Governor Nasir El-Rufai is a man of the gallery. Oftentimes he becomes spectacle to his tailored audience, an assemblage of haters and sycophants peopling his courtier and political courtesan class. El-Rufai’s recent exploit evokes a fable; a divisive meme of leadership and professionalism.
The two concepts clash in the arena of El-Rufai. Posturing as the hardnosed disciplinarian, the Kaduna governor butts head with about 22,000 teachers and the Kaduna State chapter of the Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC).
The reason is not farfetched. Having watched with dismay as teachers in the state flunked competency tests, the Kaduna governor did the needful by approving the dismissal of affected teachers. Predictably, the diminutive governor’s move generated buzz in the social space as mainstream and new media sensationalised his measure on the wings of protest and articulated vitriol by labour union and political opposition.
Trust Ayodele Fayose, Governor of Ekiti, to never miss an opportunity to throw darts at perceived shortcomings of colleagues in the All Progressive Congress (APC); Fayose accused the Kaduna governor of sacking teachers with the support of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“I’m warning Nigerians again, the agenda of the APC is to sack workers. They are sacking teachers in Kaduna and Buhari is supporting them,” he said on Twitter.
The tweet triggered a debate which saw some in favour but others against Fayose. The latter’s spokesman, Lere Olayinka tweeted: “In Ekiti, we did not conduct competency test for teachers, we still made first position in NECO in 2016 and 2017. El-Rufai can come and learn from us.”
The Kaduna governor, replied Fayose thus: “Your Excellency Sir, we are not sacking teachers in Kaduna. Rather, we are replacing unqualified people who are unfit to be called teachers to save the future of the next generation.”
El-Rufai’s retort is instructive. It addresses the conundrum of ‘the next generation.’ Of course, the governor talks a good game and he has done what ex-governor of Ekiti, Kayode Fayemi, attempted to do via his defunct Teachers’ Development Needs Assessment (TDNA).
Now the minister of mining, Fayemi reportedly helped El-Rufai by introducing him to the consultant that conducted the controversial assessment of Kaduna teachers. The competency tests, which were based on Primary 4 level examinations, were failed by over half of the primary school teachers who sat for it, implying that they are unfit to teach at the foundation level.
El-Rufai didn’t goof by his latest deed. The Kaduna governor is undoubtedly on good course but among other things, he needs to cushion the adverse effects of his actions by employing qualified replacements for the unqualified teachers.
He also needs to evolve a process to identify those that could be retrained and re-employed into the teaching service.
Then El-Rufai has to admit truths related to the reality of Kaduna’s incompetent teachers. The latter, like millions of Nigerian graduates are victims of the incumbent ruling class, to which El-Rufai, sadly belongs.
El-Rufai in a recent interview admitted thus: ”Unqualified teachers entered the system because the recruitment of teachers was politicised. The local government council chairmen and other senior politicians and bureaucrats saw teaching as a dumping ground for their thugs, supporters and other unqualified persons.
“Teachers were employed at local government level without adherence to standards. In many instances, no examinations or interviews were conducted to assess the quality of recruits. Political patronage, nepotism and corruption became the yardsticks, thus giving unqualified persons a way in. Teaching jobs were given as patronage to those connected to politicians and bureaucrats.”
The governor’s admission speaks to the decadence and regression of his ruling class. It echoes the wound-like rawness of Fayemi’s jarring speech to recent graduands of the University of Lagos (UNILAG). Fayemi told the graduands: “quit whining and start doing — for ourselves and for our country. If something angers you so much, instead of whining, think hard about possible solutions and do something about it.”
Thus within El-Rufai’s privileged bulk too, lurks a humane realist. But can El-Rufai divorce himself from the insensitivity, sloppiness and entitlement mentality characteristic of Nigeria’s ruling class?
What has the Kaduna governor done to establish himself as a deviant from Nigeria’s decadent political culture; after all, he was part of the system since the past regime of ex-president, Olusegun Obasanjo.
The afflictions of Nigeria’s educational system certainly exceeds competency tests and the scourge of bungling primary school teachers. The country’s political machinery and civil service need reforms too.
At the moment, cult of self dominates Nigeria’s cultural and political landscape. This cult is responsible for plaguing the country with what El-Rufai identified as a culture of “political patronage, nepotism and corruption.”
It advances what Hedges identifies as the classic traits of psychopaths: superficial charm, lavishness, and utter conceit. El-Rufai’s ruling class is hindered by masturbatory ego, insensitivity to electoral woes, persistent duplicity, and incapacity for remorse.
It is about time that the Nigerian electorate sacked this ruling class, comprising public officers who educate their wards abroad even as they devastate the nation’s education system by their ineptitude.
Several governors, senators and traditional rulers educate their children abroad and travel overseas to celebrate their graduation while schools in the country are shut down for over 10 months as in the case of the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) and the host state’s bungling governor.
This brings to mind again, the competency test. While some have applauded the move, others have frowned at it. However, President Buhari, on Monday, declared his support for El-Rufai’s replacement of the incompetent teachers.
To justify the decision to sack the teachers, the state government released some answer scripts from the competency test, revealing how many could not answer questions set for primary four students. The state government lamented that about two-thirds of primary school teachers in the state failed to score up to 75 per cent in the examination.
This no doubt requires urgent corrective measures. But if subjected to the same test, how many senators, governors and presidential staff would excel unassisted? If El-Rufai and peer are so particular about establishing quality education in Kaduna and neighbouring states, would they kindly extend similar passion to the anti-corruption campaign and establishment of competent leadership across the country?
There is a joke in public circuits that the country’s incumbent ruling class would fail a 1, 000-word essay on ‘My Politics.’ This joke affirms the gruesome reality of Nigeria’s corrupt, bungling ruling class. Yet they gleefully score cheap points via El-Rufai’s significant measure.
As you read, El-Rufai’s ruling class afflicts children of the electorate with substandard education while they educate their wards abroad.
Sound bites and statistics electrify them as fermented grape excites the lust of the habitual drunk. Little wonder they deploy statistics in the same way that Andrew Lang’s drunken man uses lamp-posts – for support rather than illumination.
