The Nation Newspaper

Tag: The way

  • The way

    •Now is the time to embrace vocational training

    WITH no end in sight to the scourge of unemployment ravaging the youth population; with countless empowerment and intervention schemes falling miserably short of addressing the scourge; and with tertiary educational system serially derided for producing unemployable graduates, there appears to be no better time to focus greater attention on a sector often neglected, yet critical to turning the unemployment situation around: the vocational training sector.

    So much for the annual ritual of seeking to fix 1.6 million applicants into barely 600,000 available spaces in the universities, polytechnics and colleges of education – private and public combined. While the illusion of making a university graduate of everyone endures, that the country has been reaping the wages of lack of attention to basic vocational training can no longer be denied in the face of the ugly reality of mass unemployment, dearth of critical skills, whether for self-employment or in industries and in poor craftsmanship across the board.

    Such has been the decline in the quality of our artisanship that Nigerians are forced to look in the direction of our ECOWAS neighbours to fill the skills gap, even for skills as basic as masonry and construction. As if that is not serious enough, the states which ought to be in the forefront of establishing vocational schools would rather establish universities that are in the end, poorly funded than establish or properly equip the few vocational institutions where they exist. All of these, unfortunately happening at a time the old standards of certification – the trade tests and international certification have virtually disappeared, hence reducing the artisan sector to an all-comers’ affair.

    The result has been catastrophic both for the individual self-esteem and the economy.

    For a nation perennially seeking out for budding entrepreneurs, vocational training would seem ordinarily given; it seems the surest path to put the latent energies of our youths to work and to restore dignity to labour. More than that, it guarantees the delivery of value, the kind that is sorely needed to make the country better for all. After all, we have long seen what Nigerian youths can do when given the opportunity to showcase their boundless energies and talents. We have seen it in Nollywood, the movie industry, currently the rave of the continent if not the entire world; it has been demonstrated in the musical industry where our youths with their exposure to latest technology have not only shown so much verve and vibrancy but are holding out among the best in the world.

    We have no doubt that these can be replicated in the basic day-to-day skills that are needed in the services sector. All that is required is for our governments – states and federal –to foster the development of the skills pool by investing in such specialised institutions across the board. It would also be the surest path to address the unemployment scourge.

    But then, to do that, they will first have to change their attitudes towards skills labour. Whereas the federal and state governments have been known to talk about skills and empowerment, most with perhaps the exception of Lagos and Kwara states, with world class vocational institutions, are known to have done little to put their money where their mouth is by investing in them. In fact, more than the craze to establish universities, the country will certainly fare better by having more of them.

    And if we may remind the states in particular, nothing in the 6-3-3-4 system currently in vogue makes vocational training inferior; what it does is offer a different pathway to the same goal of national development.

    The Federal Government is urged to bring the old certification standards back. That is the only way to make the skills not only competitive but the rewards also attractive as obtained in the developed economies. That way, the interests of our youths will be sustained.

  • The way we are going (2)

    Last week, this column dwelt on the lop-sidedness in the appointments of heads of security agencies and other sensitive positions in the country. It also mentioned how it was initially tough to get the northerners to agree to join the southern part of the country for independence in 1960. What really attracted the northerners was the realignment of the boundaries which gave the total area up the River Niger to the north, while the remaining portion was divided between the east and the west. In other words, the north had 60% of the entire land mass while the south, making up east and west, was squeezed into a miserable 40%. That abnormal arrangement somehow gave the north an advantage over the south. Besides, they were assured that even though the south was visibly ahead in education, power will reside in the hands of the northerners.

    The Ibos actually attempted to concentrate power in the south-east. At a point, the top hierarchy of all the civil service, the police, the army and other relevant organs of government were dominated by the Ibos before the advent of the civil war. It was the civil war that changed all that.

    What actually dissuaded the northerners from secession was the fact that the British told them that should they secede, Britain will no longer have anything to do with them. In fact, in the counter-coup of 1966, the plan of the northern coupists was to move their families from Ikeja Cantonment to Kano for safety in the event of an imminent breakup. That was why on coup day, a British Airways DC 10 aircraft that was due to fly passengers from Lagos to London was diverted after much pleading to Kano even though the Nigerian air space had been closed to traffic.

    The coup leaders had promised that the aircraft would be allowed to fly to Kano, drop its passengers and then return to Lagos to pick its passengers to London. When the pilot asked what will happen to his London passengers, he was assured that they will be kept safe at the Airport Hotel while waiting for his arrival from Kano to pick them. The pilot also complained about unavailability of aviation fuel and he was assured that aviation fuel will be available for his trip to London.   The aircraft landed safely in Kano, came back to Lagos, picked its London passengers and was allowed to leave before the airspace was closed again.

    The plan by the northerners to secede was why it took the counter-coup leaders a whole three days to announce a new Head of State in the person of then Lt. Col. Yakubu Gowon. In the confusion that followed the counter-coup, Gowon had played the role of a moderator and successfully dissuaded the radicals like Murtala Muhammed and co, who were bent on foisting another agenda to break up the country. Gowon was said to have found an ally in Adeyinka Adebayo in maintaining the stability of the country.

    Recall that when Buhari took over the reign of government in 1983, he announced that his regime was a continuation of the Murtala Muhammed/Obasanjo military regime.  As a result of this pronouncement, the image of the Buhari regime at that time soared. This was because Murtala Muhammed had enjoyed wide public support during his short-lived regime even though that regime took a lot of wrong steps from which the country, especially the nation’s civil service, is yet to recover. That position taken by Buhari in 1983 has not changed.

    Coincidentally, last week, as I was contemplating on adding my voice to the growing whispers in the country on this northern domination, I visited my doctor, an old hand in the medical profession, who has spent close to 30 years in America plying his trade before he returned to Nigeria a few years ago. He is now in his early 70s. As you know, some of these doctors like talking and exchanging ideas. As we got talking, he lamented about the deterioration of the standard of living of the average Nigerian, the dying economy, the violence and killings all over the place and warned that if care is not taken, Nigeria could be approaching a pre-1966 situation which eventually led to the 30-month civil war.

    To him, Buhari needs to be advised to drop whatever northern agenda he might be harbouring so as not to plunge the country into another avoidable bloodbath. He said, perhaps, now that both Gowon and Adebayo, are still living, they should go and talk to Buhari to embrace the type of wisdom with which they averted a secession by the north in 1966. Agreed, Gowon is currently leading some prayer warriors all over the country, but the exigency of today requires that he should do more in order to retrieve this country from the precipice into which it seems to be marooned.

    Many people have been complaining openly and silently about Buhari’s style of leadership. Sometimes, reports filtering in from the villa indicate that the president is like a man on a one-man mission. That he hardly listens to advice, no matter how sincere or genuine such advice might be. Such things manifested when it took him a long time to announce members of his cabinet. Some people even said that the president had initially come up with the names of some people who were actually discovered to be so handicapped that they could not function in a normal cabinet. Some had either fallen sick, had strokes or were in a very disadvantaged position so much that they could not even offer themselves for service any longer.

    One thing is that the president might mean well, but the configuration of his cabinet and the lop-sidedness in his appointments which is skewed in favour of northerners or northern Muslims, are antithetical to good governance and transparency. Besides, his snobbishness on some burning national issues especially on the issue of restructuring the country, speaks volumes about his hard heartedness and unpreparedness to listen to any dissenting voice that runs counter to his own opinion.

    Few months ago, when his attention was drawn to the report of the 600-member 2014 National Conference Committee, the president simply shrugged and said: “That one, I didn’t read it. I just threw it to my archives”. I do not want to dabble into whether the president is more knowledgeable than any of the men and women who constituted that conference. These are men and women of high intellectual and professional experience who have made their marks in their areas of endeavours in life. To wave aside such people is either stubbornness carried too far or disdain for knowledge and excellence.

    Our present crop of leaders should not behave as if they alone possess the answers to all the nagging problems confronting the country. When we talk about Nigeria’s sovereignty as not negotiable, although quite a good number of people have dismissed that as sheer humbug or balderdash, the point is, if we are not to negotiate the sovereignty of Nigeria, then all necessary things should be put in place so that no part of the country is deliberately side-lined, disadvantaged or taken for a ride.

    My humble prayer is that this country should never have cause to go to war again. The fact is that in this digital age, nothing is hidden and nothing can be hidden. One bad news or the photograph of a bad incident going viral on the internet these days is enough gasoline to set the nation on fire. A word is enough for the wise!

     

  • The way we are going (1)

    Then Nigerians trooped out enmasse to cast their votes in the 2015 general elections, particularly in the presidential election which was held on March 28, 2015, they all had one thing and one thing only in mind. That thing was that with the way the country was almost being run aground by the leaders or politicians at the helms of affairs at that time, the country needed to be saved from sinking into a bottomless pit. That was why the ‘change’ mantra of the All Progressives’ Congress, APC, gained so much momentum, culminating in the resounding victory of the APC at that election. It couldn’t have been otherwise though.

    By the time the presidential election came up, it was obvious that there were visible signs that the country was systematically heading for the rocks. In other words, the ship of state had become so rudderless that only a careful pilot could steer it safely to shore. This was reflected in the wild jubilation that heralded the Muhammadu Buhari administration on May 29, 2015. That day, majority of Nigerians threw away their differences, be it political, ethnic, religious or otherwise, to join in the celebration of a new dawn.

    At the Eagle Square, Abuja, venue of the swearing in ceremony, Nigerians from all walks of life, spotting colourful dresses, struggled for space as early as daylight broke in order to secure a vantage position to witness the epoch making event. And by the time the swearing in of the new president in whom Nigerians had unflinching hope and belief got under way, it was clear that Buhari was the man of the moment because every turn during the occasion, attracted wild applause from the ecstatic crowd.

    The highlight of the ceremony was the inaugural speech of the newly sworn in president. In the speech, Buhari made it clear that his coming to power was to right all the wrongs of the past, particularly the issue of endemic corruption which has put the nation on a cliff-hanger. His speech was punctuated by ceaseless applause. At a stage, the new president, with all the emphasis at his disposal, said: “I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody”. This statement drew a loud applause. After the ceremony, this same statement dominated discussions all over the country. Newspaper columnists and features writers used all available space in the newspapers to analyse this particular statement, while radio and television commentators turned it into a huge discourse. This was all attempts to find the true meaning of the president’s figurative expression.

    It is now 14 months, that is, a year and two months since the president assumed office. From all indications, the president has kept his promise to wage a relentless war against corruption although some people are of the opinion that the anti-graft war is one-sided or targeted at the president’s political opponents. Others have even gone to the extent of calling it a sort of vendetta against those who may have wronged the president in the past or other imaginary enemies. Whatever the case is, the war against corruption is ongoing and it has made those in government to tread more carefully, a departure from the past when stealing was done with impunity.

    Having said that, my worry is that the economy of this country seems to be headed for the doldrums. The minister of finance, Kemi Adeosun, confirmed this in a statement which became front page news in most national dailies last week, when she was quoted as saying that Nigeria was “technically in recession”. Before this, the naira had depreciated to N373 to the dollar in the regime of free-fall in which the national currency has lately found itself. The untold hardship in the land has found expression in a situation where people can no longer feed, cannot afford hospital bills and salaries of millions of workers are not paid. In the internally displaced persons’ camps, malnutrition reigns supreme and even at that, the food items that trickle into the camps are diverted or stolen by those in charge of the camps. That illustrates the level of hunger that now pervades the land.

    But by far the greatest problem now confronting the country is that the Buhari administration is not pretending to be a northern administration. By all intents and purposes, it is really a northern administration foisted, willy-nilly, on the entire nation. Here lies the danger that is hanging on the nation like the Sword of Damocles. The analysis is simple. Today, all the important security agencies in the country are not only manned by northerners, they are northerners of a particular religious’ extraction. They are all Muslims.

    Look at the roll call: Minister for Defence, Brig. General Mansur Muhammed Dan Ali (rtd); Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Tukur Yusuf Buratai; Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal SadiqueAbubakar; Minister of Interior, General Abdulrahman Bello Dambazzau (rtd); National Security Adviser (NSA), General  BabaganaMonguno (rtd); Director-General (DG) Department of State Security, DSS, Mr Lawal Musa Daura; Inspector General of Police (IG), Mr Ibrahim Kpotun Idris; Director-General (DG) Defence Intelligence Agency, Air Vice Marshal Muhammed Saliu Usman; Comptroller-General of Customs, Colonel Hameed Ali (rtd); Comptroller-General of Immigration, Muhammed Babandede; Comptroller-General of Prisons, Mr Ahmed Ja’afaru; Comptroller-General of the Nigerian Security and Civil  Defence Corps, NSCDC, Mr Abdullahi Muhammadu; Chairman Economic and Financial Crime Commission, EFCC, Mr Ibrahim Mustafa Magu.

    There are also many other appointments in the president’s office, other parastatals and agencies. They include the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, (SGF), BabachirLawal; the Chief of Staff to the President, Alhaji Abba Kyari; the Principal Secretary to the President, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed and many others.

    It is now common to see people talking in hushed tones about the direction of the Buhari administration. While many believe there is a hidden agenda of a northern domination, others are saying there are plans to Islamisethe country. Some even say that there are plans for a substantial part of the monies currently being recovered from those who have stolen the country blind, to be spent on the northern parts of the country. To them, the southern part of the country may receive just a little to deceive the people that the government is impartial in the disbursement of the funds.

    There is a precedence to what is going on now. In January 1966, when the late Major General Johnson UmunakweAguiyi-Ironsi, as the most senior army officer, seized the mantle of leadership from Major Chukwuma Kaduna Nzeogwu and his band of coupists, the first thing he did, was the promotion of 22 Army officers. Surprisingly, 18 of these officers were Ibos, his ethnic group. This infuriated most of the northern officers led by the late General Murtala Ramat Muhammed, late General Joe Garba, General TheophilusDanjuma and others.

    When the regional military governors were later appointed for the three regions, Hassan Usman Katsina, was appointed the governor of the northern region. This turned out to be a turning point because as soon as the appointment was announced, some frontline emirs in that region simply came together and led a delegation to Katsina to brainstorm with the Emir of Katsina, where Usman Katsina hailed from as a prince.

    The aim of that meeting in Katsina, was for the northern region to secede from Nigeria. Recall that it actually took a lot of persuasion to convince the north to accept to join the rest of Nigeria during the various talks and conferences preceding the independence of the country on October 1, 1960.

     

  • The way to go

    The way to go

    • Scrapping of Post-UTME removes one more obstacle on the way of qualified candidates

    The Federal Government’s instruction to universities that conduct of another qualifying test after the Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) should be stopped is indeed welcome. Parents and candidates have complained over the years that the conduct of Post-UTME tests amounted to undue exploitation. Universities that have carrying capacity to admit only 5,000 students, for example, would invite about 30,000 for their test, charging them all exorbitantly. It is inconceivable and unpardonable that officials in charge of admissions in our tertiary institutions who are themselves parents could seek to profit from the distress of candidates and their parents. We laud the Federal Ministry of Education for putting an end to the practice.

    However,  this is not enough. It is time a thorough review of the usefulness of the Joint Admissions and Matriculation Board (JAMB) is undertaken. Since its establishment in 1978, ostensibly to provide a level-playing field for all candidates and provide a standard unified admission procedure in all the nation’s higher institutions, the purpose has been served in the breach. All the universities doubt the integrity of the examination, hence the introduction of Post-JAMB tests.

    The over-centralisation of the admission process has denied the institutions a say in determining who comes over as students. This, also, has impeded the development of unique characters for each university. It is difficult to appreciate the rationale for pegging a cut-off point at 180. By universal standards, 180 out of possible 400 is just 40% and represents failure. It amounts to institutionalisation and celebration of mediocrity and a negation of the primary purpose of such schools to promote excellence.

    We acknowledge that JAMB was equally established to give all a sense of belonging and ensure interaction among young Nigerians. It is therefore the practice that a student in Sokoto could effortlessly make the University of Ibadan his first choice; but we contend that the same purpose could be better served if each university develops its own distinct character. Thus, a student who knows that the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, has the best medical school would not hesitate to seek admission for that purpose. This is what obtains in other climes. In the United States of America, for example, the Ivy League universities attract brilliant and ambitious students; besides, those good in technology are easily identified, while those intent on pursuing courses in the liberal arts know where to go.

    As a first step, we commend to the Federal Government the need to decentralise JAMB. Since there are six geo-political zones in the country, each could be made to have a JAMB-like structure, thus reducing the over-centralisation and at the same time ensuring some standards. Even at that, the admission officers of the institutions should be more involved in determining the profiles of candidates they consider suitable.

    We call on all stakeholders – the federal and state governments, civil society organisations, universities and labour unions to get more interested in the task of revamping our educational system. Sound education is the gateway to sound development, If Nigeria must bridge the gap between it and developed countries, it must place premium on education. It is not enough to keep establishing new universities while neglecting the existing ones. It is high time we committed time and resources to designing a new education system founded on merit and promotion of excellence.

    The Buhari Administration rode into office on the crest of change. Meaningful change can only come when the tender minds of the young ones are duly nurtured in beautiful, exquisite and functional environment. To get the best out of our higher institutions not only must the Post-UTME be scrapped, JAMB itself must be restructured and adequate attention paid to funding and administration of our tertiary institutions.