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Tag: Illiteracy

  • Mayor of Southwark to celebrate IA-Foundation’s five years of reducing illiteracy among Nigerian children

    Mayor of Southwark to celebrate IA-Foundation’s five years of reducing illiteracy among Nigerian children

    Mayor of London Borough of Southwark in the United Kingdom, Councillor Micheal Situ is set to celebrate Ibironke Adeagbo (IA) Foundation’s efforts at reducing illiteracy amongst children in Nigeria for the past 5 years of establishment.

    The Celebration will be in aid of out-of-school children with the Nigeria’s Acting High Commissioner, Ambassador Cyprian Terseer on the 2nd of February, 2024. 

    The Founder of the NGO, Mrs Ibironke Adeagbo, explained that 

    factors responsible for increase in the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria and how to find a panacea to the menace will be dissected at the event. 

    She noted that getting the political will and buy-in to tackle the issue, getting the citizens to socially invest in reducing out of school children and raising awareness of the issue internationally and helping UN achieve its SDG4 will also be looked into.

    “Dissecting the factors responsible for increase in the number of out-of-school children in Nigeria. 

    “Getting the political will and buy-in to tackle the issue. Getting the citizens to socially investing in reducing out of school children. Raising awareness of the issue internationally and helping UN achieve its SDG4,” she stated.

    According to her, the foundation had been advocating and picking children from the streets and putting them in the classrooms and paying their school fees, buying their uniforms, books, and bags.

    She implied that such effort will reduce poverty, insecurity and crime, adding that social mobility will increase and ensure they are economically active. 

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    “The Mayor of Southwark, Councillor Micheal Situ will be celebrating 5 years of IA-Foundation’s efforts to reduce children illiteracy in Nigeria by helping to reduce the number of out of school children in Nigeria by advocacy and picking children from the streets and putting them in the classrooms and paying their school fees, buying their uniforms, books, bags etc. 

    “The impact of this, is that poverty, insecurity and crime will be reduced. It will increase social mobility and ensure they are economically active.” She said.

    Ibironke expressed assurances  that attendees would be made aware of the dangers of not addressing this issue now as it would have dire consequences in the nearest future by way of insecurity, increase in crime, unskilled workforce, poverty, teenage pregnancy etc.

    IA-Foundation is a charity/NGO founded by Ibironke ADEAGBO , a chartered accountant in the UK, five years ago to help reduce the number of out of school children in Nigeria.

    Over the last five years, it had picked up over 100 children from the streets and put them in school and paying their school fees, books, food , bags, shoes etc. It distributed over 4000 learning devices and over 9000 educational materials and built a borehole in Makoko.

    It had several awareness campaigns, TV/ newspaper interviews, organised two summits and four flagship fundraising events to raise funds in aid of out of school children. 

  • Beyond rhethoric

    Beyond rhethoric

    • Sultan, others proffer solutions to illiteracy in the North

    A conference organised in Abuja by the Sir Ahmadu Bello Memorial Foundation undertook an exhaustive interrogation of the challenge of educational development in the North within the framework of the theme, “Education in Northern Nigeria: Status, Challenges and the way Forward”. An impressive array of dignitaries and experts from the region, including the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammed Sa’ad Abubakar 111, who was chairman of the occasion, chairman of the board of trustees of the foundation and former governor of Niger State, Alhaji Babangida Aliu, the Registrar of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Professor Ishaq Oloyede, and a former Minister of Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufai, were among those who shed light on diverse aspects of a problem that has become protracted and continues to be a considerable obstacle to achieving the goals of modernisation and poverty alleviation in the region.

    Professor Ruqayyatu’s presentation on the occasion vividly reflected the extensive work she had done as head of a team of researchers that had been set up to study the problem and proffer solutions on how the North could achieve a breakthrough in terms of the educational advancement of her youths. Some of the challenges plaguing the provision of qualitative, effective and affordable education in the region highlighted in her paper included inability to mobilise school age children to enthusiastically embrace the idea of going to school, poor release of funds even where budgetary provision had been made for such, non availability of offices and programmes for guidance and counselling services as well as inadequate political will on the part of requisite public office holders to propel a fundamental educational rejuvenation in the North.

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    Some of the suggestions for tackling the problem as advocated in Professor Rufai’s paper included the massive construction of new schools, expansion of the school feeding programmes to make education more attractive to children across states in the region, timely payment of salaries, provision of adequate numbers of requisite supportive non-teaching staff, creation of school inspectorate directorates and greater commitment to competitive recruitment of teachers.

    The JAMB registrar stressed the need for intensification of efforts to tap and maximize the potentials of higher education for the rapid transformation of Northern Nigeria. And in his presentation, Alhaji Babangida Aliu emphasized the need for state governments in the region to focus on ensuring that more holders of the National Certificate of Education (NCE), which is the minimum professional qualification for teachers, are trained to redress the present situation where “no northern state in Nigeria has 50% qualified teachers as the minimum qualification required is NCE”.

    In what was clearly the most critical, honest and forthright contribution at the conference, the Sultan of Sokoto pointed out the urgent need for public officers and other stakeholders in the North to go beyond rhetoric and unending talk shops to taking concrete, practical measures to actualize diverse policies suggested over the years to bring about an educational breakthrough in the region.

    While commending the rigorous work done by the committee headed by Professor Rufai, the Sultan recommended that a committee be promptly constituted to oversee the implementation of its recommendations in demonstration of a new commitment to the practical realization of stated goals.

     We commend the sense of urgency and impatience with endless conferences on the problem of educational backwardness in the North implicit in the stance of the Sultan. The continuously worsening of poverty in the region as reflected in such indices as pervasive hunger, malnutrition, mass youth unemployment, prevalence of diseases and gross inequality among others is fundamentally at the root of the virulent insecurity that has made life in most parts of the North no different from the Hobbesian state of nature.

    It is impossible to effectively, decisively and sustainably tackle this economic poverty and the insecurity it spawns without bringing about the much desired but lamentably delayed educational revolution in the North. This is why governors and other stakeholders in the region must heed the Sultan’s admonition that it is time to transcend rhetoric and begin to implement the well researched and documented policy proposals over the years to dispel the darkness of illiteracy and ignorance and shine the light of education and progress across the North.

  • 60m Nigerians are illiterates, says Perm Sec

    Mr Sonny Echono, Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Education, says nearly 60 million Nigerians are illiterates, assuring that literacy centres will reduce the high percentage of illiteracy in the country.

    Echono made this known on Thursday at the Federal Government College Otobi, during the inauguration of  a  pilot Literacy Centre for the North Central Geo-Political Zone.

    The permanent secretary expressed regret that  the illiteracy rate among the youths and adults is high, saying that the literacy level at the lower cadre of the colleges is also alarming.

    According to him, Literacy Centres to be established in 104 Federal Government Colleges (FGCs) are aimed at reducing the high rate of illiteracy at the low cadre of the staff of the institutions, stressing that  the Federal Government designed the literacy programme to cater for them and others in the host communities.

    He said literacy was both a social and human right issue and called on the learners at the pilot centre to remain committed and take their studies with all seriousness.

    According to him, the essence of scheme is to fit into the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) especially SDG number four which highlights inclusive and equitable quality education and promotion of long learning opportunities.

    He explained that the programme would equip its beneficiaries with literacy and numeracy skills to be able handle challenges of life.

    An officer from the office of the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari, on SDGs, Mr Stephen Ojo, commended the foresight of the education ministry in designing the programme and promised to  provide technical support to the ministry towards its success.

    He emphasised that the scheme would help build capacities and skills of all the participants.

    The principal of the school, Mr Amudipe Gabriel, commended the permanent secretary  for his doggedness in ensuring that  the programme began in earnest and for making his school the centre in the zone.

    The Coordinator of the programme, Mrs Abisode Olayiwola, in an interview with  News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), said the response from learners in the school and host community far exceeded the instructional materials made  available.

    “ We targeted 40 learners but what we had was twice that number, we are impressed by the turnout. We will make arrangements for all of them.”

  • Rotary to improve fight against maternal mortality, illiteracy

    •Club invests 58th president, executive

    VICE President of the Nigerian American Chamber of Commerce (NACC), Mr. Ehi Braimah has been installed as the president of the Rotary Club of Lagos (District 9110) beginning a new dawn for the humanitarian organisation.

    Braimah, a communication and public relations expert, was installed as the 58th president of the club at a ceremony held at the weekend at Metropolitan Club on Victoria Island, Lagos.

    The installation was a gathering of professionals, business leaders, high-profile Rotarians and the club’s former presidents.

    The event also featured a lecture and fund-raising for the club’s humanitarian projects.

    After he was formally inaugurated, Braimah, in his acceptance speech, unveiled his immediate plans to deploy human and material resources to tackle maternal mortality, malaria, illiteracy and challenges facing basic education in the district.

    Becoming the club’s president, he said, was not his aim when he joined the organisation six years ago, adding that he did not believed he would be installed as the 58th president of the club.

    He said: “Today is another milestone in the history of Rotary Club of Lagos. As I take the mantle of leadership for the 2018/2019 Rotary Year, I am truly honoured and humble to serve our great club that is made up of people who share commitment and passion to work for better communities.

    “Rotary Club is becoming more relevant than ever before, because we have a lot of problems to solve. In taking actions in my Rotary Year, it is essential to execute projects that will create lasting positive impacts on our communities. We have two star projects. The first one is to donate medical equipment worth N4 million to any public health centre, while the second one is to roll back malaria by providing 1,000 mosquito-treated nets to inhabitants of slums.”

    Braimah said he intended to extend the club’s influence by growing its membership, revealing that he had designed a programme to induct eight new members every quarter that would contribute $15,000 to the Rotary Foundation. The aim, he said, is for the District 9110 to earn citation in the club’s international newsletter and event.

    He urged members for support and collaboration in the leadership’s effort to serve humanity through the club’s humanitarian activities. Achieving the club’s objectives, he said, required commitment and sacrifice by members.

    While handing over, the former president, Mr. Soboma Ajumogobia, said the club under his leadership focused on improving lives and humanitarian services to the needy.

    He said the club achieved key humanitarian services, including disease prevention and treatment, maternal and child health, basic literacy and education, peace and conflict resolution, among others.

    Ajumogobia said: “During my tenure, we donated incubators and phototherapy instrument to Massey Street Children Hospital and Island Maternity Home. We provided water project for the needy and sponsored polio plus programmes.”

    The guest lecturer and Chairman of Governing Council of the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in lle-Ife, Osun State, Dr. Yemi Ogunbiyi, who spoke on the theme: “The hearts of giving”, gave population explosion as one of the causes of problems bedeviling the nation’s education.

    He said despite the proliferation of public tertiary institutions, funding remained the key challenge to achieve and sustain the nation’s educational goals. He said universities were being expected to do more with less, stressing that any public institutions that cannot explore funding opportunities beyond government’s subvention would collapse in the next 25 years.

    Ogunbiyi called for paradigm shift in education and noted that technical education must be improved on to equip students with self-reliant and employability skills. He told the club members that there was no better legacy they could give other than giving back to the society.

    Chairman of the occasion, Group Managing Director of SO&U, Mr. Udeme Ufot, described the club as a community of change agents united to build sustainable world.

    The highpoints of the event were the presentation of awards to members who rendered selfless service and inauguration of executive members that will serve in the 2018/2019 Rotary Year.

    Other members of the executive are Vice President 1, Dare Adeyeri; Vice President II, Wale Agbeyangi; Secretary, Elizabeth Olofin; Treasurer, Emeka Dibia; Public Relations Officer, Ayo Banjo; Director of Membership, Abiodun Role; Director of Rotary Foundation, Kehinde Ayo-Kasumu; Director of Club Administration, Amaka Nwosisi; Director of Service Project, Bridget Uko; Director of International Service, Toyin Odulate; Assistant Secretary, Gbenga Alder, and Sergeant-at-Arms, Dele Adetiba.

     

  • Nigeria can eliminate illiteracy in the N’East in three years, says AUN President

    The President, American University of Nigeria (AUN), Prof. Margee Ensign, has said that the level of illiteracy ravaging the North East can be eradicated in three years with the use of modern technologies by the Federal Government.

    Prof. Ensign, who spoke to reporters recently in Yola, the Adamawa State capital, urged policy makers in the country to embrace the use of technology to eradicate illiteracy.

    The AUN has initiated a programme called Feed and Read as part of ways to impact knowledge into young kids in the North East. It assists children on the streets in the region to learn how to read and employ the use of tablet.

    She said the North East would bid illiteracy farewell if technology is applied in the development of children in the region.

    Ensign, who suggested a shift from the use of chalkboard or marker to embrace modern technology, stressed that demographics was important to education in Nigeria.

    She stated that most of the children in schools in the North East lacked the education that would prepare them to have an income or prepare them to be productive citizens of Nigeria.

    Prof. Ensign said: “Nigeria is one of the fastest growing countries in the world with a population of about 180 million now. Do you know where the population will be in the next 26 years? Just double it and that will make Nigeria 360million. How are you going to educate the kids that are born every day?

    “It is really important that policy makers think about it because with the piece of statistics, it is really unfortunate that Nigeria has more children out of school than any other country in the world.

    “Nigeria has millions of illiterates and now with the insurgency, 2 million more have been added to these groups of people. With these statistics, do you think you have time to do things the traditional way? It is not possible but that is what the policy makers are saying.

    “The policy makers are saying you should build schools, train teachers but the fact is that many of the children in schools now don’t get an education that will prepare them to have an income or prepare them to be productive citizens of the country.

    “So, I really believe there is only one way to do it and that is technology and that is why we are pioneering the use of technology in Yola and the Northeast.”

    She said that the AUN would teach school children in the region on how to access information, have critical thinking skills to evaluate the information and make them “the model for the world.

    “We are going to teach these kids how to learn by accessing information, by having critical thinking skills to evaluate things and they will be the model for the world but we are not there yet because we don’t have approval to do those things and that is why someone needs to shakeup the people at the top really hard.

    “I would love to have the approval to offer this education in a blended format in every major city in this country so that people can learn both online and in person. The research shows that it is the best way to do it. So, it is not the second best solution to use technology but the best but the policy makers are not there yet.

    “With the programme, the children read well. They have confidence and that is how Nigeria is going to change quickly because Nigeria does not have a lot of time. If we don’t educate the 2 million who are out of school in the North East plus 14 million who are already out of school, we are going to have social unrest for a very long time.

    “So, these people must have education. They must learn how to have income and must learn new skills. We are basically doing model projects in Yola and it will scale them up to the North East and then they can go anywhere in the country,” she added.

  • Stop child abuse, illiteracy, pupils urge

    Secondary school pupils in Lagos State have called for encouragement of girl-child education and an end to child abuse especially in the Northern part of the country.

    In a Children’s Day programme organised by The International Association of Lions Club (District 404B-2 Nigeria), in conjunction with Olawole Lanre Akinsanmi (OLA) Foundation in Lagos, the pupils lamented the ordeals of their colleagues in the North and their expectations of government and the society, to make life better for them.

    Speaking on Child Abuse, Caroline Isebor, SS1 pupil of WuraVile College Palm Grove, said it is the responsibility of parents to ensure their children go to school; adding that parents should not discipline their children  out of anger, but in love.

    She noted that parents should stop using children as source of income for the family: “It is wrong for parents to use their children as hawkers on the street. Parents should be the ones to cater for the family needs and not the children,” she said.

    Isebor added that government should provide qualitative and equal education for all children, enlighten parents on the implication of neglecting their children, which will result to child abuse as well as a reorientation of Nigerians to be geared towards respecting children’s right.

    Victory Nzefili, SS 2 pupil of Brilliant Child College, Akoka, said children drop out of school as a result of poverty, lack of funds, insecurity and cultural beliefs.

    “The country must also be secured to ensure that the environment is made comfortable and the children feel secured to go to school; government must do everything to reduce the poverty level in the country such that parents will be able to afford their children’s education, while educating people to accept girl-child education,” Nzefili said.

    Another speaker, SS2 pupil, of Latmos Omprehensive College Egbe, Jeremiah Ajayi, called for the enactment of laws and unity among citizens to bring an end to child abuse.

    Addressing the participants, Running Officer, OLA Foundation, Mrs Folayemi  Akinsanmi urged the children to take their studies seriously, look to the future with the view to making progress, be good citizens, avoid distractions, be focused and ensure they get education, no matter their upbringing.

  • PDP Reps’ illiteracy

    NATIONAL MIRROR Front Page grammatical insurgency of July 31 welcomes us to this new month: “This was the fourth in the series of attack (attacks) by the deadly Boko Haram sect using women.”

    “LASU senior staff bars (bar) pre-convocation conference”

    “The gale of impeachment has heightened into (to) an alarming proportion….”

    “The impeachment moves (move) against Governor of Nasarawa State, Tanko Al-Makura of the APC (another comma) is now on the bill (cards).”

    “Other impeachment plots under (in the) incubator”

    “Fifteen years of democracy in Nigeria have seen a litany of removal (removals) of governors.”

    Still on National Mirror under review: “Proprietress admonishes parents on children (children’s) performance”

    “Airtel hits 300 million subscribers mark” Information Technology: 300- million-subscriber-mark (Press releases should not be slammed as sent by companies)

    “Inaccurate laboratory results also contribute to the spate of diagnosis (diagnoses) being recorded….”

    THE NATION ON SUNDAY of July 27 circulated gloomy lines beginning with this presidential perfunctory admonition: “Jonathan to Nigerians: Don’t despair over terrorists attacks” From me to you: either terrorist attacks or terrorists’ (note the apostrophe) attacks

    “Besides, for miscreants seeking opportunity (an opportunity) to cause mayhem, that could lead to looting and plundering of the properties (property) and investments of southerners in the North.” (THE NATION ON SUNDAY COMMENT (EDITORIAL), July 27) There is a consistently contextual misapplication of ‘properties’ in the media, especially by people who should know! Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary comes to the rescue in the following elucidation: PROPERTY (noun)—plural: properties.

    1. (Uncountable): A thing or things that are owned by somebody, a possession or possessions. Examples: The building is government property. Be careful not to damage other people’s property. 2. (Uncountable) Land and buildings: The price of property has risen enormously. 3. (Countable): A building or buildings and the surrounding land. There are a lot of empty properties in the area. 4. (Countable, usually plural) (formal): A quality or characteristic that something has. Compare the physical properties of the two substances. A plant with medicinal properties. I have done this long extraction, for the first time, because of the frequent misuse of the plurality of ‘property’.

    “…reports on the political battles currently being fought by….” What is the function of ‘currently’ here in the lexical magistracy of ‘being’?

    Still on THE NATION ON SUNDAY: “The Nigerian (Nigeria) Union of Journalists last week celebrated Alhaji Lateef Kayode Jakande, a man whose contributions to the profession arguably (sic) transcends (why?) that of any other Nigerian….” Except if the reporter was not sure of his declaration, I cannot fathom the contradictory relevance of ‘arguably’ here. Did the reporter intend to use ‘unarguably’, which is also grossly abused in similar environments?

    “You are a special friend and brother whose life has been an amazing influence to (on/over/upon) me.”

    The following press statement issued by Akwa Ibom State PDP Caucus, House of Representatives, National Assembly, Abuja, is replete with kindergarten blunders: “We also call on you to declare your intention to run for a second term under (on) the platform of PDP.”

    We, the undersigned (another comma) also this day do pass a vote of confidence on (in) our amiable State Governor (needless capitalization)…for taking Akwa Ibom State to an Olympian height developmentally, to the admiration of Nigeria (Nigerians) and the Diaspora (sic)” Long live Akwa Ibom State: Olympian heights (not height!).

    “You have changed the aesthetics of our state which has robbed (rubbed) off positively on the people’s pride and we stand tall anywhere in this Country (functionless capitalization) today.”

    “…the umbrella of uncommon transformation with life changing (life-changing) projects spread across every nook and crannies of the State (another useless capitalization).” Either every nook and cranny or all nooks and crannies

    Lastly from Akwa Ibom PDP Legislative Caucus adoration, praise and worship of Obong Godswill Obot Akpabio (CON): “By this singular act, the spirit of fair play, equity and brotherliness has been entrenched into (in) Akwa Ibom State Politics (sic).” This scandalously pedestrian statement was signed by six honourable members of the House of Representatives: Dr. Akpan Micah Umoh, Barrister Saviour Udoh, Emmanuel Ukoete, Barrister Bassey Dan Abia Jnr., Emmanuel Ekon and Kenneth Archibong.

    FEEDBACK

    CLINTON was impeached by the lower house but the upper house did not follow suit. (08037058775) I dislike anonymous feedback.

    I am surprised to learn (from one of the contributions) in your July 27 column that Bill Clinton was not impeached. Haba! The search machines, including Google, are there for all. ‘Impeachment’ (guilt established) and ‘removal’ are not the same, like ‘acquittal’ and ‘discharge’. Let us learn. Clinton was guilty. (Kola Danisa, 08028233277)

    THANK you for the good work you have been doing. I just want you to know that some of these blunders you correct as mistakes are indeed ignorance. Good examples are the ones involving the so-called Ph.D holders and our governors. Even those in my profession speak rubbish in courts. May God bless you! (08055217580) ‘My learned friend’, why write incognito? You are blessed, too.

    MONIES and moneys are both plurals of money. (08037026109) What is your name?

    FROM the columnist: Please let responses come with real names—not pseudonyms. This is an interactive forum with identities for the exchange of robust ideas. Otherwise, do not bother to contribute. Readers and I are proud of Bayo Oguntunase, Kola Danisa and Sunny Agbontaen, among other numerous respondents. You do not disguise in cerebral matters because of intellectual rights.

  • NMEC, UNESCO to tackle illiteracy

    The National Commission for Mass Education (NMEC) and the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) have trained 111 adult literacy education facilitators in Oyo state.

    NMEC’s Executive Secretary Alhaji Jibrin Paiko spoke yesterday at the conference hall of the Oyo State Ministry of Education.

    Paiko, who was represented by Mr. John Edeh, said the training was aimed at revitalising the adult and youth literacy project.

    He said the Federal Government provided $6.43 million for the training.

    Paiko said the programme was to ensure the education of the 40 million illiterates in Nigeria to achieve the Education for All (EFA) goal and education-related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) by 2015.

    He said in May, 433 facilitators were retrained at the universities of Ibadan, Maiduguri, Kano, Nigeria, Benin and the IBB University in Lapai to improve their skills.

    Paiko said there are about 4,107 facilitators across the country and an average of 111 facilitators per state.

    He said: “Nigeria, as other Sub-Saharan African countries, has a high number of illiterates, comprising children, youths and adults, who have never attended school. A large percentage of these are girls and young women. Hence, the on-going Revitalising Adults and Youth Literacy project focuses on the promotion of access, equity, quality and innovations in non-formal education through the integration of functional, vocational, and entrepreneurial skills into basic literacy.”

    Paiko urged the resource persons and participants to justify the huge resources committed to the training.

    Commissioner for Education Adetokunbo Fayokun said the state government had released funds to the State Agency for Adult and Non-formal Education (Oyo AANFE) for its empowerment programmes.

  • Of books, bookworms and illiteracy

    Congratulations government; you are now presiding over one of the brightest illiterate societies in the world

     

    I read of someone saying during the week that if the poor in Nigeria benefit from a Nigerian government’s policy, it is completely accidental, or something to that effect. I’m sure you and I agree with that statement, if you know what it means. On my part, I interpret it to mean first and foremost that Nigerians (both government and people) have ways of conceiving ideas that benefit only a small number of people, say the government’s men (and women too). So, in this country, the uniform of, say the police or traffic wardens, is changed for some government relative’s sake; and even the president’s diet is changed so that someone close enough can make the supplies.

    Don’t let us take this interpretation thing further, or else I might begin to think the statement may also mean that the roads you and I have been travelling on have not been meant for us but since we are such good thieves that the government cannot get rid of… and worse, even the education you and I have received so far have not really been aimed at us but we somehow stood in the way. Really, government’s policies have never been directed at improving the lot of the poor; everything it has done has been for itself. Talk of anyone being self-serving.

    You know of course that the converse will also hold true: that everything the government has failed to do has also been for its own benefit. Take the failure to revive and develop the railways, for instance. That is one colossal failure for which the government needs to cover its face in deep and great shame. The wonderful thing is that I can never for the life of me fathom out the benefit it is deriving from that failure when many nations in the world are being sustained by such social services. All I know is that one of the greatest benefits of modern living is still the train, and it is being denied us the poor in this country. But we are not here to repeat ourselves today; let’s leave that for a rainy day.

    Oh yes, I remember, the rainy days are here again. How do I know? Oh, because I can see various governments scampering around trying to fix leaky potholes and blocked drainages. You thought I would say because I can hear the rains falling down, down this way? No, I can’t say that because most times when it’s raining, I am too busy wading through flooded roads. When I’m not on the road, however, I pick something up and read. That is how I have come to read so many things: newspapers, comics, drug literatures, books, dog’s ticks (sorry, that’s counting), stars… I would willingly have read the dog’s liver (just to know the signs of the times) but the dog refused to oblige me. Yeah, that’s what bookworms do: read anything that comes to hand. That’s why the dog now runs away when he sees my hands coming.

    Bookworms, goes my Encarta, are enthusiastic readers; people who love reading. The good news is that I am not alone. Indeed, I pale into insignificance when I consider a friend of mine who says he can out-read a reader. Now, that is something. Just mention any title in the classics, he’s at home. Even bestseller lists do not go past his doorstep. And he lives in Nigeria. Once, I teased him that I quite believed if he lived in Britain, he would have been one of those who would camp all night in front of some bookshop just to be able to get a copy of a Harry Potter book. He said he got someone to do that for him. I rested my case, but not before I was struck by two things.

    One, I reflected on the rise and rise of Harry Potter and why it has not happened here. To begin with, the book publishing industry in Nigeria is suffering from a grave disease inflicted on it by the government. All over the world, it has been known that revolutions in literacy and information can be accelerated only through making books and newspapers cheap and affordable. I remember being sent to buy newspapers for three pence when I was young. That was some big money then, but I believe that it made news and information to be within the reach of more people than it is now at a whopping one hundred and fifty Naira – daily feeding money for many people now.

    Somewhere in the seventies, the trend of information affordability failed and I believe it was entirely the government’s fault: first it introduced SAP, and then it raised importation duties on printing materials. Book and news industries practically crumbled under the weight of the government’s wickedness. So, dear reader, even though Harry Potter is possible here, it will not come in a long while because publishing houses are more interested in fighting for survival than in aesthetics or altruism. Now they work very closely with schools’ curricula.

    Unfortunately, those among us who can really afford to finance publishing houses that would not be too desperate for survival are not ready to do so. They are the people who have had easy access to the government’s money. Those are more inclined to quickly take that loot abroad where they hope it cannot be traced rather than invest it in something so trite as making the economy grow. After all, it is not their responsibility to help people improve in their reading and thinking habits; let other people do that. Truly, only a foolish rich `un will keep his stolen money lying around long enough for detectives to find or for banks to give as soft loans to publishers.

    The second thing that struck me was that the government might have deliberately been trying to keep the literacy level down, much the same way you would keep the noise level down in the house. If I didn’t know the government better then, I would have said it was trying to stifle the people from seeking knowledge, wisdom, information and understanding. Perhaps it was; and well has it succeeded. Congratulations government; you are now presiding over one of the brightest illiterate societies in the world, and you did it all by yourself.

    That Nigerians are bright and intelligent, there is no doubt. Just look at the array of their activities: ‘419’ scams, intractable Boko Haram and Niger Delta insurgencies, ‘Yahoo Boys” scams, kidnapping businesses, and yes, more 419 scams. These are the efforts of brains put to work. True, these organs are now run by graduates and undergraduates but they were not started by graduates. You see, a dysfunctional society like ours where everything is upside down would sooner than later cause a malfunction of the brain even in the strong breeds.

    The present low level of literacy in Nigeria is causing havoc in every way. People are dying every day because they really do not know the difference between uniforms in healthcare institutions. I hear that general hospital attendants have been known to divert patients to their own home dispensaries because the patients do not know any better. Believe me, a nation’s economic and political survival has everything to do with the amount of knowledge and literacy its citizens have between them. If you don’t believe me, just look at the farming business in Nigeria today: how many mechanised farms can you count? Well, there’s mine, and mine, and mine; that’s all.

    Seriously, there is a strong connection between the government’s ‘Vision 2020202020’ or whatever name it goes by, the development of books and reducing the level of illiteracy in the country. That connection is political will. If the government wants a literate Nigeria by 2020, it will be done.

     

  • Illiteracy as a time bomb

    With the level of illiteracy in the country, we need no soothsayer to tell us that Nigeria is siting on a time bomb. Readers may not fully appreciate the enormity of the problem we have at hand because you can all read.

    Some of our leaders who live in affluence and have their wards in private schools within or outside the country do not cared if the larger percentage of the country’s population go to school. There are many country men who cannot read this article not because they do not have eyes to read but because they can only see the paper and cannot read the text.

    But if one takes out time to observe the situation around the country, one will better understand the fact that the nation sits on a time bomb and the timer is ticking very fast. I refer to illiteracy as a time bomb.

    Many writers have written about it time and again that any nation which decides to squander its future by not taking education of its citizen seriously would certainly be on its knees tomorrow.

    It is stale news now that our education system is in crisis. Available statistics show that we are three-decade backward given the level education has moved in today’s world. A critical assessment of the deplorable situation would leave one quietly admitting that we are off-track and there is very little hope of getting things to turn around any time soon.

    I speak about the deplorable state of our public schools. Our schools depict structures in war-ravaged countries with classrooms being shared with rodents and reptiles. Pupils learn various subjects on bare floor from ill-motivated teachers. Laboratories and libraries in our secondary schools have all disappeared.

    The poorly-remunerated teachers instruct the pupils through outdated materials in a rapidly advancing world. The pupils, who are already disadvantaged, will remain disadvantaged because the outdated subjects they are being taught.

    This time bomb stares at us in the face daily. While the elite’s wards are sent abroad to acquire quality education, the poor’s children are left to study materials, which cannot make them grow to become functional and transformational agents in a country that prides itself as the Giant of Africa.

    The result of the neglect of our education system is being felt already. We have many children, who are supposed to be in school, hawking various wares in the traffic. Many of them are ready to go to school but what kind of education do they want to receive from the system?

    Does it occur to our leaders that many future leaders have been rendered useless because of the bad system? Do they care at all? Will the ticking time bomb be stopped? Only time will tell.

     

    Sam, 400-Level Curriculum and Teaching, UNICAL