The Nation Newspaper

Tag: bad

  • Students cry out over bad road

    Students cry out over bad road

    Students of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti (ADO POLY) are worried over the road leading to the campus. They want the government to repair the road to reduce commuters’ hardship. TEMITOPE YAKUBU (ND II Quantity Surveying) writes.

    If only students and workers of the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti (ADO POLY) knew their stay off-campus would be an unending nightmare, they would have preferred to live on campus.

    Reason: the road leading to the school is bad. Commuters experience hardship plying the road, which links the polytechnic from Matthew Roundabout. They are calling on the government to rehabilitate the road.

    The Poly Bus Stop stretch of the road, where commercial vehicles  pick and drop passengers is badly eroded. A section of the road is being washed away by erosion, which many blamed on lack of drainage. This axis is commuters’ nightmare because vehicles easily break down there.

    Most students who live off-campus come late for morning lectures because of the road. Commercial activity in the area has been affected by the situation, leading to the increase in price of commodities and services.

    The road is dotted with dangerous ditches and potholes, which are impossible for any vehicle to avoid. A move to dodge a pothole often leads drivers on a collision course with another vehicle. There have been accidents on the road, which involved students.

    The alternative means open to students is to ride motorcycles called Okada. But the recklessness of the riders is another problem commuters complain about.

    On the poor state of the road, Aanuoluwapo Omodara, a ND II Quantity Surveying student, said if the government can not repair the dilapidated sections of the road, it should expand the drainage channel to control the incidence of flood being experienced.

    He said that it would be futile to fill the potholes with sticky sand or gravel without having a proper drainage in place, saying the materials could be washed away during rainfall.

    Ridwan Atiku, ND II Marketing student, appealed to the Federal and state government to rehabilitate the road because of the untold hardship it has brought to road users, especially at night when vehicles with dim light can break down on it.

    Mr Adedotun Adeoye, a commercial driver, said the condition of the road made his bus to age fast. He saud: “The road has left our buses in bad shape. Government has forgotten us. We are begging them to come to our aid because they collect tax from us. The money we are paying to the local government is not yielding results as condition of the road deteriorates by the day.

    Adeoye said the bad road has not only crippled their business, but has also posed danger on their health.

    The Deputy Registrar, Protocol, Information and Passage Unit, Mr Adeyemi Adejolu, urged the government to repair the bad road to alleviate the suffering of the road users. He said that the poor state of the road had forced many car owners to incur extra maintenance costs on their cars.

     

  • Don laments bad education system

    A DON has attributed the problems facing the nation to bad education system.

    Uthman Ibraheem of the Department of Arabic and Islamic Studies, University of Ibadan, said this during the 2013/2014 Recognition Day and third Biennial Role Model Award of Mimbar Children School in Ibadan.

    He said it was the bad system that breeds bad leaders, adding that the country needs sound education system to move forward and compete favourably with other developing nations.

    According to him, a sound education system would inculcate good moral behaviour in children and make them better citizen and leaders.

    He urged parents not to compromise sound education for their wards by enrolling them in schools that combine both religious teaching with western education.

    Ibrahim enjoined governments to provide incentives for both Christian and Muslim teachers in public schools so they can inculcate the fear of God in the pupils.

    On the occasion, a posthumous Role Model award was given to the late Aare Musulumi of Yorubaland Alhaji AbdulAzeez Arisekola-Alao for his contributions to the three core values of the school – knowledge, faith and leadership.

    Receiving the award on behalf of the family, Oyo State Commissioner for Youth and Sports Alhaji Umar Alao, thanked Mimbar Children School for deeming it fit to honour his father, for his contribution to the development of humanity.

    Alao said the award was an inspiration for the Arisekola’s family to continue to toe the philanthropic line of their late father.

    Alao urged Nigerians to impact positively on people while alive and leave a good legacy that people would remember even after their death just like Arisekola-Alao did while alive.

    Director of Mimbar Children School, Mr AbdulSalam Akinlabi, said the award was given every two years based on the past contribution of any individual to the society and education in particular.

    Akinlabi said Arisekola-Alao had contributed immensely to knowledge, faith and leadership, urging people to emulate him.

    Other highlights of the event include prizes given to both outstanding pupils and teachers of the school.

    The first role model award was given to the late Secretary-General, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Dr AbduLateef Adegbite in 2010 and another University of   Lagos don Prof Saidat Mabadeje in 2012.

  • Nigeria: The good, bad and the ugly

    Sir; Nigeria has many sides – the good, the bad and the ugly.

    Let’s start from the positive side. Nigeria has oil and gas in abundance. There are large mineral deposits varied across the country. Nigeria is a vast landmass and everywhere you go is fertile ground. In addition, Nigeria’s climate is one of the finest in the world. Nature is kind to us.

    Nigeria, with a population of nearly 170 million, is Africa’s most populous country. Most of our youths are unemployed and majority of Nigerians live below the poverty line. Despite Nigeria’s many troubles, Nigerians are fascinating and law abiding except for a few bad ones who take undue advantage of our misfortunes.

    According to official statistics, our economy has grown steadily at an average of about seven percent in the past decade. Today, Nigeria has Africa’s largest GDP and also the 26th largest economy in the world. Government says it is making efforts to rebuild and maintain national infrastructure, as well as transform Nigeria into an attractive destination for foreign investment.

    We are like a farmer who planted 100 yam seeds but lied it was 200. If we are lucky we might harvest some 100 yam tubers, but then so will we reap 100 heaps of lies.

    The 1999 constitution is an offshoot of Nigeria’s root problem. The document stands on a false premise “We the people” and appears to be immune to change. So far, every effort made to right the wrong hasn’t changed anything.

    Common sense dictates that a pyramid stands on its base and not on its apex. It defies logic, therefore, that Nigeria stands upside down. Why should a community be denied ownership and control of its resources? Ours is one that robs Peter to pay Paul; a system that pools and shares unjustly. Maybe we should pool our brains as well and give to those who don’t have, or our talents to individuals who have refused to develop their brains!

    The yoking together of the state and religion is chief among many contraptions that have continued to spill our blood, and bring inconsolable sorrows upon us. Any people with odd sorts of unequal yokes can never prosper.

    There are three ‘arms of government’ – corruption, bad leadership, and a dysfunctional system. Corruption and bad leadership are close allies. Each fuels and protects the other in an infinite loop. At the centre of the loop is the system that breeds bad leaders, leading to a self-propagating and self-sustaining series of crises.

    It doesn’t cost a fortune to solve most of our problems. It might cost $470 million to install CCTV cameras but it doesn’t cost that much to make them work. They do as they like and beg others to do the right things forgetting that they govern a system that is hostile to thinking the right thoughts. After every attack, they console us that terrorism is a global scourge. They are quick to remind us that even the United States is affected. But they will not inform us that America is honestly on top of the situation. They will never tell us about places around the world that are fascinatingly peaceful. They expect us to be patriotic but when we speak truth in love they bully us to keep quiet. They detest the voice of reason but enjoy the cacophony of sycophancy.

    Yes, we have problems, big problems. But the problems are not the problem. The real problem is we are busy chasing shadows. President Goodluck Jonathan, at the inauguration of the National Conference, had told the delegates to be at liberty to discuss all our problems except one. Unfortunately, most of the problems deliberated upon are mere symptoms of a terminal ailment.

    When the president defined a no-go area, those that understand Nigeria’s downward trajectory would have known from the outset that the conference was a journey to nowhere. To the advocates of one Nigeria at all costs, negotiating a peaceful coexistence is tantamount to discussing Nigeria’s break-up. They bark, arrogantly, that Nigeria’s unity is not negotiable, as if Nigeria is their personal estate. They boast, foolishly, that Nigeria will never disintegrate, as if they know tomorrow. Incidentally, they are largely responsible for bringing the country to the brink.

    These days, we are struggling with a battalion of carry-overs from the past. Today’s troubles are gushing in fast and furious, faster than we can grapple with. Tomorrow’s problems (brand new) can’t wait to come. We may choose to continue to lament our woes until the centre can no longer hold. Ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo’s before-it-is-too-late warning sounds louder today. It would take someone who sees beyond tomorrow to convince some of us that it is not already too late. Nigeria is bleeding, and may God have mercy on our souls.

     

    •John Adebisi

    Abuja