to be in 2010, a report by the Global Campaign for Education (GCE) has stated that Nigeria has more children out of education than any other country in the world.

The report claims that an astounding 8.2 million children are not provided with adequate education in Africa’s most populous country. Comparing the nation’s wealth with the apparent low standard of education, the report claims that “the report is made all the more appalling by the fact that Nigeria is far from poor, by African standards. On paper at least it is among the continent’s richest countries, the world’s sixth largest producer of crude oil. But decades of failure to invest in education have left the basic school system hardly functioning, especially in the country’s impoverished north.”

For Primary education, the report claims many students drop out of the school in their first year of education due to ‘unequal provision of education’ and this it argued, is caused by the lack of political will to address and arrest the issue. “A lack of political will is a major factor in the country having the highest number of children out of school in the world. Gross inequality in the provision of education has led to 8.2 million children out of primary school with many more dropping out within the first year.”

Poor attendance, imbalanced education

The report particularly criticised the northern region of the country for an abysmal amount of children denied good education. “Over half of these children are in the north of the country, with girls suffering the most with many receiving just six months of education in their lives. In the largely Muslim north of Nigeria..........attendance rates are below 50% at primary school and of those only one in every three pupils is female (nationwide, the proportion is five boys to four girls)” it noted.

The GCE report is coming just as the National Education Council of Nigeria (NECO) on Monday released the 2010 results and over 79% of the students that sat for the examination failed in English language; the nation’s official language.

While over 80% of the students failed the entire exam last year.

Nigeria was however not listed in the list of the bottom 10 countries that are worst for a child. The countries which are predominantly African nations include Somalia, Eritrea, Comoros, Ethiopia, Chad, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Liberia and Haiti. Tanzania and Mozambique were however commended for halving the number of children out of school, while Rwanda is said to have made strong efforts to ensure that there are enough professionally trained teachers.

The report noted that delivering education for all is highly achievable and brings other poverty dividends such as reducing HIV deaths by seven million and doubling child survival by 50% if mothers are educated.

The President of the Global Campaign for Education Kailash Satyarthi in a statement to political leaders warned “if scientists can genetically modify food and NASA can send missions to Mars, politicians must be able to find the resources to get millions of children into school and change the prospects of a generation of children.”

GCE called on leaders meeting at the United Nations in New York this week, to make funding for education a priority in order to meet the target of universal access to basic schooling by 2015.

It argues that “poor countries should spend 20% of their national budget on education, abolishing school fees and be supported to hire an additional 1.9 million teachers so that every child can have access to education.” It called on rich countries to “direct their aid budgets at the poorest countries or where inequalities of education are most extreme, rather using their aid budgets to underwrite the University systems.

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Reader Comments (39)

Posted by Truck Pusher on Sep 22 2010

who needs schooling?

Posted by T-Man on Sep 22 2010

@Truck Pusher You're obviously a very ignorant person.. Sad though to think that the number of uneducated children can be so large in such a rich country

Posted by Abanikonda on Sep 22 2010

Late Chief Obafemi Awolowo already predicted the DEMISE that will befall our children to come after his departure. He further said to the Nation, "I BROUGHT YOU PEOPLE OUT OF DARKNESS, BUT I AM SENDING

YOU BACK INTO DARKNESS AGAIN". Nigeria is in total DARKNESS. Jesus Christ told the Jewish Clerics(Saduceese, Phareeses, and Sanhindreins) that, "This Gospel I brought were meant for you, but you rejected it; so I will give it to the Gentiles." Papa Awolowo already took his Gospel away.

Posted by paquito bites on Sep 22 2010

@t-man.you missed the point.if you followed truck pusher you would have picked up the irony and sarcasm.you are obviously not part of our coven.yes coven.

Posted by ken Ukpaka on Sep 22 2010

NIGERIA,NIGERIA,NIGERIA. How many times did I call you? Education cannot be bargained, uncle Jonathan, please give free education from primary to university and use soldiers to arrest anyone on the street. @Truckpusher, I know you are playing after all you use internet and your english is fine meaning you are educated. Hopefully others will be like you.

Posted by OPC on Sep 22 2010

Nigeria always the number 1 in very bad thing... another good news for Nigerian haters!!!

Posted by Gen Rommel on Sep 22 2010

When President Clinton visited Nigeria during his last days in office, his only advice for the Government of Nigeria is to increase Primary School Enrollment numbers. These kids out of School today ( over 22mmillion we were told) will bring about the demise of the Nigerian Society in the near future. If anyone feels this is another blunder that can be fixed thru bribery, use of force & exclusion Policies; that person is living in a dream World. This is the emerging Social class of Nigeria tomorrow & power will eventually be taken by them. We are already witnessing the effect of half educated leaders & their destructive traits. These ones will only come to obliterate without mercy. Boko Haram is a just the beginning.

Posted by Moor on Sep 22 2010

And this is while some people are spending billions celebrating failure.

Posted by paquito bites on Sep 22 2010

@OPC.no one hates nigerians more than nigerians.let us not bore the reading public except to say look around you and see for yourself where the hatred lies.in our schools,hospitals,job prospects,universities,etc etc.just a little love for ourselves and you will see the difference.love,justice,honesty,transparency,sincerity and a good dose of humility and we will be a first world.A BIG IF!!!!.

Posted by Francis Uwaechi on Sep 22 2010

Until our nation realizes that education is not a mere certification for employment but a tool for self-reliance, our generations yet unborn will continue to suffer deprivation.

Posted by dondi on Sep 22 2010

The north is just another story.a sad one.you see kids on d streets as almajeri,d ones in school dont know jack!their teachers cant speak or even understand english evrytin is. "ba turanci".even if education is free,they dont see d need 2 go 2 skool...except for d elites.war against poverty,maternal mortality and the rest can be addressd thru sound education!

Posted by Observer on Sep 22 2010

There will never be good education in atmosphere of anarchy which is the state of our country Nigeria. How can there be good education when priority of the leaders is to steal the fund earmarked for education. Soon Senator Dimeji Bankole will join in preaching poor education in Nigeria. Other countires of the world have stable

education system. Every minister in Nigeria comes with his own system. Nigeria deserves leaders of repute to take us foward. The likes of Adams Oshimoless who value eduaction will be given the lead.

Posted by OPC on Sep 22 2010

@paquito bites, Yes I did know. I am sad as you but the truth is that we ourselves should rise up and demand justice from those who lead the country. I believe these coming elections should serve as a springboard to starting that. I know education in Nigeria is nothing to write home about even in the so-called south, nothing! Everything is grounding to zero in Nigeria, God have mercy!!!

Posted by Kaapstad on Sep 22 2010

@tman ,u missed the point truck pusher was making, who needs education in Nigeria, it's for sure not a meritorious society, look at the quality of our leaders, u need something else to succeed in that society, maybe National Geographic should take a closer look.

Posted by Fed Up on Sep 22 2010

You know why? It’s simple - Because most of the states in Nigeria is being and has been ruled by muslims. They do not place high emphasis on education; they have lower education standard and lower intellectual aspirations than Christians. For them investing in education is secondary to making money and being a trader.

Posted by justhavingmysay on Sep 22 2010

Government can start by offering 2 meals in public government schools to children. i experienced it as a child in london and in nigeria back in the 70's and it worked - we got one hot lunch (white rice and stew, jollof rice and chicken, yam pottage, bean porridge) . in london we also got a glass of milk and a fruit. this will make indigent people send their kids to school. tuition should be free. also i noticed that schools keep changing the books. in my days you could pass on your books to your sibling who was at least 2 classes behind you. that way children learnt to keep their books well (as best as possible and be responsible) and pass them down to their siblings. Now they make text books where you must write in the books so the kids have to always buy new ones. these are a few things our policy makers could look at to reduce the cost of sending kids to school. also in jakandes time, kids were posted to schools within distance from their homes so they didnt have to spend a lot on transport and could get to school on time and not be sleepy cos they had to be up too early. they could also get home early rest study and help their parents if need be.

Posted by ola on Sep 22 2010

i think as a nigerian i live in england am disappointed to say that anywhere we go around the world people see us bad people and yet our govts dont give a damn about wat other country thinks bcos they send their children to study aboard so how can they give bck to the society dat put them their i hop our political leaders should grow up and help the younger generation coming.

Posted by Jude on Sep 22 2010

Seriously speaking, the moment we begin to address the northern part of Nigeria on these issues, the better for everybody involved. Have you noticed that every development indices that is negative in Nigeria comes from the north. What do we do about these people? they've been in power for 37 of 50 years of Nigeria's independence, they've held the best posts for the most number of years, be it finance, agriculture, education, military, civil service etc. you name it. they had EVERY opportunity to better their lot yet NOTHING! What do we do about these people because they are not even ready to move forward, they have held the rest of us down for decades. Nigeria's problem is the NORTH! Please guys, what can we do about the northerners?

Posted by olmide martins on Sep 22 2010

i was born and bred in ajegunle lagos where the strong survive, but dat doesnt mean a education is not important, i now live in enland and i set up a charity to help kids under the sixteen have a good education even if

they can futher to the university, i think no matter wat we nigerians should help ourselves and 4get about the govts.

Posted by Chacha on Sep 22 2010

@Fed Up, you are a sorry case for bringing religion into this. I am sure you know nothing about Islamic history and the impact it has on science and the arts..... I wonder why unexposed individuals without any sound knowledge of any environment other than theirs post comments..... they belong to the growing group of "educated illeterates"!

Posted by Hassan awodi on Sep 22 2010

@Fed Up, Wouldn't people just leave religion out of everything? You are so so full of hatred man! It wouldn't solve anything and please stop the prejudice...it doesn't help the seriousness of the article.

Posted by Kaapstad on Sep 22 2010

@fed up, I think your not entirely right, yes I agree the North is in worse shape when it's comes to education, but the fact is that the South is also a disaster. Leaders like ibori, odili, etc are not from the North. 600,000 students fingered for malpractice? It's not just education, health 11% of all female mortalities in the world due to child birth occurs in Nigeria. The top ranked Nigerian University is ranked 6000 in the world 55 in Africa, I could go on and on, we have met the enemy and the enemy is us!

Posted by Jude on Sep 22 2010

Seriously speaking, the moment we begin to address the northern part of Nigeria on these issues, the better for everybody involved. Have you noticed that every development indices that is negative in Nigeria comes from the north. What do we do about these people? they've been in power for 37 of 50 years of Nigeria's independence, they've held the best posts for the most number of years, be it finance, agriculture, education, military, civil service etc. you name it. they had EVERY opportunity to better their lot yet NOTHING! What do we do about these people because they are not even ready to move forward, they have held the rest of us down for decades. Nigeria's problem is the NORTH! Please guys, what can we do about the northerners?

Posted by Chacha on Sep 22 2010

@Jude, I think we, the North, should vacate Nigeria so both of us can progress.

Posted by Kaapstad on Sep 22 2010

@Hassan awodi, it's easier to see the problem in someone else. The truth is that it won't matter if u break Nigeria up into 36 different countries tribalism will still rear it's ugly head. Once the Northerners are gone, the ijaws will see the difference in them and the orobos or isekiris, and so on. Nigerians, let's talk about common universal ideals and not become base. It's lazy and easy to hate.

Posted by aitamegbe on Sep 22 2010

My subjection is this, if we as a nation want to move forward let the federal government get our passed leader arrested to give account of our resources.A country of dog eat dog,.A nation whereby one political party details who to rule us,and majority accept it.Is enough to class us amongst the worst place to study on earth.Yes GEJ is ready to work but what about the do or die people around him.2011 is a test case let them wakeup, cos,Nigerian are awake.

Posted by Tizas on Sep 22 2010

@chacha,why not, it seems the best idea

Posted by Time BomB!!! on Sep 22 2010

Which way Nigeria, which way to go??? I Love my fatherland, (Tell me), Which to go? Yes I want to Know. Which way Nigeria, is heading to??? -Elder Sunny Okosun of blessed memory. Let's ask all Aso Rock Villa Contestants in the Presidential Project Fame (PPF)Contest for their policy on education and all other sundry issues. May God help Nigeria!

Posted by ireloju on Sep 22 2010

@jude,chacha nd co,the fellows ranking nigeria low in education made asimple mistake you guys failed to see,their survey was based on western styled education,i was born and brought up in the south then i was posted up north for my nysc,lioving up here has opened my eyes to a similar but different world,here quranic education is parpmount,and if a man is said tyo be literate if he can read and write then literacy up here is very high as there are very few people who cant read and write arabic to a certain level,what i believe should be of importance is getting the needed information across to these people in a format they are familiar with and that is arabic,inculcating western education into quranic schools will go along way in further educating our northern citizens

Posted by ireloju on Sep 22 2010

the education system working up north is the quranic school system,this should account for the seeming low edication status up there,but if we as anation can fuse western style education with these quranic schools it would go a long way

Posted by Chukwudozie Duru on Sep 22 2010

This is not the issue of government alone, i know that primary school is free secondary till JSS III is free, that is the path of government may be they should start arresting the children during school ours but yet i dont think it would solve the problem. Parents have a lot role to play in this issue, States i think should make it a law that every paprent should send and ensure that his/her child is in school during school hours and when they come home mothers should ask if they have any home work do to , this is to ascertain if the child reaaly was in school. invite any parent whose wards always fail to come to school. If we try this little method i belief we would be able to reduce a fraction of this menance. For the authors of this research, do the know that the north in some cases would prefer their children to go to Islamic school rather than the western form of education and i also belief that Islamic school is also education and those people in such school should not be counted as not having education. so let them come out next time and tell us this, Nigeria is a country that is essentially divided into two North (Islam) and south Christian) but i dont understand why our north is not cathing up with development when compared with other Islamic countries and the south.

Posted by onyembi peculiar june-ere on Sep 22 2010

I pray that God will help us.

Posted by Lanre on Sep 22 2010

The problem is the North guys. They rule, want to continue ruling but have this unbelievable gap with the rest of the nation. Ok if you quip about Islamic Education, the last time I checked Nigeria is a secular country. Those of us calling ourselves Nigerians be better prepared for the next fifty years when the result of this neglect becomes apparent.

Posted by David on Sep 22 2010

This is what bad leadership is causing for Nigeria.

Posted by timetoresist on Sep 22 2010

the solution is very very very simple. close down all the private schools for the next five years. all the rich people, including all of you bloggers, will rush to fix the public schools where their children will have to go, buy computers for them, paint their walls, fix their gardens and toilets, install running water systems, fight for increased teachers

salaries, install air conditions, reform the curriculum, promote the teaching of arts, language and other extra curricular subjects. all government workers will have to put their kids in these schools and so they will have to build new schools and raise the standards. the simple problem of public education is private education. that the rich just don't give a damn about those who are poor and rotting in public schools or on the streets. they may PITY them but they will not CHANGE THE SYSTEM FOR THEM because they are not involved directly and thus FEEL NO PAIN.

Posted by wole on Sep 22 2010

The problem of education just like all our other problems is not just peculiar to any particular part of the country though may be prevalent in some place but all said this problems are our own forms of natural disasters. The only way out of this global shame is a revolution, without which nothing will change. Enough of talk. Lets take action register to vote out the people decieving party(pdp). It has only succeded in spreading unprecedented corruption and poverty in the land.

Posted by LaJ on Sep 22 2010

Waiting to explode..Let's hope oil prices remain high for the foreseeable future. What's stopping us from recruting our millions of idle graduates and turning them into primary/secondary school teachers???

Posted by Kaapstad on Sep 22 2010

@timetoresist ur right!

Femi Awodele Friday, September 17, 2010

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TRANSFORMING NIGERIA IV – A FOOL AT 50…?

n two weeks Nigeria would be celebrating 50 years of independence from Britain, and I believe it is safe to say that we’ve progressed politically with the current democratic governance taking roots and surviving, however, we’ve actually regressed economically, academically etc. While a few in the political class continue

to get rich, the populace have become poorer.

A Fifty year old person is not a child anymore, in-fact in real world such a person could be a grandparent, such a person could have achieved whatever vision they’ve set for themselves, and I believe General Obasanjo ruled Nigeria before he was 50 years old? At some point Apostle Paul actually got mad with some of the churches for not maturing and their dependence on milk instead of been bone crushers themselves.

Anytime I think of Nigeria, my mind goes to spoilt kids such as Paris Hilton, by virtue of heritage she is blessed beyond imagination, she has mineral resources that are yet

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untapped with high earning potential, she has abundant human resources in terms of population at home and scattered all over the world. In terms of natural disasters she has been blessed with no seasonal disasters such as hurricanes, tsunamis etc rather the only disasters are man-made such as Ogunpa flood (caused by bad sanitation) and perennial explosion of non-road worthy oil tankers that often kill scores of people.

Every Nigerian I know, know where they want the country to be, those of us abroad even have images that we can pull on, however the problem comes with how to achieve what we all imagine for our dear country. Some think the Ghana model with Jerry Rawlings is the only way out, some think we need a strong leader in the likeness of General Idiagbon, some think the change must start in our religious institutions, while others think that our democracy will finally take us to the promise land, unfortunately no one is looking at themselves as the place to start the transformation of Nigeria.

I do not believe Nigeria is beyond transformation (If God can restore Israel over and over again – the case of Nigeria is a piece of cake); in-fact I believe our story would be a good testimony to the world, just like South Korea and perhaps India. Transformation, especially after repentance is one of God’s specialty or favorite thing to do whether it is for an individual or for a nation, as we read many times with the nation of Israel, and this transformation comes with aggressively clinging on to the Truth that sets Free and following laid down rules. Nehemiah and Ezra where comfortable individuals who knew the times they were in, repented personally and then led their country out of a tailspin, knowing they would have opposition.

As Nigeria approach fifty years of independent existence, the transformation we need, would never come from our corrupted institution, it would have to come from transformed individuals within those institution, for instance, the entrenched corrupt nature of Nigerian Police would never change as an institution just because the new IG gave an inspiring speech on corruption!, but if a couple of upright commissioners, couple of upright sergeants, couple of upright corporals stand up for righteousness, the Nigerian police would transform overnight. The political institution would also remain corrupt if status quo is maintained, but if enough senators and house members have a come to Jesus moment or a Nehemiah moment, the political landscape would start to change.

Unfortunately, what we have in Nigeria today are people who see our various institutions as sources of wealth or good life not as a calling to serve God and others, from our religious institution, to our political institutions, to our military institutions, and even to our educational institutions. The general populace who often complain about politicians and corrupt police would often tell their cousin who is part of any of the institution to remember that it is their time? It seems to me that we simply pay lip service to real change from the very top to the least of us.

I am one of those who believe God still answer prayers; I also believe that it is the prayers of the saints that are still upholding Nigeria. I know that there is a group led by a young man in Atlanta currently on a 40 days fasting and prayer, I know another group led by another young man in Charlotte that pray for Nigeria weekly, I’m sure there are thousands of groups that I’m not aware of both at home and abroad.

Prayer and fasting is not our problem, our problem are the things that make prayer effective. Nigerians go from one over-night prayer to another all day prayer, we are taught to pray loud like God needs a hearing aid, yet we continue in sin missing the criteria that King David mentioned in Psalms 24. We need to focus our prayers on what God (His Kingdom on earth) wants rather than Him killing our enemies over and over

again and our comfort.

I believe (like I’ve written many times) that the transformation of Nigeria need to start with the body of Christ, like Apostle Paul our leaders need to call out the bad eggs within, they need to speak Truth to power (using Pastor Aweda’s words) and speak the undiluted word of God. Their words to the body of Christ cannot be based on the people’s circumstances (like a Nigerian leader once suggested) but on the total word that transforms, teachers/pastors etc simply speaks, it is the Holy Spirit that really transform. I’ll rather go to a church, that the pastor (listen to God) teaches the now word of Christ, rather than him/her speaking what I want to hear.

Until, our religious leaders start to think different from the conventional “alase ekeji orisa” (second calabash to God) mentality or come to me for prayer because I have anointing, to empowering the people through teaching that sets free (not encourage dependency), our Christianity would continue to be a mile wide and an inch deep as many foreign observers have commented.

Many times we are clouded by the negatives that we miss thanking God for the positives, I think the survival of our current democracy is worth celebrating, I think the current president has been responsive to the people and seem to be making the right moves, my fear regarding him is that, by the time he gets the mandate for a four year term, he will be beholding to too many people, I pray he proves me wrong.

Woven into the fabric of our political system and accepted by majority of the Nigerian electorate is the notion that every politician is supposed to enrich his/herself, so the issue really is don’t be greedy with what you steal or simply make sure you spread the riches around, this is the only explanation for anyone other than his family standing with General Babangida? Somehow, this thinking has got to change from enrichment to serving from both the electorate and individuals seeking office.

The constitution (our foundation) we are operating is also messed up on many level (my opinion), first it was commissioned and written by a military government with personal agenda, secondly, it is based on social democratic values (a system that has failed woefully in Europe) instead of a free market capitalist value (which is why we all flock to America) – the system of government (parliamentary of presidential) we have is irrelevant, it is the value system that makes the difference. It amazes me that the Nigerian education/media elites all prefer America (to Europe) yet they are for a socialist system rather than free market? Even Tony Blair is now denouncing social democracy. Thirdly, the constitution is written to protect corruption, it gives power to a few elite and does not empower the populace.

As we celebrate 50 years of governing ourselves, what needs to change is our thinking, starting in the body of Christ and flowing into our political system. Someone (perhaps God is speaking to you) need to come up with a jingle about transforming Nigeria through our thinking, we need commercials on TV promoting righteousness (more like the ads in America promoting values “pass it on”), we need to prosecute at least two big guns (in my opinion two of the past presidents) to serve as deterrents.

Human sinful nature often point fingers at others while excusing our own faults, we are experts at doing just that, we blame everyone but ourselves. We need individual turn-around or individual Damascus experience, when I change my thinking, then my spouse and children are more likely to change, then it infects my neighbors, however, if I keep complaining and keep pointing fingers the cycle will continue. An old song said “Lord, send down revival and let it begin with me”. The transformation needed in Nigeria, will

only start with individuals changing and not worrying about anyone else.

Change for Truth or transformational change is definitely not fun, because many people will ridicule you, you might even end up broke, you may be isolated because you did not enrich yourself or for speaking the truth (and step on toes), yet if many of us don’t start this internal transformation our children would be complaining about Nigeria like we did and her potential will continue to be squandered.

The best gift you and I can give Nigeria for her 50th independence anniversary is a pledge to start the transformational thinking in ourselves, then in our faith communities and then in our sphere of influence. The future of Nigeria is not in the hands of the current crop of corrupt leaders but in the hands of people who refuses to take crap or live with the status quo.

God Bless Nigeria and Happy Independence

Nigeria-EDUCATION Nigeria Index

Students at recess in a Lagos primary school Courtesy Embassy of Nigeria, Washington

Outdoor class at a Quran school in Lagos in the early 1960s Courtesy Embassy of Nigeria, Washington

There were three fundamentally distinct education systems in Nigeria in 1990: the indigenous system, Quranic schools, and formal European-style education institutions. In the rural areas where the majority lived, children learned the skills of farming and other work, as well as the duties of adulthood, from participation in the community. This process was often supplemented by age-based schools in which groups of young boys were instructed in community responsibilities by mature men. Apprentice systems were widespread throughout all occupations; the trainee provided service to the teacher over a period of years and eventually struck out on his own. Truck driving, building trades, and all indigenous crafts and services from leather work to medicine were passed down in families and acquired through apprenticeship training as well. In 1990 this indigenous system included more than 50 percent of the school-age population and operated almost entirely in the private sector; there was virtually no regulation by the government unless training included the need for a license. By the 1970s, education experts were asking how the system could be integrated into the more formal schooling of the young, but the question remained unresolved by 1990.

Islamic education was part of religious duty. Children learned up to one or two chapters of the Quran by rote from a local mallam, or religious teacher, before they were five or six years old. Religious learning included the Arabic alphabet and the ability to read and copy texts in the language, along with those texts required for daily prayers. Any Islamic community provided such instruction in a mallam's house, under a tree on a thoroughfare, or in a local mosque. This primary level was the most widespread. A smaller number of those young Muslims who wished, or who came from wealthier or more educated homes, went on to examine the meanings of the Arabic texts. Later, grammar, syntax, arithmetic, algebra, logic, rhetoric, jurisprudence, and theology were added; these subjects

required specialist teachers at the advanced level. After this level, students traditionally went on to one of the famous Islamic centers of learning.

For the vast majority, Muslim education was delivered informally under the tutelage of mallams or ulama, scholars who specialized in religious learning and teaching. Throughout the colonial period, a series of formal Muslim schools were set up and run on European lines. These schools were established in almost all major Nigerian cities but were notable in Kano, where Islamic brotherhoods developed an impressive number of schools. They catered to the children of the devout and the well-to-do who wished to have their children educated in the new and necessary European learning, but within a firmly religious context. Such schools were influential as a form of local private school that retained the predominance of religious values within a modernized school system. Because the government took over all private and parochial schools in the mid-1970s and only allowed such schools to exist again independently in 1990, data are lacking concerning numbers of students enrolled.

Western-style education came to Nigeria with the missionaries in the mid-nineteenth century. Although the first mission school was founded in 1843 by Methodists, it was the Anglican Church Missionary Society that pushed forward in the early 1850s to found a chain of missions and schools, followed quickly in the late 1850s by the Roman Catholics. In 1887 in what is now southern Nigeria, an education department was founded that began setting curricula requirements and administered grants to the mission societies. By 1914, when north and south were united into one colony, there were fifty-nine government and ninety-one mission primary schools in the south; all eleven secondary schools, except for King's College in Lagos, were run by the missions. The missions got a foothold in the middle belt; a mission school for the sons of chiefs was opened in Zaria in 1907 but lasted only two years. In 1909 Hans Vischer, an ex-Anglican missionary, was asked to organize the education system of the Protectorate Northern Nigeria. Schools were set up and grants given to missions in the middle belt. In 1914 there were 1,100 primary school pupils in the north, compared with 35,700 in the south; the north had no secondary schools, compared with eleven in the south. By the 1920s, the pressure for school places in the south led to increased numbers of independent schools financed by local efforts and to the sending of favorite sons overseas for more advanced training.

The education system focused strongly on examinations. In 1916 Frederick Lugard, first governor of the unified colony, set up a school inspectorate. Discipline, buildings, and adequacy of teaching staff were to be inspected, but the most points given to a school's performance went to the numbers and rankings of its examination results. This stress on examinations was still used in 1990 to judge educational results and to obtain qualifications for jobs in government and the private sector.

Progress in education was slow but steady throughout the colonial era until the end of World War II. By 1950 the country had developed a three-tiered system of primary, secondary, and higher education based on the British model of wide participation at the bottom, sorting into academic and vocational training at the secondary level, and higher education for a small elite destined for leadership. On the eve of independence in the late 1950s, Nigeria had gone through a decade of exceptional educational growth leading to a movement for universal primary education in the Western Region. In the north, primary school enrollments went from 66,000 in 1947 to 206,000 in 1957, in the west (mostly Yoruba areas) from 240,000 to 983,000 in the same period, and in the east from 320,000 to 1,209,000. Secondary level enrollments went from 10,000 for the country as a whole in 1947 to 36,000 in 1957; 90 percent of these, however, were in the south.

Given the central importance of formal education, it soon became "the largest social programme of all governments of the federation," absorbing as much as 40 percent of the budgets of some state governments. Thus, by 1984-85 more than 13 million pupils attended almost 35,000 public primary schools. At the secondary level, approximately 3.7 million students were attending 6,500 schools (these numbers probably included enrollment in private schools), and about 125,000 postsecondary level students were attending 35 colleges and universities. The pressure on the system remained intense in 1990, so much so that one education researcher predicted 800,000 higher level students by the end of the 1990s, with a correlated growth in numbers and size of all education institutions to match this estimate.

Universal primary education became official policy for the federation in the 1970s. The goal has not been reached despite pressure throughout the 1980s to do so. In percentage terms, accomplishments have been impressive. Given an approximate population of 49.3 million in 1957 with 23 percent in the primary school age-group (ages five to fourteen), the country had 21 percent of its school-age population attending in the period just prior to independence, after what was probably a tripling of the age-group in the preceding decade. By 1985 with an estimated population of 23 million between ages five and fourteen, approximately 47 percent of the age-group attended school (see table 3, Appendix). Although growth slowed and actually decreased in some rural areas in the late 1980s, it was projected that by the early part of the next century universal primary education would be achieved.

Secondary and postsecondary level growth was much more dramatic. The secondary level age-group (ages fifteen to twenty- four) represented approximately 16 percent of the entire population in 1985. Secondary level education was available for approximately 0.5 percent of the age-group in 1957, and for 22 percent of the age-group in 1985 (see table 4, Appendix). In the early 1960s, there were approximately 4,000 students at six institutions (Ibadan, Ife, Lagos, Ahmadu Bello University, the University of Nigeria at Nsukka, and the Institute of Technology at Benin), rising to 19,000 by 1971 and to 30,000 by 1975 (see table 5, Appendix). In 1990 there were thirty-five polytechnic institutes, military colleges, and state and federal universities, plus colleges of education and of agriculture; they had an estimated enrollment of 150,000 to 200,000, representing less than 1 percent of the twenty-one to twenty-nine-year-old age-group.

Such growth was impossible without incurring a host of problems, several of which were so severe as to endanger the entire system of education. As long as the country was growing apace in terms of jobs for the educated minority through investment in expanded government agencies and services and the private sector, the growing numbers of graduates could be absorbed. But the criterion of examination results as the primary sorting device for access to schools and universities led to widespread corruption and cheating among faculty and students at all levels, but especially secondary and postsecondary. Most Nigerian universities had followed the British higher education system of "final examinations" as the basis for granting degrees, but by 1990 many were shifting to the United States system of course credits. Economic hardship among teaching staffs produced increased engagement in nonacademic moonlighting activities. Added to these difficulties were such factors as the lack of books and materials, no incentive for research and writing, the use of outdated notes and materials, and the deficiency of replacement laboratory equipment. One researcher noted that in the 1980s Nigeria had the lowest number of indigenous engineers per capita of any Third World country. Unfortunately, nothing was done to rectify the situation. The teaching of English, which was the language of instruction beyond primary school, had reached such poor levels that university faculty complained they could not understand the written work of their students. By 1990 the crisis in education was such that it was predicted that by the end of the decade, there would be insufficient personnel to run essential services of the country. It was hoped that the publication of critical works and international attention to this crisis might reverse the situation before Nigeria lost an entire generation or more of its skilled labor force.

Education Roadmap - The Journey So FarTitus Eleweke27 January 2010

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Lagos — The 2009 education session ended without any significant improvement in the sector, despite the celebrated Education Roadmap designed to address the short comings in the sector. With less than a year and six months to the end of this administration, the implementation of the document is not yet in sight.

In Nigeria, the availability of sound ideas, ideas have never been in doubt, the problem has always been the implementation process. When the Education Ministry under the leadership of Dr. Sam Egwu, drew up a Roadmap for the sector,the idea was to address all the decays, short comings and leakages in the Nigerian education sector.

Given the enchanting outlook document, the former executive secretary of National Universities Commission (NUC) Prof. Peter Okebukola commended the document and asked the Education Minister to focus on the implementation for a stable sector.

As he put it, "In 2010, the Federal Ministry of Education should focus on the implementation of the nation's education road map. The road map attends to all issues that will bolster access and quality educational system. It's comprehensive scope, guarantees that no problem area in the sector is left unattended. The Hon. Minister of Education should institute quarterly monitoring mechanism on level of implementation of the milestone by the federal ministry education and all of its parastatls. By the end of 2010, a good number of the problems bedeviling education would have been significantly resolved "

Now, that this government has barely a year and six months to quit the stage, or be re-elected for another term of office, what becomes of the educational sector that is in a highly deplorable condition owing to shoddy implementation of the Roadmap. Many Nigerians are terribly disappointed on the manner the implementation is being handled since 2008 when the programme was launched,with no appreciable improvement in any aspect of the public education sector.

According to Mr Jerry Mba, a public opinion analyst,"We have been witnessing one crisis after the other, there is need to fasttrack the implementation to save the nation from further crisis and have stable education sector in the 2010, against what we had last year when the sector was crippled with a lot of problems from all angle. There is no way the vision 20-2020 of the federal government could be realisable without sound, qualitative and accessible education, because no nation develops without sound human capital".

Similarly,Prof Peter Okebukola stated that government need to focus on the implementation of the nation's education road map in the 2010 as the only way to addressing the multiple crises that have been bedeviling the sector in the recent time.

The Nigerian education road map, put together by Dr. Egwu with the aim of salvaging some of the nation's educational problem has a reasonable timetable, and the first phase was originally scheduled to take off in 2009. However, due to mismanagement of many crisis in the sector by the Federal Ministry of Education, the implementation process of this laudable Road map was disrupted. And now, we have few months to a new government, which may not likely appoint the present leaders in the sector to oversee the implementation.

Multiple crisis that engulfed the education sector for most part of last year obviously prevented the Federal Ministry of Education from pursuing the full implementation of the Roadmap,ostensibly because those problems were mishandled by those who were supposed to manage them.

The Education Roadmap is a comprehensive strategic plan unveiled at an extra - ordinary meeting of the National Council on Education (NCE) in April 2009 by the Education Minister, Dr Sam Egwu, who promised to pursue its implementation to logical conclusion. The programme's document which is about 180 - pages

derived its strength and focus from the efforts of previous Education Ministers, and targeted the year 2011 as target year for full actualisation of the concept.

Egwu had at the meeting described the Roadmap as "an intervention designed to expedite action towards the attainment of the Seven Point Agenda of Vision 20 - 2020, the Education for All (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals. ....The Roadmap, apart from charting the strategies for the basic, post - basic and tertiary education sub - sectors, also contains the proposed turn - around intervention in the four priority areas: Access and Equity; Standards and Quality Assurance; Technical and Vocational Education; Funding, Resource Mobilisation and Utilisation."

With the poor implementation which had led to sustained instability in the sector, the immediate challenge Egwu and his team faces is how to re-align the implementation process and make the sector better. It could be true that most of the works will be carried out by the various parastatals under the Ministry, there are apprehension and doubt that some of the parastatals do not have capable hands to manage them and that valuable time has already been lost. Our ministries,too had never been known for commitment and efficiency.

Up till now, the Minister had not categorically told the nation about what the federal budgeted for the education sector this year and what the sector is like. And nobody seems to know either, not even the Minister of State, Hajia Aishatu Dukku.

Some of the measures enumerated in the Roadmap were billed for 2009, while some were for this year, and others next year.The targets set for last year were not met nor achieved. The target for 2010 is still unclear, hence,the education Minister Egwu has an uphill task as he tries to clean up the backlog of uncleared issues before taking a bow, which may likely be in May 2010.

According to the Roadmap, the first phase of the implementation "will occur at a stratified sample of schools, including the Unity schools and other selected demonstration schools at the state level. The programme will deliver comprehensive intervention rolled out through a well conceived replication strategy over the medium term, to be reflected in the Education Sector Plans."

The document highlighted that statistics from the 2006 National Personnel Audit showed that, there were 54, 434 public primary schools in the country and a total of 87, 941 fot both public and private primary schools, with an enrolment figure of 24, 422, 918. Males account for 54.5 per cent, while females account for 45.5 per cent, indicating a gender parity of 83. 6 per cent. The document also declared the existence of some 7, 129 public junior secondary schools in the country, with a total enrolment figure of 3, 266, 780. Males account for 55 per cent, while 45 per cent are females.

The document explained the challenges this way: "Wide disparity exists between the expected and actual enrolments. For example, the expected enrolment in ECCDE is 22 million, but the actual is 2.02 million, leaving 19.89 million out - of - school. The expected enrolment in primary education is 34.92 million, but the actual is 24.42 million, leaving a shortfall of 10.5 million. In the Junior Secondary, expected enrolment is 9.27 million but the actual is 3.27 million, leaving approximately 6 million out of school." This was the situation in 2006. The figures as at 2009 would have gone up.

The Roadmap continued: "The picture is not different at the non - formal level. Out of the current population figure of 40 million non - literate adults, current enrolment stands at 500, 000, leaving 39.5 million out. For nomadic and migrant children, only 450, 000 are enrolled out of the 3.5 million school age learners, hence 3.1 million out - of - school. Other challenges are inadequate and inaccurate data as well as poverty. Available classrooms for informal education as at 2006 is 497, 871 and the shortfall is 1, 152, 412, while the existing classrooms for nomadic education is 10, 469 with a shortfall of 28, 931."

Relevant Links West Africa Nigeria Education

While the attainment of enrolment targets of 3, 127, 359 in the ECCDE level; 27, 900, 796 at the primary, and 4, 407, 071 at the junior secondary (JSS) levels was set for 2011, the target for the provision of additional infrastructure was set for December last year.

These include: 4, 000 additional classrooms for ECCDE; 22,000 for primary, 10, 160 for the JSS and 1764 for nomads. This could not be completely achieved, although, the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) performed too poorly in terms of constructing and rehabilitating public primary schools across the country. But, most importantly, the difficulty was more pronounced because the federal ministry of education hopes to persuade corporate bodies to provide funding as part of their Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives. Unfortunately, the global economic meltdown is affecting the private sector Even when there was impressive provision of moneys, sharp practices and abuses were the order of the day. For instance, Dukku, the Minister of State for Education, has since discovered that some contractors who got huge sums of money under the Education Trust Fund (ETF) special intervention for selected Unity schools across the country's six geo - political zones, had disappeared. During her surprise visit to Federal Government College, Robouchi, in the Federal Capital Territory last year, she discovered over 15 abandoned projects and was so angry that she directed the school's principal not to allow the contractor touch anything in the school again until a clearance from her ministry had been obtained.

At the post basic education level, the document described the challenges thus: "The 2005 Education Sector Analysis (ESA) report shows that enrolment in Senior Secondary Schools (SSS) was 2, 773, 418, with females constituting 43.8 per cent. The Gross Enrolment Ratio at the secondary level was merely 31.4 per cent in 2005; with 7, 210, 378 young persons (15 - 19 years) not enrolled in school. This picture is even more daunting with respect to Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), where shortfall in enrolment is over 80 per cent."

With regard to Teacher Quality, Development, Motivation and Retention, the document explained that out of a total of 180, 540 teachers in secondary schools, only 141, 517 are qualified while 39, 023 are not. It acknowledged the difficulty in attracting and retaining top talents in the teaching profession, as well as the poor staff development schemes at all levels. Two achievable goals were listed for December last year. They include: recruitment of additional 2, 811 teachers for Unity schools; and provision of training to upgrade the skills of the outstanding 13, 396 unqualified ones in them. This could not happen as the unity school teachers were locked in a battle with the Federal Ministry of Education over several issues that were eventually resolved. Besides, even at the basic level where UBEC organised training for teachers all over the country, it has been discovered that some presented fake certificates.

Relevant Links West Africa Nigeria Education

While at the Technical and Vocational Education and Training (at Post Basic Education level), the Roadmap affirmed the existence of 159 recognised Technical Colleges made up of 19 Federal, 137 state and 3 private offering trades at NTC/NBC level, and with an enrolment figure of 92, 216 (86.1 per cent male; 13.9 per cent female). There are also, according to the document, 18 approved VEIs, and 214 Vocational Schools owned by states, local governments and non - governmental organizations. Some 1, 850 Open Apprenticeship Centres were also mentioned. The target for a 50 per cent increase in the number of VEIs was slated for December last year. This was largely achieved.

For the Tertiary Education, the document estimates the staff strength of Nigerian Universities at 99,464, comprising 27, 394 academic staff and 72, 070 non-academic. Polytechnics and Monotechnics, the document stated, have 12, 938 academic and 24, 892 non - teaching staff members. Colleges of Education have 11, 256 academic and 24, 621 non - teaching staff members. The shortfall in academic staff is 19, 548 for Universities, 17, 078 for Polytechnics and 14, 858 for Colleges of Education respectively.

Several solutions have been mapped out with 2011 as the main target. But with the benefit of hindsight, such solution may likely turn into a painful.

badly.

AFRICA

More Commitment to Education NeededBy Rosebell Kagumire

NEW YORK, Sep 21, 2010 (IPS) - African nations lack the political will to provide access to primary education to all children, according to the Global Campaign for Education (GCE), a coalition of organisations in 100 countries.

In most countries on the continent, achieving basic education remains a far-off dream, the coalition stated in a report titled, "Back to School? The worst places in the world to be a school child in 2010", which was launched during the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Summit in New York, where world leaders are gathering to evaluate their countries’ progress five years ahead of the 2015 deadline.

Out of the ten worst places in the world to be a school child, seven are in Africa: Somalia, Eritrea, Comoros, Ethiopia, Chad, Burkina Faso, Central African Republic, Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Liberia.

In East Africa, Uganda is the country with the worst education gaps, followed by Burundi, Tanzania, Rwanda and Kenya.

Despite the fact that Uganda passed an Education Act in 2008, which makes primary education compulsory, implementation remains a challenge. About 43 percent of the country’s children had not acquired primary education in 2008, while for 78 percent, secondary education remains an elusive dream.

Lack of accountability

This is mainly due to the fact that Uganda had the lowest public expenditure on education in East Africa, according to the report. At the end of the 2009/2010 financial year, the education ministry had not spent about seven million dollars budgeted to recruit teachers.

World Bank managing director and Nigeria’s former finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala called for more transparency in educational spending: "We need people to keep governments accountable to ensure quality education," she said. "[We need to] track public expenditure in education down to school level."

Okonjo-Iweala said that the International Development Association, the World Bank’s "fund for the poorest", will make available an additional $750 million over next five years for education in the world’s 79 poorest countries. This, she said, is a 40 percent increase in donor money for education.

Education experts, however, say those amounts will still be insufficient. "It’s a welcome contribution from World Bank but a drop in the ocean in terms of what is needed to get basic education for all children. Other donors are going to have to up their game on education, too," cautioned Oxfam senior policy advisor Clare Godfrey.

But hoping for financial assistance from international donors will not be not enough, either. The GCE report stresses that developing countries must play their part, too, and commit 20 percent of their annual budget to education to meet MDG targets.

On the upside, there has been progress in a few African countries, such as in Tanzania, where an additional three million children are now able to go to school due to the introduction of free primary

education. Mozambique has halved the number of out-of-school children, while Rwanda has increased the number of trained teachers.

But only in one country in sub-Saharan Africa do more than half of all children attend secondary school – in Cape Verde, the small island nation of about 430,000 people.

Conflict and war

One of the key reasons for the slow progress in access to education are unstable political and conflict situations in African countries.

Former British prime minister Gordon Brown, who attended the meeting, said it was crucial to consider education in times of conflict as much as the provision of humanitarian aid. "We should work to fast-track education initiatives so that, in places with conflicts, education is available to the young at the frontiers in the same way as medicine," he suggested.

Brown further highlighted the fact that education forms the basis for meeting other MDGs, such as poverty reduction and gender inequality. "Education is the best anti-poverty, anti-deprivation and best anti-crime programme," he claimed.

He was referring to estimates by the UN Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) that 171 million people could be lifted out of poverty if they left school with nothing more than reading skills.

Apart from countries’ political situation, gender inequality is one of the main reasons for children’s limited access to education. "Girls are the real victims of the world’s failure to invest in education, with millions unable to enter school," said GCE president Kailash Satyarthi.

Schooling for girls

Nthabiseng Tshabalala, a 12 year-old South African orphan from Soweto township and an ambassador for 1GOAL, a GCE campaign that used the FIFA Soccer World Cup to bring attention to education, spoke at the meeting about how difficult it is for many girls to get an education. "I am lucky to go to school, and I don’t take it for granted," said Tshabalala, whose mother died when she was seven years old.

The GCE report also emphasised how educated girls become better mothers, which will have an impact on other MDGs, such as maternal health and child mortality. A child whose mother cannot read or write is 50 percent more likely to die before the age of five and twice as likely to suffer from malnutrition than a child whose mother completed primary school, the report stated.

Moreover, women with six or more years of education are more likely to seek prenatal care, assisted birth and post-natal care.

(END)

Anniversaries are usually a time for sober reflection. As Nigeria clocks 50 years since it attained political independence, this moment calls for deep introspection by everyone irrespective of where they are. By all accounts, 50 years of age should be a major milestone in anyone’s life

Nigeria has certainly come a long way from its days of Independence, and though some may say that the nation has not achieved much, by focussing carefully on growth areas the nation has actually achieved a lot.

Moreover, the international community has already recognised Nigeria’s progress in transforming itself from a by-word for poor governance and corruption to a country that can boast an acceptable degree of financial rectitude. Lars Thunell, the executive vice-president of the International Finance Corporation, the private sector arm of the World Bank, recently visited Nigeria and was effusive in his praise of Nigeria's commitment to economic reforms.

Nigeria also received its first sovereign credit rating from Fitch, the international ratings agency. Fitch assigned Nigeria a BB- ranking which put it in the same ranking band as Brazil and Turkey.

Some of our many achievements are as follows:  

Education: Nigeria education has evolved through a number of phases.

The education system in Nigeria has been formed by a number of influences:

the cololonial influence, influence of the military rule in Nigeria and then the impact of independence and a new constitution. The progress of education in the southern states of Nigeria reveals the involvement of the Christian missionaries towards the education system in Nigeria during the colonial period. Education in Nigeria became the responsibility of the state and local councils according to the 1979 constitution. First six years of primary education was made mandatory, which was a significant factor in the development of education in Nigeria. There has been a noticeable upgrading of educational facilities in Nigeria in the latest years. The apparent rates for adult illiteracy in the year 2010 is 35.9%. At present, there are 13 polytechnic colleges and four institutions of technology in Nigeria, along with a number of state universities, colleges, and schools. The local and state governments manage primary and secondary education in Nigeria. Higher education is the responsibility of both the federal and the state governments. From this, we can see that Nigeria has definitely made big strides in education. We have top level doctors, engineers, economists, teachers, lawyers, and literary gurus etc who have achieved maximally both nationally and internationally.

Communications: Communication has improved significantly, and it’s now standard to be able to communicate with friends and family all over the country without

problems.

International communications is also no longer a problem. The nation also has a large number of radio and television stations delivering myriads of programs for Nigerian citizens as well as people based abroad. The role of the Private stations is highly commendable in this area. For mobile telecommunications, prior to the licensing of the Digital Mobile Operators, private investment in the telecommunications sector was just about US$50 million. Between 2001 and now, the sector has attracted over US$9.5 Billion, a substantial part of which are direct foreign investment. With the rapid expansion plans by many of the major service providers, another US$3 Billion of investment is expected before the end of the year. Nigeria has thus become one of the most desired investment destinations for mobile telecommunications in Africa. This could not have been possible without a conducive and predictable regulatory environment and democratic government. In addition to this, the Federal government has earned over US$2.5 Billion from Spectrum licensing fees alone between 2001 and now. Import duties and taxes from the telecom industry have also contributed substantial revenue to the Federal Government.

Democracy: This is an area where there would be most controversy if anybody should say that the nation has not made strides in democratic rule.

Nigeria is currently the world's fourth largest democracy.  One African in four is a Nigerian; with a population of 150 million, Nigeria is larger than any country in Europe. Nigeria's democratic government looks remarkably familiar to an American. President Goodluck Jonathan was democratically elected to become the vice president of Nigeria, and was appointed the acting president of Nigeria, and subsequently became the President of Nigeria following the death of President Yardua.

The national assembly is bicameral, with a Senate and  House of Representatives , distributed among the states by population. The independent judiciary has at the apex of its federal structure a Supreme Court of up to 15 justices. Each state has a governor (and, parallel to the vice-president, a deputy-governor), a unicameral House of Assembly and an independent judiciary. Nigeria has had 11 years of uninterrupted civilian rule and it is only 1 year until the the 2011 general election. Nigeria will be in a position of emulating Ghana and South Africa to hold trouble free elections.

 

Foreign policy: In the area of foreign policy, Nigeria has made strides and Nigeria is a highly respected country in Africa especially in international politics.

The return of democracy to Nigeria in 1999 improved the country's image abroad and allowed the country to take a more active and productive role regionally and on the global stage.  Nigeria has proven to be a  a powerhouse in the region in economic and security affairs. Without Nigeria, ECOMOG (West African Peace Monitoring Force) of ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) would be toothless, and African-led peacekeeping missions in Guinea-Bissau, Liberia and Sierra Leone would not have been possible.

Nigeria is seen as a leading nation that has been instrumental in gathering African leaders to work towards establishing a code of conduct in economic and political reforms that would satisfy the conditions and expectations of Western donors. Nigeria is a member of the following international organizations: the UN and several of its special and related agencies, Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), the African Union (AU), Organization of African Trade Union Unity (OATUU), Commonwealth, INTELSAT, Nonaligned Movement, and several other West African bodies. 

A US intelligence report suggested that Nigeria would disintegrate within the next 15 years. That prediction however undermines one fundamental fact, - the sense of resilience and survival instinct that Nigerians possess. An international opinion poll actually revealed that Nigerians are the happiest people on earth, just as another survey showed that they are the most religious inhabitants of the planet. All this explains the sense of hope that Nigerians have in celebrating 50 years of Independence.

As we speak, Nigeria sits on a war-chest (foreign reserve) approaching the $30 billion mark, which is a direct result of tight fiscal policy and bold resistance to sharing oil-windfall with the state governments. Even at that, the country has secured a historical deal with its creditors that could help eliminate huge debt load. Statistics show that the federal government over the last few years has saved over a billion dollars simply by strictly monitoring its procurement, contract award and disbursement system, through the due process office.

Already a large chunk of inefficient government enterprises have been offloaded to core investor groups through privatization, just as the telecommunication sector has been

deregulated leading to an unprecedented growth and improved efficiency in commercial activities.

The fight against financial and economic crimes has been very protracted and assumed an unexpected serious dimension. This is leading to the eradication of the scourge of advanced fee (419) as miscreants are now on their guard. According to a popular saying in Nigeria these days “The fear of EFCC (Economic and Financial Crimes Commission) is the beginning of wisdom”.

Transformation in the financial sector, - banking/insurance consolidation, capital market modernization and pension reform are bound to deliver phenomenal multiplier effect on the productive sector and bolster volume of business activities. Already the cost of funds has started to dwindle thanks to a gradual accumulation of long-term investible assets. At 6%, interest rate for six-month commercial paper has fallen to a level never seen in the annals of the money market. Naira exchange rate has hovered around 135 to a dollar for over 2 years.

The government has come to grips and is finally determined to boost power supply. Recently a mega power deal worth over $550 million was signed with General Electric (GE) to supply turbines for new power generating plants to be constructed in a deregulated market environment.

All the steps elucidated are lofty and bode well for the country. It would translate to prosperity over the long run

So, much has been achieved from the days of independence, and no doubt many more achievements are yet to come.

Be Proud of your Nation. Be Proud of Nigeria. Celebrating 50 years of Nigeria’s independence

SUNDAY, 31 JANUARY 2010 23:00 Nigerian Compass

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Barring any unforeseen circumstance, this year is expected to be a memorable year for Nigeria, in particular as a united and indivisible geo-political entity, as well as for the generality of Nigerians, irrespective of political, religious, cultural or ethnic affiliations. To every Nigerian, this year is very

important. It is historic. And this is especially because Nigeria which is roundly acknowledged and duly recognised as the most populous black nation will be 50 years old this year having been formally granted political independence by Britain on October 1, 1960.

It is for this reason that all things being equal, Nigeria would likely roll out the drums, amidst pomp and pageantry, to celebrate her golden independence anniversary on Friday, October 1, 2010. Just last week, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Senator Adamu Aliero, disclosed that the Federal Government is planning to celebrate the 50th independence of the country in a grand style.” According to Aliero, 50 years in the life of a nation is worth celebrating especially with the unprecedented socio-economic developments witnessed during these years.”“This is why the leadership of the country has decided to have an elaborate celebration,” said Aliero.

Judging by Aliero’s disclosure, plan is underway by the federal government to ensure an elaborate 50th

independence anniversary celebration. But not many right-thinking Nigerians will readily agree with the leadership of the country that “Nigeria has witnessed unprecedented socio-economic developments during these years” and therefore deserves an elaborate 50th independence anniversary celebration.

Frankly, a critical look at the state of affairs of our beloved country during the past 50 years will show clearly, that there is indeed no cause for any celebration not to talk of an elaborate celebration. It is saddening, shameful and worrisome that since independence, no appreciable development was recorded by successive administrations. Not even the military administrations that pretended to be corrective, lived up to expectations. Worse still, the much-orchestrated uninterrupted 10-year-old democratic rule is so far a disappointment to the generality of Nigerians who are still yearning for the much-desired dividends of democracy.

It is unfortunate that 50 years after independence, Nigeria remains in quandary with essential infrastructure virtually in comatose. The education sector is in disarray while the health sector has virtually collapsed. Incidentally, President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua, has been away in a Saudi Arabian hospital for medical treatment since November 23, 2009, due to the failure of successive governments to improve the country’s healthcare delivery services.

The power sector is in shamble leading to 820 manufacturing companies folding up within the past couple of years. As a result of this, companies that have over the years been contributing positively to the socio-economic development of the country, have increasingly been relocating to neighbouring countries with more favourable operating environment.

It is not surprising that unemployment rate has increased considerably following loss of jobs by thousands of workers while many graduates are roaming the streets in search of gainful employment. This has inevitably led to phenomenal increase in the rate of criminality across the country which has claimed many precious lives and property.

From regime to regime, the recurring problem militating against the progress of the country remains leadership. Since independence in 1960, Nigeria has not been blessed with good leadership. Nigeria lacks good leaders. Nigeria lacks patriotic, focus-driven, trustworthy, honest and God-fearing leaders.

After 50 years, Nigeria is yet to have a visionary and compassionate leader that would successfully mobilise the people to fully harness the abundant human and natural resources of the country towards achieving a common goal for the benefit of the country and the citizenry.It is worrisome that efforts geared towards allowing electoral votes to account for the emergence of good and incorruptible leaders continue to be thwarted by corrupt politicians who are holding the country to ransom. Corruption remains a cankerworm that is ravaging all aspects of our national life, 50 years afterwards.

However, these lingering problems notwithstanding, Nigerians should celebrate because our beloved country has not disintegrated despite these daunting challenges. For 50 years, Nigerians, due to their uncommon patience and resilience, have been able to tolerate the nauseating excesses of their leaders most of whom have been insensitive to the yearnings and aspirations of the citizenry. But the leaders should in their own interest, stop taking the led for granted to avert chaos that could destabilise the country. Nigeria is not making progress because in most cases, we have small-minded and visionless people in positions of authority.

If Nigeria is to move forward and regain her lost glory both locally and internationally, Nigerians should determine to use their votes during the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Anambra State and the 2011 general elections to effect the desired changes in the country.

Since there is nothing much to celebrate, the federal government should ensure that plan for the 50th independence anniversary will not be another avenue for some individuals to corruptly enrich themselves. Judging by the country’s deplorable level of  development in 50 years, the occasion does not deserve an elaborate celebration. Rather, the anniversary should serve as an occasion for sober reflection for all Nigerians in general, and for our leaders in particular.

It should not be an occasion for unnecessary merry-making and wasteful spending by our leaders who should use the occasion to retrace their steps and strive to adequately meet the yearnings and aspirations of the citizenry. Posterity will never forgive the present crop of leaders if by their actions they allow the labour of those

that fought for Nigeria’s independence to be in vain.

Finally, we commend Nigerians for their resilience and patience during the past 50 years in spite of the  disappointments from their leaders. We should have consolation in the fact that Nigeria is still a united country after all.