The Nation Newspaper

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  • Ugwuanyi: Taking democratic dividends to grassroots

    Enugu State Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi’s priority is rural development. In this piece, Louis Amoke examines the administration’s rural development strategy, which has impacted on the grassroots.

    The Chairman, House of Representatives Committee on Public Accounts, Wole Oke, who represents Obokun/Oriade Constituency of Osun State, has given a good account of the policy thrust of the administration of Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State and its positive impact on the lives of the people of the state.

    Oke, who led members of the Ad-hoc Committee on Investigation and Monitoring of Recruitment of Nigerians by MDAs of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, to pay a courtesy call on Gov. Ugwuanyi, when they visited the state on their oversight assignment, disclosed that the governor has concentrated massive development more in the rural areas “unlike what we have in other states where a governor will concentrate development in the state capital”.

    The parliamentarian extolled the leadership qualities of Gov. Ugwuanyi as a peaceful, humble, focused, hard-working and grassroots politician, stressing that they were impressed with the level of progress going on in the rural communities of Enugu State.

    Oke’s remark on Ugwuanyi was not only candid but also a true reflection of what his administration stands for. His assessment has reechoed the intrinsic aspect of the governor’s vision, strategy and untiring endeavor in reconnecting the people with reality and act of good governance, irrespective of class or socio-economic background.

    Ugwuanyi, in spite of the nation’s daunting economic challenges, the state’s lean resources and recent security challenges, has remained undaunted and resolute in his sustained efforts to build Enugu State of the founding fathers’ dream, where peace, harmony, inclusive governance and rapid development hold sway.

    His vision and passion for the well-being of the people of the state, irrespective of class or social status, as major stakeholders in the development project, gave birth to the massive infrastructural rebirth being witnessed in rural communities since the inception of his administration.

    As Oke rightly stated, Ugwuanyi’s grassroots development initiatives have truly ensured more concentration of infrastructural developments in rural areas than in urban centres.

    This reverse in the development strategy, which is novel in the annals of the state and seems to be alien to some urban residents, was in view of the fact that past administrations concentrated development largely in Enugu city, neglecting the majority of the state’s population who live in the rural areas. The governor’s rural development agenda have addressed to a reasonable extent, the unorthodox imbalance between urban and rural dwellers in terms distribution of infrastructure and other basic amenities.

    The success of the strategy, especially its direct positive impact on the lives of the rural dwellers was no doubt responsible for the over 94.5 percent votes Gov. Ugwuanyi garnered to win his reelection in 2019, which was adjudged the most peaceful and transparent electoral exercise in the history of Enugu State.

    In clear terms, the landslide victory which was unprecedented in spite of the fact that it was the first time the state went to the polls as an opposition political party to the ruling party at the national level was indeed a referendum on the governor’s outstanding performance.

    The outcome of the 2019 governorship election went beyond parochial sentiments in proving that the overwhelming majority of the people of Enugu State appreciate the good works of Gov. Ugwuanyi and his uncommon panache of humility, peacefulness, godliness and inclusiveness, which he brought to bear in the governance of the state.

    Standing on his vision to channel the bulk of development projects to the rural areas, Ugwuanyi in his inaugural address in 2015, promised to pay a special attention to rural development; open up the rural areas; create more urban centres; develop fresh economic opportunities and reduce pressure on Enugu metropolis for socio-economic expansion.

    The governor’s policy direction, which became the fulcrum of his administration’s success story, made it possible that citizens/communities in Enugu State who have not felt the positive impact of governance for many decades did so in an ambiance of peace and harmony.

    It was indeed a deliberate step anchored on the core values of justice, equity and fairness in an uncommon zeal to “take up the gauntlet of the struggle for the emancipation of the Wawa man from where our heroes past stopped”.

    On Ugwuanyi’s modest achievements, in spite of the recurring decimal of paucity of funds, coupled with the inherited huge debt profile and other enormous wage bills to be serviced, considering the state’s status as a large and the oldest city in the South-East, Ugwuanyi’s administration has remained regular in payment of state workers’ salaries and retirees’ pensions, including the 13th month salary, even without receipt of federal allocations.

    His administration has covered about 550 kilometers of roads scattered all over the nooks and crannies of the state with some ongoing projects such as the Enugu State Secretariat Annex building in Nsukka and the administrative building of the Enugu State University of Education in Ihe, Awgu L.G.A – first university in the South-East zone that would be a degree-awarding institution in the area of education and a centre for training of teachers for primary, secondary and tertiary education.

    Other include, some internal roads in Enugu and the University town of Nsukka and the 200-bed Igbo Ano Specialist Hospital, Enugu North Senatorial District, which when completed with other proposed infrastructural development in the site, will serve as facilities for the ESUT College of Medicine that has been relocated to Nsukka, etc.

    In keeping with its commitment to zero tolerance for potholes on roads built by past administrations and maintenance of existing infrastructure, the state government, acting on professional advice, has announced plans to commence fixing of potholes created recently by persistent rainfalls, once the rains subside.

    Three months into his first term,  Ugwuanyi spearheaded the massive development of urban and rural roads across the three senatorial districts of the state, in Emene, Abakpa-Nike, 9th Mile Corner and Nsukka.

    Shortly after, his administration, in line with its rural development strategy, simultaneously executed 35 grassroots development projects across the 17 Local Government Areas of Enugu State, which ensured that every council benefited at least one project from the programme.

    There was also the N10 million “One Community, One Project” scheme, which has made it possible for every community in the state to execute one or two priority projects of her choice.

    All these were going on as completion of works on projects started by previous administrations were given adequate attention, such as the Enugu State Diagnostic Centre (completed), the International Conference Centre Enugu (ongoing), the Poly  General Hospital Asata, Enugu and the Udi General Hospital now completed and scheduled for inauguration.

    Besides the foregoing, the following were among the development projects successfully delivered to standard by Ugwuanyi’s administration in the last four years.

    The Nike Lake road and Abakpa Nike road in Enugu East Local Government Area, which were hitherto in deplorable conditions; the two 9th Mile Bypasses in Udi L.G.A, which have relieved travelers the stress of traffic gridlock in the area, especially during festivities; the Opi-Nsukka Dual Carriageway in Nsukka Local Government Area with state-of-the-art underground drainage and other facilities befitting a University town and the second largest city in the state – the first of its kind to be delivered by a state government in the entire south east. The New Market-Milliken Hill-Ngwo-9th Mile road, an ancient, historic and undulating road, modernised with streetlights and other safety measures after decades of neglect to showcase its potentials as a tourist attraction and the state’s natural roller coaster, which now serves as an alternative gateway into the city of Enugu, from Onitsha-Enugu expressway.

    The Agbani-Amurri road in Nkanu West LGA (Phase one), constructed for a community that has never experienced any form of development on its land in the past 100 years. The Ogonogoeji-Ndiagu-Akpugo road (from Atavu Bailey bridge to Afor Onovo), in the same council, which has a historic and symbolic attraction as the first state government road project in the entire Akpugo zone since the creation of Enugu State.

    Development projects of significant importance to the lives of the lowly and neglected were also executed in high density suburbs such as Ngenevu, Iva Valley, Ugbodogwu, Ogwuagor, Abakpa Nike, Emene, among others.

    The 49km Udenu Ring road (ongoing) linking over 10 adjoining communities with three bridges equally stands out as one of the legacy projects of Ugwuanyi’s administration in the rural areas.

    Today, the people of Eha-Amufu, Isi-Uzo Local Government Area are in jubilant mood as they await the inauguration of the 8.8km road connecting their agrarian community with Nkalagu, Ebonyi State, which was reconstructed to high standard by the Ugwuanyi administration after it was abandoned for over 36 years.

    Others include the Ogbaku road in Awgu Local Government Area, which was constructed on a difficult terrain that is both hilly and undulating; the Ebonyi River Bridge in Isi Uzo Local Government Area; the Nkwo Inyi-Akpugoeze-Mamu Forest road in Oji River Local Government Area, and the Nike Lake junction-Harmony Estate-Adoration Pilgrimage Centre road (Phase one), with five river crossings, which when completed will link Abakpa and Emene and decongest traffic in the areas. Numerous development projects have also been executed in the urban areas.

    Apart from road projects,  Ugwuanyi’s administration has also taken bold steps in other spheres of development which have endeared the governor to the people of the state.

    The areas include, the Enugu Traders Empowerment Scheme which has so far assisted 3600 genuine traders with the sum of N50,000 each to grow their various businesses; construction and renovation of over 589 primary and secondary school blocks in the state, with more than 260 ongoing, as well as procurement of learning tools; employment of over 5000 teachers; empowerment of 750 youths under the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) programme and engagement of 1000 youths, additional 1000 underway, under the Enugu Clean Team Project.

    Others include award of scholarships to 680 indigent engineering students of Enugu State Polytechnic, Iwollo, Ezeagu L.G.A and the Institute of Management and Technology, Enugu, for four years of academic studies as well as the recent scholarship offered to 22 post-secondary school indigent students to study at Mewar University, India.

    Others still include, construction and renovation of district hospitals and health centres in the state, especially in the rural areas under the primary healthcare programme; construction of over 14 new court buildings and open registries in the judicial divisions and magisterial districts across the state, which the state’s Chief Judge, Justice Ngozi Emehelu, described as “unprecedented infrastructural development that has not been witnessed in the entire Southeast” and “the largest single intervention in infrastructural development in the Judiciary of Enugu State for over 20 years”.

    Following the recent odd security challenges, which attempted to undermine the enviable status of Enugu as one of the most peaceful and secure states in the country, Ugwuanyi has grabbed the bull by the horn by initiating measures and strategies to decisively tackle the situation with the establishment of the Forest Guard operation (a first in the entire country); reorganisation of the Vigilante/Neighborhood Watch groups; creation of a new Ministry of Security Affairs; appointment of the former Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ogbonna Onovo as Security Consultant to the state government; purchase of 360 security vehicles for community policing as well as the Security Trust Fund, among others.

    With the submission of the weighty reports of the 12 sectoral ad-hoc committees set up by his administration on assumption of its second term to review government’s programmes, policies and activities in the last four years and make recommendations that would assist it to reposition the state’s public service for optimized service delivery and advancement of good governance, Gov. Ugwuanyi is set to commence more aggressive polices and strategies. These are expected to usher in further rapid development and take Enugu State to the next level for Ndi Enugu to continue to enjoy democracy dividends. Enugu State is truly in the hand of God.

  • As the new frontier beckons

    Klaus Schwab, founder and executive chairman, World Economic Forum made this opening statement in 2016 about the new frontier the world is venturing into: “We stand on the brink of a technological revolution that will fundamentally alter the way we live, work, and relate to one another. In its scale, scope, and complexity, the transformation will be unlike anything humankind has experienced before. We do not yet know just how it will unfold, but one thing is clear: the response to it must be integrated and comprehensive, involving all stakeholders of the global polity, from the public and private sectors to academia and civil society.”

    We now live in an age where the impossible is becoming possible. Barriers are being broken down; innovations are coming out rapidly and dizzying rates. Older innovations are being fine-tuned and getting crazier and man is pushing the boundary of nearly everything, all because of technology.

    The world has witnessed three industrial revolutions and the process of the fourth has begun in earnest. Where are our tertiary institutions – and our policy makers – in the scheme of things? Are we prepared to embrace this revolution? What is the rest of the world doing right that we’re not?

    At the global level, industries and governments are innovating and changing their old ways of doing things. There’s no doubt that the pace of technological innovation going on around the world will pose enormous challenges to people, companies and economies as they are fast changing the way people learn, work, live and even stay alive.

    Schwab painted a vivid picture of the revolution we’re looking at today. He drew a parallel between Detroit (USA) in 1990 to Silicon Valley in 2014. In 1990, the three biggest automobile companies in Detroit – General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler – had a market capitalisation of $36 billion, revenues of $250 billion and 1.2 million employees.

    Fast forward to 2014; the three biggest technology companies in Silicon Valley had a higher market capitalisation of $1.09trn and generated $247Billion. But wait for this; they had about 137,000 employees! The implication is that more people would be out of jobs as the revolution gathers momentum.

    Underdeveloped and developing economies like ours would be the hardest hit. In the US where there is effective data, the expected fourth industrial revolution is projected to affect 49% of the workforce. From a historical point of view, technological changes bring with it disruption of the old system and challenges of adapting to the new because of the often superior technology involved in the processes.

    For example, the “New Deal” of Frank Roosevelt after the Great Depression of 1929 brought about state welfares and social safety net which was the peak of democratic standard in the 20th century. But this new revolution is about to make labour and trade unions irrelevant, big government spending on recurrent expenditure will definitely be affected. This should also serve as a wakeup call to the organised labour movements in Nigeria.

    The fallout from the 2016 summit in Davos, Switzerland was the all-important emphasis placed on the entrepreneur and an ‘Entrepreneurial Economy.’ I am aware that some universities in the country now have entrepreneurial centres, but how “entrepreneurial” these centres turn out to be is what matters in the long run. Also of importance is the ability of the economy to absorb the emerging entrepreneurs.

    For a nation that hardly plans, this emerging scenario can be scary. There were warnings in the past that crude oil price will crash and Nigeria needed to build buffers, but it was ignored and today, the economy is facing challenges because early warnings were not acted upon. We have now been forced to go back to the drawing board, but policy makers are facing challenges on the direction the economy should go.

    This notwithstanding, we have no choice but to face the hard task of positioning Nigeria to benefit from the revolution. Is this going to be easy? It may not because one of the most critical sectors that drive this revolution globally is lying prostrate in Nigeria. The government should move quickly with all sincerity to revitalise the education sector, because that is going to be the bedrock of the knowledge economy.

    It has been said repeatedly that we need to invest more in science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education – other nations have added the arts and creative sector to the mix. Expectedly, the government should be the driver of this policy; all the tiers of government should invest part of their budget in projects that have technology outlook, especially in the area of research and development consistently in the coming years. The organised private sector should be encouraged to invest in research because they stand to gain even more than the government.

    We also have to face the frightening fact that jobs will be lost, especially routine jobs. This is a wakeup call for everyone to equip and retool himself as the present monetary policy would be jettisoned because an entrepreneur focuses on performance and result. In the long run, Nigeria may come out stronger if we understand how to positively use the high concentration of young people in our demography. It is easy for young people to learn new skills and it is the responsibility of the government to create the enabling environment toward building an entrepreneurial economy.

    This can be done by learning from Switzerland which laid down a plan that took off in July, 2016 to attract tech start-ups by providing financial resources and incentives. The country designed a policy called “Kickstart Accelerator” which attracts start-ups from around the world to live and work in Zurich where they will get $24,000 in ‘seed funding’ and $1,500 for living expenses. This concept allows for innovation and technology transfer to Swiss nationals.

    The Swiss read the global barometer right and they know too well that the disruption currently taking place around the world will focus on five critical areas of human endeavours: manufacturing, education, health, transport, agriculture and information technology. These are where most disruptions in the 21st century innovation will take place.

    Our government should not shy away from investing in hubs where start-ups all over the world can come and birth there innovative ideas. The United Arab Emirates has also done this with the Dubai “Internet City” and Dubai “Health Care City” initiatives. The strategy is simply to lure start-ups who through their presence will create jobs and wealth for the economy. It is instructive to note here that Nigeria are facing skill deficiency in critical areas of the economy like construction, manufacturing and innovation.

    At the World Economic Forum’s Summit on the Global Agenda 2015, held in Abu Dhabi, technology-thought leaders warned of the impending challenges posed by innovations in artificial intelligence, biotechnology, nanotechnology, robotics and 3-D printing, among others. The question asked at the forum is very relevant to the Nigeria situation today: “Are we investing enough in institutions that enable the platforms to accommodate different perspectives?” asked Diana Farrell, Chief Executive Officer and President of JPMorgan Chase Institute in the US. “We need a common platform to connect the dots. But we are so far away from that.” Governments can take a long time to produce legislation and implement major programmes, and once they do, the policies may already be obsolete, Farrell reckoned.

    Politics can get in the way too, she noted. “We have a disconnect between people who are trying to address real problems and the political show. Having closer accountability and judging politicians on their jobs rather than random political narratives would help a lot.” How apt.   Nigerians must come to the reality that the developed world is moving from physicality to a data-based world, even in warfare with the use of unmanned drones.

    The first Industrial Revolution used water and steam power to mechanise the production process from a largely agrarian system. The second used electric power to create mass production. The third used electronics and information technology to automate production. The fourth is building on the third, the digital revolution that has been occurring since the middle of the last century. How prepared are we? Only time will tell.

  • RUGIPO to begin degree programmes

    From next academic session Rufus Giwa Polytechnic, Owo (RUGIPO), Ondo State will begin degree programmes in at least 16 courses.

    The institution will also introduce additional 29 ND and HND courses if approved by its regulatory body, the National Board of Technical Education (NBTE).

    The Acting Rector, Mr Gani Ogundahunsi, dropped the hint with CAMPUSLIFE in his office.

    Ogundahunsi said RUGIPO was partnering the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife in the award of the degree.

    He said the move was perfected at a deliberation attended by the Vice-Chancellor of OAU, Prof Eyitope Ogunbodede; and representatives of the National Universities Commission; NBTE and the Joint Admission and Matriculation Board, (JAMB).

    Ogundahunsi said: “Let me tell you, one programme that people will be very happy about is the linkage of our HND and BSc degree programmes of OAU. The partnership (with OAU) is fashioned to take the same form of collaboration between Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo and OAU.

    “This one has reached an advanced stage, the Vice Chancellor and I met with National Universities Commission, National Board for Technical Education and JAMB. We have discussed with the executive councils of these bodies.”

    He said the school authority has sent recommendations to NBTE, expressing optimism that the board would give approval before the next academic session.

    Ogundahunsi said though certificates to be awarded will bear the name of OAU, but the students will be receiving their lectures at RUGIPO.

    Ogundahunsi said the degree courses will be in areas such as Agriculture, Engineering and Environmental Sciences, where RUGIPO has comparative advantage.

    He said the new but yet-to-be-announced new courses for ND and HND are included. He noted that the institution would not stop its ND and HND programmes. He said: “Courses like Insurance, Cooperative Studies, Tourism among others, will be introduced,” Ogundahunsi added.

    “We want to expand our school, we have brought to fore about 29 new programmes, we have tried to redeem, re-tool and re-engineer the place.

    ‘’The mandate is for us to make our programmes relevant to our immediate society.”

    He said RUGIPO FM will come on air very soon, following the operating licence granted by National Broadcasting Commission.

    The Acting Rector said the entire 37 programmes run by the institution were recently presented for and re-accreditation, adding that they all scaled the hurdle.

  • Still on the presidential tribunal verdict

    Sir: The Presidential Election Petition Tribunal verdict was delivered on Wednesday, September 11, in almost a 9-hour exercise. That put paid, although temporarily on who won the February 23 Presidential election. The tribunal in a unanimous judgement gave it to the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari who floored his rival the former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, in virtually all the issues raised against the victory of Buhari at the tribunal by the opposition.

    However, two issues are of main concern in this articulation. They are: 1) the non-academic qualification argument by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate against President Muhammadu Buhari; and, 2) the allegations by the All Progressives Congress that the PDP presidential candidate is not a citizen of Nigeria. The tribunal in its wisdom dismissed both allegations as it held that President Buhari is eminently qualified to contest the presidency of Nigeria, and that Atiku Abubabar is a citizen of Nigeria.

    The judgement of the court on this two issues were anticipated by right thinking Nigerians because the two parties left the main issues at stake and pursued the frivolous. They left the substance and went for the shadows, thereby begging the question.

    On the first issue, it baffles one to imagine that the collection of reputable senior advocates contracted by PDP would hinge their argument on the claim that Buhari does not have school leaving certificate.

    It is a truism that in 1962 when Buhari enrolled with the military, corruption was not pronounced in Nigeria as it is today. More so, Nigerian military was an off-shoot of the British Army which imparted discipline on the Colonial Regiment and Constabulary that gave birth to the Nigerian Army Buhari served. Again, if the minimum requirement for entering Nigerian Army was school certificate then it means that Buhari could not have joined the army ab initio if he did not have the minimum requirement.

    Buhari as a soldier passed his examinations in all the trainings he went through in Europe and America and other places with good testimonials from such institutions. Such successes catapulted him to the rank of Major General, a position he held when he was ousted as the Military Head of State in 1985 by General I. B. Babangida (Rtd).

    Is it not ridiculous that those aspiring for the presidency to argue that an experienced soldier  and also a sitting president does not have school leaving certificate just to score a cheap political advantage? No wise tribunal or court in the land would grant such prayer.

    The other issue is the claim by the ruling party APC, that the former vice president and the PDP presidential candidate is not a citizen of Nigeria. It is frivolous for lawyers to argue that Atiku Abubakar who had come of age in 1960 (the year of independence), and who served the country in various capacities such as Controller of Customs, and Vice President for eight years, prior to which, he vied and won a gubernatorial election in Adamawa State in 1999, is not a citizen of Nigeria. How can that be fathomable?

    To me, it is a lazy man’s argument in court of law! It is advocated that issues of relevance that will promote legal jurisprudence ought to be advanced than wasting the worthy time of court or tribunals on non-issues such as the above enunciated claims by both PDP and APC at the Presidential Election Petition Tribunal.

    • Nick Okanmelu, Awka, Anambra State.

  • FUOYE: NANS secures students’ release

    National President, National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), Comrade Danielson Bamidele Akpan, has secured the release of two students arrested by the police, in connection with the crisis in the wake of a protest by students of the Federal University, Oye-Ekiti (FUOYE) last weekTuesday.

    The two students, Ogunlana Olabisi, 200-Level Electrical Electronics and Adeniji Oluwasegun, 300-Level  Agric Education, were to be arraigned in court on Monday before NANS’ intervention secured their unconditional release.

    Interestingly, too, students allegedly extorted by the police have identified the officers that demanded cash from them to facilitate their bail.

    Comrade Akpan also secured the release of the Students’ Union bus which was seized by the police and handed over to the FUOYE SU.

    The students’ body had earlier threatened to shut down the entire Ekiti State by what it described as ‘mother of all protests’ before eventually reaching a compromise with the police and Ekiti State government.

    On Tuesday last week, the students protested against poor electricity supply in Oye Township. They blocked the Oye and Ikole campuses, barring students and workers from gaining entrance into the school premises.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that the protesters blocked the wife of Ekiti State Governor Erelu Bisi Fayemi while returning from a tour of the 16 local government areas of the state, where she had furthered her empowerment programme.

    The otherwise peaceful protest erupted in crisis as the police attached to the First Lady attempted to smuggle her via the surging protesters, a scenario that eventually deteriorated, and leaving two students dead, vehicles vandalised,  and several others injured.

  • UDUS student attacked

    A 100-Level Law student of Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), Aliyu Saleh, has been attacked by hoodlums.

    CAMPUSLIFE gathered that Saleh was on his way to Bakassi Hostel last Wednesday, when the assailants attacked him with machetes around 11pm.

    The victim was walking along the snaky and often lonely Faculty of Veterinary Medicine road that leads to Bakassi Hostel where he resides.

    Speaking to CAMPUSLIFE, Saleh narrated how his attackers cashed in on the porous security at the aforementioned route to unleash mayhem on unsuspecting students.

    He recalled how he decided to stroll out of the Bakassi Hostel at nightfall to make some calls, owing to poor network within the hostel, before the hoodlums intercepted him and made away with his mobile phone as he made to return to his hostel.

    Said Saleh: “At around 10:30pm, I left my room at Bakassi Block B, to go and make some calls as well as read because of bad network. So, I took that straight road connecting Bakassi with the main road where the new Faculty of Veterinary Science was built close to the signboard at the edge of Bakassi Street.

    “After the calls, I made to return to the hostel. Then, I realised a motorcyclist with two other passengers pulled up behind me. One of the passengers disembarked while the two others stopped close to the sign board.

    “Another guy who I initially thought was a fellow student came behind and enquired what the time was and I answered him. In a flash, the guy pounced on me trying to drag my phone. I fought back and before I could say ‘Jack’, a machete landed on my left shoulder.

    “I raised alarm as I took to my heels.  I then alerted some securities officials who also gave them a hot chase. Unfortunately, my attackers escaped using their motorcycle.”

    He thanked the security officials who thereafter rushed him to the school clinic for first aid, before he was later transferred to university’s teaching hospital for proper treatment.

    Aliyu further advised students to be very vigilant while walking at night around the school premises.

    He said: “To fellow students I would say, if they are going for any affairs whatsoever at night, should walk in group. Once you don’t trust a person at night, keep your distance, because it seems these criminals are not only after mobile phone, but lives.”

    One of Aliyu’s intimate friends, Sheu Shamsudeen, also a 100-Level law undergraduate drew students but particularly management’s attention to the growing insecurity on campus.

    “And for students, avoid walking alone during the dark hours of the night, walk in groups,” he recommended.

  • Right school age

    What is the right age for a child to start school in Nigeria? Parents are not sure. There seems to be no clear cut legislation about this in our education system.  Before private schools became popular and when mothers did not have to work, children stayed at home until they clocked six to be enrolled in Primary One. To test if they were of age, their left hand had to reach their right ear and vice versa.

    This was the practice in public schools. Then little attention was paid to early childhood development education – even up to 2007. Children started learning their letters and alphabets in Primary One.

    Private schools embraced pre-school and nursery Education in Nigeria long before the public schools. Today, public schools run two ECCDE classes before Primary Education kicks off.

    But the scenario is different in private schools. There is no uniformity. Schools adopt different models in running their pre-school/nursery. They also have different nomenclature for the names of pre-school classes. Some start with playgroup, reception, nursery 1-2, then kindergarten in that order, while others place the KG classes first before nursery classes. The variation is to the point of confusion.

    When I started shopping for a school for my first child, he was 18 months old. None of the schools I visited said he was too young to start. I was encouraged to enroll him.  Some schools even informed me that they accepted three-month olds. Today, very few parents wait for their wards to clock three before sending them to school. It is so bad that a two year-old is deemed too old not to be in school.

    In contrast, in countries like the United Kingdom U.S. and Canada, children start school at four.  Princess Charlotte of British royal family recently started formal schooling aged four.  Before four, children are home-schooled, go to daycare or attend part-time nurseries on some days of the week. They are not expected to write 1-100 like some children in Nigeria or do homework.

    Another area of inconsistency in our school system is the duration of Primary Education.  Though the National Policy on Education states that we run six years of primary education, three years of junior secondary education, three years of senior secondary education, and four years of tertiary education (6-3-3-4), many private schools practice five years of primary education.  These schools also use text books one year ahead of the class the children are in to make primary six irrelevant.  For instance, they introduce Primary One textbooks to pupils when they are in Nursery 2, and continue like that as the pupils progress.  By the time they are in Primary Five, they use textbooks for primary six then take entrance examinations of public and private schools and off they go to secondary school.

    This ‘unofficial’ five years of primary education has been in practice for over three decades now.  It was in practice when I was in primary school in the 80s.  So it is not a new phenomenon.  By now government should have researched, assessed and put an end to the practice.  But nothing of such has happened.

    I do not think that this practice of rushing children through school has helped our education system in anyway.  There is no evidence we are better than countries that have a stipulated start age later than what we practice.  Nigeria is not on any list of high-ranking performers in maths, sciences or other areas because we rush our children, neither are we achieving 80-100 per cent pass in the West African Senior School Certificate Examination.  Ghana, where children spend longer in primary and secondary schools, has been outperforming Nigeria in the WASSCE for over one decade even though we have the largest candidature for the examination among the five West African member countries.

    Government needs to wake up and enforce our National Policy on Education to arrest the decay in our education system.  This sickening mediocrity should end.

  • Sundry Misusages XXVII: Oblivious . . . plus more

    Still so many hurdles to scale on misusages! The reason is, anywhere you turn, you encounter egregious mangling of standard usage. Yet, when you mangle usage, you mangle meaning. That should make correct usage the spirit and soul of any language. Usage embeds the character, personality, essence, excitement, depth, unique feel and beauty of language. So, when you master usage, you are filled with the spirit and soul of the language concerned (You know what it means to be spirit-filled in Christendom!) It’s so that we may fill you with the spirit of correct usage that we converse on more pitfalls to avoid in this edition. 

    Oblivious

    Communicators advise us to use adjectives sparingly because they require deft and accurate handling to share precise meaning. But for the prestige of it most likely, a lot writers indulge in using adjectives cavalierly, even when they could find other ways to express their thoughts more intelligibly. It is bad enough to be careless in your use of adjectives but it is worse not to understand their correct usage. Such are the pitfalls in the following statement:

    While this extreme condition persists for the citizenry, both the outgoing government and the incoming one seem either oblivious of this fact or are incapacitated to act.

    Here is what our writers’ companion, “Pop” Errors, says about the statement: “There is nothing egregious here, but just a little nuance of usage. The adjective oblivious is usually used in two ways: oblivious of; and oblivious to. When used in the former form, it connotes a state of unawareness of something, and in the second form, a state of not taking cognisance of or not considering or almost ignoring something. The writer is commenting on the excruciating socio-economic miseries of people during the transition from one administration to another government-in-waiting. Against this background, it may be illogical and untrue to say both are not aware of the parlous situation. It seems, therefore, that the ace columnist (specimen’s source is a newspaper column) has the second sense of oblivious in mind, suggesting that they are aware but are simply not addressing it for now. In other words, the expression oblivious to seems more appropriate from the drift of the columnist’s thought. We leave the debate to aficionados of English grammar. What is important for us here is to master the two forms of the usage of the adjective oblivious.” To avoid any doubt, we restate the statement with the correct usage inserted, thus:

    While this extreme condition persists for the citizenry, both the outgoing government and the incoming one seem either oblivious to this fact or are incapacitated to act. 

    Offspring

    Quite often, many write their own rules, leveraging entrenched lexical mindsets. The erroneous attitude seems to be: just add s whenever and wherever you need the plural sense of anything. Yet there are exemptions and there are exemptions. The correct application of the noun offspring is such an exemption, which has not been observed in the following:

    All those that are shielding Maina and his cohort from facing the full wrath of the law should know that their offsprings, relatives and friends will need a pension at old age.

    “Correct usage is offspring, not offsprings. In singular or plural form, offspring is offspring, meaning “a person’s child or children,” “an animal’s young”, or “the product or result of something.” What is more, offsprings does not exist in the English language” (“Pop” Errors).  To avoid any doubt, let us insert the correct usage, thus:

    All those that are shielding Maina and his cohorts from facing the full wrath of the law should know that their offspring, relatives and friends will need a pension at old age.

    Onset/Outset

    Here is one usage with which many a writer does not say what they mean. A scrutiny of the following statements will bear this out most vividly.

    (a). . .Let me say from the onset of this piece.

    (b)…In the face of the seeming silence of the Federal Government on the plight of the girls at the outset of the abduction, it took the patriotic act of some Nigerians . . . to draw global attention to the issue. . . .

    Specimen (a) is the way a writer started an edition of his newspaper column. ‘Onset cannot be an appropriate usage for the beginning of a newspaper article, unless it is declaring war. Correct usage is outset. Outset is used to refer to “the beginning or start of something” good; onset is also used to refer to “the beginning of something,” but “especially something unpleasant” (Oxford Dictionary of English/AmazonKindle). There is nothing unpleasant in a newspaper column, even if seen as an event’ (“Pop” Errors). So, correct usage regarding (a) above is:

    Let me say from the outset of this piece . . .

    Specimen (b) is the flipside of (a). In other words, (b) exhibits the reverse error of (a), misusing outset and comically confusing the noun with onset. The explanation of (a) shows obviously that onset is the correct usage in (b), not outset, “because abduction is clearly an unpleasant development.” Thus, correct usage in regard to (b) is:

    In the face of the seeming silence of the Federal Government on the plight of the girls at the onset of the abduction, it took the patriotic act of some Nigerians . . . to draw global attention to the issue. . . .

  • Don seeks support for blind students

    Dr Adebowale Ayobade of the Department of Sociology, University of Lagos (UNILAG) has urged educators not to neglect visually-impaired students but find a means of accommodating them.

    She spoke last Friday at an event organised by the National Association of Nigerian Visually Impaired Students (NANVIS), UNILAG Chapter, tagged:The Power of the B4:Black, Blind, Bold and Beautiful.

    While speaking on the topic, Inclusive Education, she said visually-impaired students should be encouraged and assisted, not discriminated against.

    She said: “When we talk of Inclusive Education, it involves giving an enabling environment to all citizens to learn without any form of discrimination. It is all about giving equal opportunities to all. It accommodates everybody in the learning process.”

    Ayobade explained that the country was still evolving in the area of Inclusive Education, but advised that efforts should be made to make it work.

    She said: “We are still evolving, but there is room for improvement. We need to modify how we impart knowledge to the blind – their learning time, exam questions – and teachers too should have special skills to cater for them.”

    Commenting on the theme of the event, former NANVIS EXCO, Mr Kareem Ahmed, said being blind had not hampered the students in any way.

    He praised University of Lagos, noting that “UNILAG is the best place for visually- impaired students”.

    Earlier in his opening speech, Head of Department, History and Strategic Studies, Prof Rufus Akinyele, who represented the Vice Chancellor, Prof Oluwatoyin Ogundipe, praised the blind students for visiting Ikoyi Prisons and assured them of the university’s continuous support.

    He said: “I really commend your efforts towards serving humanity in your present state.  Your visit to Ikoyi Prisons shows you care about others.  And I want to use this medium to assure you of the regular support of the university.”

    President of the association, Osho Sunday said their disability was a blessing to them.He noted that the association was formed to rid visually-impaired students of challenges facing them on campus.

    Meanwhile, Kunle Esun of EcoBank presented white canes to members of the association to support them.

  • YABATECH, group partner on ethics training

    To achieve improved productivity and effectiveness for its workers, Yaba College of Technology (YABATECH) in conjunction with Global Women Investors and Innovators Network (GWIIN), recently engaged 80 selected academics and non-academic members of staff in Work Ethics, Etiquette and Leadership training.

    The objective of the training was to assist YABATECH to gain competitive edge with workers being exposed to a range of tools and approaches that support good governance, ethics, professionalism and effective leadership qualities.

    The workshop was designed to expose participants to modules relating to innovation, business development and enterprise.

    During the two-day programme at G International Institute Training Centre (GIITC) in Iyana-Ipaja, Lagos, facilitated by Staff Development and Training Department of the College, the founder & Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of GWIIN, Dr. Bola Olabisi, buttressed the main purpose of the training which was to re-train, re-skill, re-tool and take advantage of current and emerging opportunities.

    The participants were divided into seven groups that brainstormed on case studies/scenarios and proffered solution.

    Day one of the workshop focused on work ethics and authentic leadership qualities, making sound decision and values and integrity.

    On the second day, the participants l earnt about the code of conduct for personal development, social etiquette, and the art of fine dining with regards to the do’s and don’ts; dignity and a sense of what is appropriate in a cosmopolitan society; as well as composure and sophistication.

    Certificates of participation were awarded to attendees after the workshop.