The Nation Newspaper

Tag: indiscipline

  • How to curb indiscipline, by expert

    How to curb indiscipline, by expert

    A SCHOOL proprietress has an answer to indiscipline among pupils: the carrot-and-stick approach. Unity High School (UHS) proprietress Mrs. Olufemi Akanni, at the 10th anniversary of the school in Abuja, said: “There is a high level of indiscipline in our schools now. I urge teachers to use the carrot and stick approach because that is what teaching entails. No student is too big to be disciplined. Any child who doesn’t want to be disciplined should leave.”

    Mrs. Akanni explained that the approach will create better youths that will build this country and take it to where it ought to be.

    Also speaking, the Director, Guidance and Counseling Unit of the FCT College of Education, Zuba, Dr. Elizabeth Abolarin urged the society to value teachers as she described their profession as greater to none.

    Mrs. Abolarin said: “No other profession is greater than teaching.  Without the teachers, there will be no engineers who will plan, design and manage the construction of buildings, roads, bridges, communication facilities and other mechanical infrastructures.

    Similarly, doctors, scientists, politicians and others will not exist without the teacher and the teaching process.

    She pointed out that teachers mold a child into what he or she will be in the future; as they teach him or her to read, write, to deal with others and to deal with himself or herself.

    While stating some of the challenges encountered in teaching profession, she noted that good hands in the profession are quitting because of low reward.

    “Though teaching has attracted quite a number of young people in recent years, today, many of the most creative and brilliant educators are leaving the profession.  Also, there is increased classroom size and very high students to teacher’s ratio.

    “Great teachers receive far less than they are worth and the economic well-being of the teacher has been broken down by the global and national economic downturns,” she said.

    She, however, advised teachers to provide students with the highest quality of education possible.

  • We won’t allow indiscipline in PDP, says Jonathan

    We won’t allow indiscipline in PDP, says Jonathan

    President Jonathan told the Rivers PDP delegation that indiscipline would no longer be tolerated in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

    He said: “Rivers State is a key state to Southeasterners. It is a key state that needs very strong, focused, committed leadership and maximum political unity and stability. Otherwise, anything could happen and affect the whole country.

    “For us to have a stable democracy, we have to have a strong political party. And that is why we get worried when we notice some of the indiscipline in some of the political parties. And the new PDP that we are all working together for will no longer tolerate indiscipline.

    “All over the world, parties are supposed to build on ideological differences. These may be close. If you look at the classical case of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and the National Republican Convention (NRC) that were created by the military, their ideologies were a little to the right and a little to the left.

    “That is the essence of politics. But, in a situation where somebody is in a particular political party but his faith is in another political party… For those who are not holding political offices, yes you can excuse…But if you are holding an elective office, you won’t be in that party and be working for another party. Otherwise, why are you there?”

    Jonathan added: “I have listened to the introductions and being a Rivers person, I know key political actors in Rivers State; the who’s who in Rivers State; and they are here. I want to thank you for building this political structure for the state, for the interest of Rivers State and to position Rivers State in the politics of the country.

    “To me, I have been working with people of Rivers State for quite some time before I got here. I have had a robust relationship with my brothers and sisters in Rivers State. They are very reliable people who I believe will not speak with both sides of their mouths.”

  • How to tackle indiscipline in police

    I don’t know the particular point the police came up with the popular slogan: “Police is your friend.” But I want to believe the expression was coined during one of those futile attempts to rebrand the police and correct the mistrust that exists between the institution and the public.

    Not many officers themselves seem to bother about the slogan, and to many in the public, the concept of friendship with the police is curious and suspicious. I was returning from Lagos last year and had interesting experiences that demonstrated the level of suspicion that exists between the police and the public. One party sees the other as a necessary evil, and the other is at best indifferent.

    When we got to a checkpoint in Ondo State, which was manned by three policemen, the driver of the vehicle I was riding in was asked to come down. As he alighted, the passengers started to grumble. “Instead of him to settle them, he is wasting our time by talking to them. Is it not only N200?” A passenger muttered.

    “Open the boot,” one of the officers ordered. “Na one AIG get this bus oga,” the driver said, probably thinking he would be asked to go since the owner of the transport company is a retired Assistant Inspector-General of Police (AIG).

    “Common, open that thing. And if na IG get am nko,” the officer shouted and the driver obeyed. “They even carry a vehicle engine,” he told other officers as he inspected the content of the boot. “If something happens to you now, you no go say na armed robber?” the other officer queried. “Thank God say AIG get money go buy motor. Me self I dey pray make I get the money go buy am,” he quipped as passengers watched helplessly.

    A few minutes later, the driver was back in his seat and the vehicle moved on. I confess: I did not know how the driver settled with the officers. But a woman who sat beside me said: “These people, if they stop you, give them something. Do you think it is easy to secure the road?” At this point, I was disturbed.

    This woman’s position is an example of how easily we compromise a system and allow corruption to thrive uncontrollably in our country. I was irritated that a responsible person could think in such a manner at a time we are talking about fighting corruption and changing Nigeria. “Madam, these people are paid by the government to do this job. If anyone is going to appreciate them, it should not be by force,” I told the woman.

    As the vehicle trudged on, my mind raced back to the checkpoint experience. “What manner of friends are the policemen?” I wondered. In fact, one of the officers showed the level of indiscipline and corruption in the force. Apart from making contemptuous remarks about a retired senior officer – it wasn’t actually about the person, but the office of the AIG – he also conveyed the impression that they could easily rob our vehicle right there. Who would know? And if anyone knew, what would they do about it?

    The officers would simply escape in their rickety vehicle parked at a corner, and it would be as good as though we were robbed by any robbery gang on the high way. Then I realised how much work we must do to restore professionalism, altruism and discipline in the police.

    A police officer must be loyal to the people they swore to protect and also to their superiors even in their thoughts. I am not saying this because the officers failed to give preferential treatment to the bus belonging to an AIG, but because of the manner they mocked the office of the AIG. They sounded as though they would not even respect the AIG, if they had their way.

    A passenger, who sat behind me, told the person next to him: “Police always clash with soldiers.” The next person, who is young army officer, replied: “And the clashes will continue because policemen do not respect anybody, even themselves. In the army, we respect the authority. An officer will never fight a fellow officer in public. But police will even kill you and nothing will happen.”

    The army officer said all policemen must be re-trained to interact with civilians when deployed on the field. He said every soldier in the barracks passed through such training.

    I was almost saying that the police were responsible for the lack of trust existing between them and the public when we overran another checkpoint, this time mounted by uniformed officer. The driver did not stop on sighting the policemen. The driver said: “They rob here.” All the passengers were dazed as he continued: “I don’t have confidence in the ability of the officers to protect us should there be such an incident here.”

    Here were gentlemen of the law, standing by the roadside in the dead of the night, to protect us, and yet we could not trust them. Then I realised that both the police and the public are victims of the situation. We need strong institutional reform and attitudinal change for the public and the police to be able to work together as friends.

     

    Msonter, 200-Level Medicine, BSU