Category: Opinion

Injustice in any form, is a depredating act; traumatizes and in the extreme reaction, has the potential to stunt development of the parties to the act, as the sense of guilt eats up the perpetrator while sorrow and sense of deficiency does same to the victim.

Let’s make man in our image was purportedly the resolve that made man different from all that was created.  Consequently, a righteous man is assumed God like.  Conscience, an individualized righteousness sensory control valve is what keeps every human conscious of his/her state of godliness.  It follows therefore that an individual knows when he/she is doing the right, the wrong or just what duty/survival demands, as his being reacts to the potential consequence of each.

The Head of State, Muhammadu Buhari knows he did what his soul – conscience expected of him – do the right at all times and to all manner of peoples – when he reversed – I beg your pardon, ameliorated the injustice done to Abiola and Nigerians in June 1993 – 27 years ago.

This write up hopes and prays that the injustice done to the people of Asaba and humanity in October 1967 – 53 years ago will by His Grace receive similar ameliorating gesture from the Head of State.

The President’s June 12th noble act has raised our hopes that in spite of perceived age old obstructing, ungodly vested interests we hopefully and finally have in place an era able at the very least to “white wash” over the blood spray – how we wish it was just a stain – on the nation’s ethnic body politics and national consciousness occasioned by the Asaba, Nigeria civil war era, massacre.  An orgy of extreme inhumanity and beastly act in which over 700 Asaba men and women were slaughtered on one spot (Ogbe Osowa Square), in one day, 7th day of October, 1967.

Read Also: The Lekki Tollgate ‘Massacre’: What Next?

Why Asaba? Why us? Had since been the traumatizing question – no answer(s) yet for 53 years. However, for the avoidance of doubt/confusion, let it be known that we are not asking for pity – far from it; that is never in our character!!

A call by the town crier had gone out that inhabitants assemble in their numbers at the square to accord befitting welcome to the liberating 2nd Division of the Nigerian Army.  Expectedly many came out gayly dressed in their Asaba traditional white attire and shouts of “One Nigeria” joyously echoing out of their mouths, only to be unexpectedly appreciated by hot bullets.  Consequently, many had the chorus of “One Nigeria” eternally stock in each of their throat courtesy of instant death, as groans of pain and whatever goes through the consciousness of dying minds, and death slowly overwhelmed others.

A house to house orgy of killing – over preceding days – thereafter commenced. The play out of events was as if the “gallant soldiers of the 2nd Division had a task that must be done.”  All that is now history, but to us the victims, it still hurts, and hurts very deep.

However, as godly people, we appeal to Nigerians of good will, and humanity at large to earnestly call on the Head of State, to do the needful, and on behalf of Nigeria, and Nigerians extend the basic courtesy a hurt and hurting people expect of their kit and kin.  Amongst the peace loving people of Asaba the singular mode of settling any manner of dispute and assuaging all manner of accompanying fall outs is ever simple.

All we ask is for Nigeria and Nigerians through our Head of State to sincerely say “Asaba ndo nu! Yaliba nu!” – which translate to “Asaba sorry! Forgive and forget!”

That assumedly simple gesture will erase a burden and accompanying fall out that for eternity would ever weigh negatively on the nation’s conscience, though more importantly, assuage the sorrow and pain destined for that long to be Asaba people’s portion.

 

 

• Dr. Chizea, wrote from Lagos.

So overwhelmed was Babagana Umara Zulum, the governor of Borno state to the unparralled contribution and disposition to the plight of the victims of Boko Haram insurgency in Borno by Dangote Foundation that the irrigation engineer Professor, eulogized Alhaji Aliko Dangote in his goodwill message to the business magnate who turned 63 years old on April, 11, 2020.

The governor’s message contained in a tweet, he sent out from his handle, @ Prof. Zulum reads: “My dear elder brother, it is such a great honour to join millions of your well-wishers in wishing you Allah’s continued grace as you turned 63 today.

“I always remember with so much gratitude, the many times you have offered bold interventions to help address humanitarian causes whether on areas of food supplies for our displaced brothers and sisters in Borno, or in building resettlement homes.

“Benevolent interventions from the Dangote Foundation have remained the highest from an individual and the private sector. We, grateful people of Borno state, will always wish you more of Allah’s blessings for good health, strengthened faith and the continued expansion of your huge investments that benefit humanity.

“We wish you a happy 63rd anniversary and Insha’allah, the people of Borno will ceaselessly celebrate you till the end of time. Allah Ya baka tsawon rai cikin rayuwa mai Albarka!

“Allah Ya sa ka gama da duniya lafiya, kuma Allah Ya sa ka cikin Aljanna firdaus! Congratulations, sir!” Governor Zulum said in his tweet.

The provoking, pricking and possibly prodding question is how many of the prominent Borno citizens especially, the plutocrats politicians and stakeholders can deserve such encomiums. This question which is within the context of what is seen, heard and said of the good Samaritan, however is without prejudice to the concerned citizens of Borno who might have contributed one way or the other their quota in this regard in cash or kind and chose to remain anonymous. Certainly, to denigrate such group is uncharitable and unfair. However, there is the group of Borno prominent stakeholders in business, commerce, politics and the bureaucrats who are endowed, privileged and in ocean of wealth and expertise turned their back on their mother state (Borno) for the past decade watching Borno in agony, downward precipice and in survival battle. They jet into Maiduguri now and before the shout of Jack Robinson jet out. This group of indigenous citizens in “Siddon Look” (apology to Bola Ige) disposition either with deep rooted prejudice against the establishment in the state or for reasons best known to its members watch Borno deceitfully and diabolically gravitating to Shakespeare’s “architecture of ruins,” a landscape of shattered homesteads, severed limbs, tattered lives, ravaged farmlands and looted barns.

It would be recalled as Governor of Borno state, Governor Kashim Shettima sowed the wind and dared the whirlwind when he accused some indigenous politicians and elite of Borno state of not only trying to subvert his administration, but also distanced themselves from the reconstruction and resettlement programme of his administration. For example, he pointed out of a wealthy politician from Borno who never gave a dime or Kobo for rehabilitation of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state, but could give billions of naira to a political party as a donation. And for those trying to destabilize his administration, Shettima warned at the same time that he would expose the masquerade though he knew the consequences of doing so.

Read ALso: DJ Cuppy: I feed about 70,000 children in Borno daily

Even, the Nigerian Army has warned in statements of attempts by some politicians and elite from Northeast and Borno state in particular of moves by the concerned to frustrate all efforts at bringing the insurgency to an end.

In such statements, the army pointed out that the politicians were in collusion with some marabouts and others to ensure the failure of the military in the terror war for their self-ambition.

It would be recalled also, that when President Muhammadu Buhari visited Maiduguri last year to condone the people on the deadly attack and destruction of human lives and property by suspected members of Boko Haram in Auno village of Borno, the President wondered during his visit to the Shehu of Borno palace whether it was possible for the insurgents to move all the way from the Chad region in northern Borno all the way to Maiduguri to commit havoc without the prior knowledge of some people?

It would be recalled some years back some prominent leaders in Borno accusing one another of masterminds of Boko Haram insurgency.

At a three-day conference on Peace and Unity organized by Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) during the administration of President Jonathan, the Senate President, David Mark, asked, why have the northern leaders been unable to condemn the terrorist group, Boko Haram that had claimed responsibility for the deaths of hundreds of people.

To cap it up General Yakubu Gowon, who was the chairman of the conference told northern leaders to stop being hypocritical or “Speaking from both sides of the mouth,” while dealing with issues of insecurity and ethno-religious killings in the north.

Coming back to Borno, unlike most elders, money bags of Borno and grandstanding elite, the youths of Borno have paid their price in the ongoing terror war. The young men in the terror-afflicted state some years back chose to meet the lion in its own den notwithstanding the price when caught between the devil and the deep blue sea. They came on their volition to collaborate with the Military Joint Task Force (JTF) to identify and, if necessary, to arrest suspected terrorists and hand them over to the authorities. They know most of the Boko Haram members because they live together with them. Due to this courageous efforts of the youth in Maiduguri and other parts of the state, thousands of members of Boko Haram have been taken into custody. Their coming into scene in the terror war changed the scenario as the emergence of the youth sent the insurgents into the bush and they had since made the bush their habitat as the cities and towns have become too hot for them. Patriotic Nigerians hailed the youth who are determined to restore hope to Borno. Kashim Shettima as Governor of the state described them “Our Heroes”.

Notwithstanding, the disposition of most prominent Borno stakeholders who fled, abandoned or outright rejected their ancestral home for greener pasture or safe haven when their roof is on fire, there are few indigenous dedicated, committed and outright in pains and accord with the unfortunate situation in their home state and would not abandon it. In this class is Alhaji Mohammed Indimi, a business mogul whose foundation, “Indimi Foundation” has contributed in no small measure to Reconstruction, Rehabilitation and Resettlement programme of Borno state government and beyond in cash and kind and in billions of naira. Similarly is Engr. Mele Kyari, the Managing Director of NNPC who along with others made possible the 50MW gas plant under construction in Borno state to bring to an end, the persistent power disruption of the state by the insurgents who for the past nine months held Borno hostage without light as they destroyed some of the existing power towers and poles.

Let us not forget, the Vice-President, Yemi Osibanjo who in no small measure identified both officially and in private capacity his commitment to the orphans of Borno.

Above all, is President Muhammadu Buhari who showed keen interest on the happenings in Borno.

 

• Izekor can be reached at victorizekor@gmail.com

Two weekends ago, Trump loyalists gathered in Washington for the “Justice for J6” rally, a supposed show of solidarity with the “political prisoners” arrested for their alleged (or confessed) participation in the Jan. 6 Capitol attack.

Trump’s Republican-fascists and their propagandists have elevated these hooligans, vandals and (in many cases) terrorists to the status of martyrs and patriots as a way of legitimizing their anti-democratic movement, creating sympathy among Trump’s faithful that can be exploited for fundraising and, of course, recruiting and encouraging more extremists to the cause.

Despite warnings from the Capitol Police, DHS and other authorities that more violence was possible, the rally on Sept. 18 was a tame and peaceful affair. No more than a few hundred Trump cultists attended, greatly outnumbered by law enforcement and the news media. This low turnout was widely mocked among the chattering class,  liberals and progressives of the “resistance” and others who oppose Trump and his movement.

As I have argued before, such reactions are shortsighted and ill-advised — another example among many of the way America’s political class, news media and the public at large still does not understand the nature of the threat they face from the Republican-fascist movement and the larger white right.

Experts on domestic terrorism have repeatedly warned that in the aftermath of Jan. 6 many militant Trumpists and other neofascists are operating more covertly, perhaps by breaking up into small cells that are difficult for law enforcement to track and apprehend. Right-wing militants and terrorists are more likely to attack “soft targets” as opposed to widely publicized events and locations where law enforcement is sure to be present.

As seen in Michigan and elsewhere, right-wing militants are likely to focus their attention at the state and local level where law enforcement assets are more porous and likely targets are, in general, more vulnerable to attack.

But in fact the real power of Jan. 6 and its aftermath is difficult to measure by such standards. Those events, and Republican efforts to rewrite the history of that day, have increasingly normalized right-wing political violence — if not in fact made it a preferred and desired way of obtaining and keeping political power.

In keeping with Nazi propaganda minister Joseph Goebbels’ “Big Lie” strategy, a large majority of Republican and Trump voters actually believe that the 2020 presidential election was “stolen” from Donald Trump — and, in effect, from them as well. Public opinion polls also show that a significant percentage of Republicans believe that the violence and coup attempt on Jan. 6 was a “patriotic” or at least understandable action that was necessary to “defend” democracy and Trump’s presidency.

On a daily basis, neofascist white supremacist opinion leaders and other propagandists on Fox News and across the right-wing propaganda echo chamber are radicalizing millions of white Americans. Most will not personally commit acts of violence against nonwhites, Muslims, “radical socialist Democrats” and others designated to be the enemy. But they are ever more likely to tolerate or condone such crimes.

Ultimately, fascism is a type of political and social poison which manifests as violence and other antisocial and anti-human behavior. New research by Robert Pape and the University of Chicago Project on Security and Threats demonstrates how far that poison has spread among the American people.

In a new essay at The Conversation, Pape summarizes these findings, beginning with the most startling result:

We have found that 47 million American adults – nearly 1 in 5 – agree with the statement that “the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump and Joe Biden is an illegitimate president.” Of those, 21 million also agree that “use of force is justified to restore Donald J. Trump to the presidency.”

Our survey found that many of these 21 million people with insurrectionist sentiments have the capacity for violent mobilization. At least 7 million of them already own a gun, and at least 3 million have served in the U.S. military and so have lethal skills. Of those 21 million, 6 million said they supported right-wing militias and extremist groups, and 1 million said they are themselves or personally know a member of such a group, including the Oath Keepers and Proud Boys.

Read Also: What Ever Did Trump Mean When He Tweeted That Kirsten Gillibrand “Would Do Anything” for Campaign Donations?

Only a small percentage of people who hold extremist views ever actually commit acts of violence, but our findings reveal how many Americans hold views that could turn them toward insurrection.

Pape’s polling found that 9% of American adults agreed that “Use of force is justified to restore Donald J. Trump to the presidency, while 25% agreed that “The 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump and Joe Biden is an illegitimate president.”

Pape reports a margin of error of 4 percentage points, meaning that the proportion of American adults who hold both those views is somewhere between 4% and 12%. “The best single figure,” he writes, “is the middle of that range, 21 million.” He continues:

People who said force is justified to restore Trump were consistent in their insurrectionist sentiments: Of them, 90% also see Biden as illegitimate, and 68% also think force may be needed to preserve America’s traditional way of life.

In an interview with the CBS News podcast “Intelligence Matters,” Pape further explained what this new research reveals about the relationship between the white supremacist “great replacement” theory, the QAnon cult and right-wing violence:

Sixty-three percent of the 21 million adamant insurrectionists in the country believe in the “Great Replacement,” the idea that the rights of whites will be overtaken by the rights of Blacks and Hispanics. The second most important driver was a QAnon belief, where 53 percent of the 21 million believed that our government is run and controlled by a satanic cult of pedophiles. Those are the two radical beliefs that are really … the key drivers of the insurrectionist sentiments in the country today.

Pape also sounded the alarm about the prospects for right-wing political violence and terrorism in the months leading up to the 2022 midterm elections:

This is about, what are the prospects for other instances of collective violence, especially related to elections going forward? … I think that we need to be aware that we are moving into already a politically tumultuous 2022 election season just in the last month with the events in Afghanistan, which has created tremendous amount of anger in many of our military circles, military communities; with the new mandates for COVID, which President Biden has just announced, which are already generating tremendous pushback against the federal government. … We need to understand the risks that that could break out into violence.

For all of these escalating warnings about the potential for serious right-wing political violence, America’s political class remains largely unwilling to properly respond to the clear and present danger. Such an outcome is in part explained by the very language that is most often used in these discussions.

For example, “right-wing terrorism” or “right-wing extremism” is often presented in a race-neutral fashion.

A more accurate description would be to say “white right-wing terrorism” or “white supremacist violence.” Similarly, the events of Jan. 6 could be described as a “white insurrection” or “white riot,” which more clearly captures the role of race and racism in the violence of both that day and the Age of Trump as a whole.

To be clear, there are Black and brown people who belong to Trump’s cult. Some are among his most militant supporters. Regardless of their skin color, such people are loyal to Whiteness as a social and political force. As such, Black and brown Trumpists and other neofascists want to access white power and white privilege for themselves. For them, the end goal is to somehow “earn” a type of transactional honorary whiteness.

Trumpism and other forms of American neofascism and racial authoritarianism are an extreme personal and existential problem for nonwhite people and others who are marginalized as the other. They are also a problem spawned by and of White America.

Until that distinction is internalized by America’s elites, and widely accepted as common sense by the American people, neofascism will continue to gain momentum and the country’s democracy crisis will continue to escalate toward full-on disaster, from which no return to “normal” will be possible. America’s past and America’s present (again) runs along and through the color line.

• This article was first published in www.salon.com with the title ‘White terror: Millions of Americans say they’d support violence to restore Trump to power’

 

Good education is the best legacy any parent, guardian or government can bequeath to the next generation and young ones. The reason why the late Sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo is still revered thirty-four years after his demise is because of the free primary school education he introduced in 1955 when he was the Premier of the Western Region.

Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe who went through hell and high water in getting an American education established the University of Nigeria Nsukka with the motto ‘To restore the dignity of man.’ It was the good education that Chief Anthony Eromosele Enahoro received from Kings College Lagos without a university education that made Azikiwe appoint him as the Editor of the Southern Nigeria Defender in Ibadan at the age of 21 – the youngest ever editor in the country.

It is tragic that education has been thrown to the dogs under the ill fated administration of Governor Godwin Obaseki who doesn’t give a hoot about the extremely poor state of education in the state. Edo State has Edo College which produced many illustrious sons in the state but which is now a shadow of its former self due to criminal government neglect. How many of its alumnus would gladly send their children or wards to the school that ironically made them who they were today?

The level of youth unemployment is extremely high. The National Bureau of Statistics puts it at about 33%. A way to tackle this societal malaise is to re-introduce vocational and technical education which was abandoned when the nation was awash with petro dollars. Igarra Technical College, Afuze Technical College, Uromi Technical College and Government Science and Technical College (GSTC) have been left to rot without any critical governmental intervention.

The level of unemployment is extremely high in Edo State due to the fact that the state is largely a Civil Service State. Edo State with its large land mass has what it takes to be a heavily industrialized and agricultural driven economy. Sadly, over the last four years the Governor has shutdown all the Colleges in the state in the name of renovation, including College of Agriculture, Iguoriakhi which ought to be at the vanguard of agro-preneurial training and production. Governance has been absent since his swearing in last one year and he is just naming his cabinet after over a year of his winning his second term.

Despite his acclaimed robust private sector experience which saw him establishing a Securities Dealing Firm – Afrinvest, he has failed in innumerable ways to industrialize the state. Imagine if many industries were functional in the state, it will lead to the concomitant high demand for highly skilled technical labour as their services will be needed to effectively run these industries and factories! It is bad enough that these schools have been left to rot, it is worse that even the few that manage to survive the rigours of an education there have no jobs to look forward to due to a visionless and rudderless leadership that is ideas bankrupt.

The state of many of the government owned primary and secondary schools leaves much to be desired. The schools lack good toilet facilities, fields for sports, high population in the classroom, few teachers. The students study under the most excruciating conditions not even befitting for animals.

Read Also: Obaseki: It’s sad people are making COVID-19 vaccination political issue

We currently live in a globalized world where the world is now flat according to prominent American Economist, Thomas Friedman whose New York Times bestselling book ‘The World is Flat’ exposes the reality of globalization and how your nearest competitor could be someone millions of miles away. The covid 19 pandemic which changed the world of work to remote working is a lesson for our political leaders to adequately prepare the young minds for a fast changing world of work. This is an era where secondary school students in former war torn

Rwanda learn about the use of drones. Yet, the students in Edo don’t learn with computers. How will they be able to compete in the future against their peers from all over the world? What sort of future is the Edo State Government under Obaseki preparing the children for?

Despite the dictatorship of Cuba’s Fidel Castro which spanned over four decades amidst many assassination attempts and embargo by the United States after he defeated the US backed Cuban forces in the Bay of Pigs Invasion, his greatest legacy was his sturdy investment in education. He ensured that medical doctors in the country got the best training and created a system whereby they are exported to the rest of the world. Today, the exportation of medical doctors from there is their largest revenue earner dwarfing sugar which was their previous economic mainstay. Cuban doctors helped Italy effectively tackle Covid 19 which badly hit them.

Crude Oil exports will be irrelevant anytime from now. Smart leaders are preparing their citizens to be relevant in a knowledge driven economy. The legendary Lee Kuan Yew prepared Singaporeans for this reality as he moved them from being a third world into a first world nation in less than three decades. Saudi Arabia has already saved up over two trillion dollars to be managed by Global Consulting Giant, Mckinsey in their preparation for a post oil economy. The UK has said that by 2030 they will completely phase out fossil fuel run cars in favour of electric cars. Imperial College has scrapped the Masters Degree Program in Petroleum Engineering because of the irrelevance of crude oil in the nearest future. What is Obaseki doing about this new trend? How is he preparing Edolites sons and daughters to compete in the knowledge economy that our curriculum is ill prepared to address? What are his educational legacies as he will be out of office in less than 38 Months time?

It is sad that Edolites have the stereotype of prostitution as the bad policies of the leadership have pushed many of its young, pretty girls to prostitution abroad especially in Italy. A good education will equip these emotionally battered and financially emasculated ladies to a life of financial independence where they will be able to live their life solely on their own terms and not being dependent on male beasts for their sustenance.

The Edo State House of Assembly is supposed to question him on the sorry state of education there but alas it is yet to be fully inaugurated since last year which has now transformed him into a full blown dictator.

We call on the Civil Society and Public Spirited Individuals to mount pressure on this Pharoah of a leader to do the needful and rescue Edo State education from the mire and ensure that our students who will take up the mantle of leadership someday are well prepared for this challenge which will prevent them from perpetually playing the second fiddle both in their country and in the Diaspora.

 

If we remarked that the foundation of Ogun State was laid on education, we would not be wrong as the first Nigerian professors from the fields of  Philosophy, Paediatric , Psychiatry, Agriculture, Medicine, Nursing, Linguistics and so on are from Ogun State. And the first African to win a Nobel prize in Literature? Yes! If we continued that the administration of Prince Dapo Abiodun has a soft spot for education and has, in many ways which would be proven in what follows, improved the state of education and teaching in Ogun State, we would be right.

The livewire of any nation at all is education. Therefore, at every point in time, a nation stands between education and destruction. A nation survives and triumphs on promoting its quality education and it dies and perishes on neglecting its education. Education is life; ignorance is death. And this serves the main reason Prince Dapo Abiodun has decided to resuscitate, in Ogun, the excellence and eminence that is attached to education in the developed parts of the world.

On Tuesday, 5 October, 2021, World Teacher’s Day was celebrated within and around the globe but it took another commendable and elated dimension in Ogun State as a result of the activity of Prince Dapo Abiodun where he approved the immediate release of engagement letters to successful candidates of the Ogun Teach Programme to relieve the workload of teachers in the state, just as he also noted that he has approved the establishment of the Ogun State Education Intervention Fund (OGSEIF) to achieve improved funding for the educational sector of the state. Similarly, he announced the allocation of lands to the All Nigeria Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) and Association of Primary School for their secretariats, Headteachers of Nigeria (AOPSHON) for the construction of their secretariats in the state.

Here is a government, on assumption of office some 28 months ago, that ordered the release of promotion letters to deserving primary and secondary school teachers who are due for promotion between 2016 and 2017; the process of supplying new furniture to all primary and secondary schools for the use of learners to cushion the effects of acute shortage of furniture in our Schools is on-going; rehabilitation of over 956 classrooms in our primary and secondary Schools; upgrading of 42 of our Secondary Schools to Flagship Schools for better performance and productivity; and he gave the approval for the commencement of Ogun Digitalized Multimedia Lesson Plan where the teachers would be equipped with the wherewithal resources for effective delivery in line with global standards.

It is noteworthy that Prince Dapo Abiodun’s administration is working in collaboration with a non-profit organisation; and has integrated 100 Fellows into Teach for Nigeria Programme. Also, it has successfully introduced the Pre-Shaded Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) objective answer sheet for the conduct of Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE); a 50% increase in feeding allowance for learners in Special Needs Schools; full sponsorship of public school students to all academic competitions; resuscitation and relocation of Ogun State Braille Book Production Centre which has been moribund for many years; annual distribution of wheel chairs to the Special Needs Learners; commencement of the renovation of all the five Special Needs Schools in the State including provision of modern toilet facilities; approval of scholarships for outstanding students in all our tertiary institutions; approval for the establishment of Ogun State Education Intervention Fund (OGSEIF) to achieve  improved funding; reinstatement / Appointment of Headmaster/ Principal General— all of the aforementioned had been done in the last 28 months. If we call it a government that operates on productivity, meticulousness, speed and accuracy, we would be on point!

Read Also: Lagos-Ota road ready in December, Abiodun assures

Dr Ben Carson, author of “Gifted Hands”, reports that one of the orientalists said: “If you want to destroy the civilization of a nation, there are three ways of doing so: destroy the family structure, destroy education and lower the role models.” It is self-evident that teachers are the ladder that children and students climb to a bright future. If the ladder is wobbly, the outcome is woeful. Therefore, the best way to destroy a nation is to destroy its education. To destroy education, you should give no importance to the Teacher and lower his place in society so that students despise him. Against the destruction of education and the debasing treatment of teachers, it is clear that this administration is working to restore the glorious days where teachers enjoy a pride of place in our society

For the primary and secondary school teachers, the society treats them with scorn. We are living at a time when not just the society despises teachers, their own students humiliate and mock them. The comedisation of ridiculing teachers is symptomatic of the general trend where abnormality becomes the norm.  People and students waste no time these days in demeaning their teachers, making them feel worthless just because those teachers are decent enough to live on their meager salaries. This is one of the dark sides of teaching that has permeated our society; and it is one thing Prince Dapo Abiodun has been tirelessly working to eliminate in Ogun State.

As a result of that, one of the icing on the cake of the celebration of World Teacher’s Day in Ogun State was the showers of gifts on teachers in order to clean up their tears. Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun, yesterday, rewarded the best teachers in the state with cash prizes ranging from 1million Naira to 2million Naira; and the governor equally gifted a semi-detached bungalow to the best overall teacher for the year 2020 in the state. He remarked that he had done that because the State must continue to attract bright-minded young teachers to the teaching profession so that they will not miss the young creative minds who will become great educators and build both the state and the country in the near future. In other words, the Ogun State government is one that is focused on youths, their academics and the cultivation of brilliant minds.

In his attitude of appreciating education and brilliance, on Thursday 22 April, 2021, Prince Dapo Abiodun splashed a two-bedroom bungalow and a sum of N2million on Oladimeji Sotunde, an indigene of the state who emerged as the Overall Best Graduating Student of the Lagos State University, Ojo, Lagos. Similarly, he pledged that his administration would set up an Education Endowment Fund with a seed money of N5million in honour of Faith Odunsi, a student of the Ambassadors College, Ota, who emerged winner in the Global Open Mathematics Tournament. All of the aforementioned made him clinched the awards as the best Education friendly Governor by All Nigeria Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS) in the South-West and Best Governor in the Educational Sector by the National Parents Teachers Association. Clearly, in education, like many other aspects, the administration is making laudable progress and it is an attestation to the gigantic status of Ogun State as both the Education capital (of) and the intellectual melting-pot in Nigeria. Education remains one of the biggest industries in Ogun State.

It is the revival of workshops, seminars and other training programmes for teaching and non-teaching staff of the state public schools— to enhance their efficiency and productivity— that has led to the significant feedback that is visible in the State’s Education Sector through the recent exploits of the State’s young academic laureates where: Ogun State contingent won 11 laurels in different categories of awards in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Ogun State Institute of Technology (OGITECH) also won the best compliant Institution in Nigeria to the tune of N75 Million from Joint Admissios and Matriculation Board (JAMB) amongst other things.

In all, as depicted by the programmes and policies of the state which is evident in the results that emerge daily, it appears that the administration of Prince Dapo Abiodun is confident that to rescue education, a nation must prioritise teachers’ welfare and one way of doing this is by paying them joyful salaries, hold them in high esteem and reward them for jobs well done and example of the gifts he rolled out yesterday. Research has shown that the better teachers are prioritised, the higher the outcomes achieved by students. Conversely, poor attitude towards teachers also results in poor student performance and education structure because poorly treated teachers lack motivation and passion for work. And this is what the administration of Prince Dapo Abiodun stands to eliminate.

• Olalere writes in from Abeokuta via Olale0156@gmail.com