The Nation Newspaper

Tag: UN

  • Post-MDGs: UN supports Nigeria’s plans

    Post-MDGs: UN supports Nigeria’s plans

    The United Nations (UN) has declared its support for Nigeria’s plans after the 2015 deadline for attaining the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

    UN’s Special Envoy to Nigeria for Financing Health, MDGs and Malaria Mr Ray Chambers said the new plans by the government, in collaboration with the private sector, “present an aligned vision for accelerating progress to achieve the health related MDGs in Nigeria over the remaining eight quarters.”

    He called for more efforts to push the various programmes under the MDGs for success.

    Chambers, who spoke during an interactive session with stakeholders at the Transcorp Hilton, Abuja, said UN was “aware of the critical importance of all funding streams to align over the next eight quarters to executive this plan, state by state. The international community stands ready to support Nigeria”.

    The UN special envoy advised the country to continue with its programme of saving 400,000 children.

    He said: “Nigeria’s commitment to the MDGs and to saving 400,000 children and 20,000 mothers lives by the end of 2015 which is essential for the world to reach the goals and for Nigeria to continue to make continued strides in improving lives” is commendable, given that, “these are Nigeria’s most precious commodity.”

    Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu hailed the UN and other development partners for working with Nigeria.

    He noted that the coalition between the government and the private sector would provide an enabling platform for improved health care service delivery, including filling existing gaps created by “geographical lapses”.

    The minister said Nigeria needed funding, adding that this should be targeted at the people’s health care needs for optimum results.

    Chukwu said: “There are areas posing challenges to us, but we want to go to areas that need us the most. We need funding, but we need to spend such funds prudently.

    “I, as the Minister of Health, am committed to ensuring that Nigeria turns the tide and improves health outcomes for its mothers and children by 2015.”

  • UN praises Tunisia over new constitution, decries worsening CAR crisis

    With a new constitution in place, the U.N. High Commissioner for Human Rights said yesterday political actors in Tunisia need to ensure transition is peaceful.

    Tunisian lawmakers during the weekend overwhelmingly approved a new constitution that replaces the documented drafted when Tunisia gained independence from France in 1956.

    Ravina Shamdasani, a spokeswoman for Commissioner Navi Pillay, said yesterday the new constitution is a testament to Tunisia’s aspirations for social liberties.

    A protest suicide in Tunisia in late 2010 sparked the wave of demonstrations across the Middle East and North Africa dubbed the Arab Spring. The new constitution is part of the transition enacted in the wake of demonstrations that led to the ouster of long-time leader Zine el-Abidine Ben Ali in 2011.

    Meanwhile, the security situation in the Central African Republic is getting even worse despite the inauguration of a new leader, the UN human rights chief says.

    France, the former colonial power, has 1,600 troops in CAR, working with some 4,000 from African countries.

     

    Last week, new President Catherine Samba-Panza said this was not enough.

    Since the country’s first Muslim leader Michel Djotodia resigned earlier this month, there have been widespread reports of revenge attacks on Muslim civilians.

    Members of the Christian majority said they were attacked by members of Mr Djotodia’s former rebel group who installed him as leader last year.

    But Archbishop of Bangui Dieudonne Nzapalainga and Imam Oumar Kobine Layama, president of the Islamic Central African community, said the unrest was caused by politicians.

     

  • ‘Life is about discovery

    ‘Life is about discovery

    IN the past few days the Knowledge Gateway for Women’s Economic empowerment invited women from different parts of the world to add their voices and share views to the e-discussion on “Enabling environment and legal incentives for women’s employment”. The project which is the initiative of the UNDP, UN Women and the World Bank Group started on the 15th and ends 29 January 2014.

    As you take a deeper look , you find that the focus basically is on laws that can enable and incentivize greater participation of women in the economy and in the labour market.

    The discussion also aims to seek inputs on successful advocacy initiatives that have been able to influence policies, laws, and programmes that incentivize women’s employment and that encourage and accelerate reform.

    These efforts are in line with the Women’s Empowerment principles (WEP), which are a set of Principles for business offering guidance on how to empower women in the workplace, marketplace and community. They are the result of a collaboration between the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women) and the United Nations Global Compact . At different levels the empowerment chain continues and there is no doubt that the required awareness has been created. However there is a need to consistently identify women with potentials and help them take their dreams to the next level.

    Naomi Ibe was unemployed for so many years but instead of getting frustrated with her situation , she had to create a job for herself. “ I trained in Information Technology and began to think of opportunity that could be made use of. In the process , I discovered that life is about discovery. It is not everything that you are taught in the classroom or in the university. What you are taught in the university is just the idea and it is likely to take you to the turning point if you are dedicated”.

    A few months after Ibe, who says he has an inquisitive mind, discovered that, there was nothing she could do offline that you can’t do online. “That brought about my going to the Internet for information, reading journals and surfing the net.”

    What discovery did she make ? “ I found out that there are different opportunities designed for the citizens. There are some jobs designed for housewives and every other professional. This included things like email processing, data processing, and article writing and so on. Others include blogging, online marketing and affiliate marketing.”

    Like Ibe, you also run into Feyikemi Dada,who was a casual worker fpr about six years. “ It was a tough part of my life but I was determined not to give up. I saved two thirds of the money I got because it was very small and gradually I began to buy some of the tools that I needed for my business. Today, I produce a collection of beautifully crafted products. The range consists of silk beddings, silk blankets, silk mattress toppers, silk filled pillows and silk filled duvets.”

    Asked why she settle for silk, Dada replies this way: “The idea was to have something luxurious to sleep in and it became a very interesting option. We did a survey and realised that some people like to sleep in cotton while others opted for silk .So we discovered that silk was actually a luxurious brand.” What has been the acceptance?“ Funny enough, I would say that it has been widely accepted. It doesn’t make you sweet like cotton at night. It breathes well. We also have the cotton and silk mix too.

     

  • Revisit the Oronsaye report

    Revisit the Oronsaye report

    SIR: It is disheartening that Nigeria, the sixth largest exporter of crude oil in the world, still has over 70 per cent of its estimated 170 million population living below the United Nations poverty threshold of $2 per day. It is in our country that more than 70 per cent of national resources are channelled into running a government that is unduly large and cumbersome to manage, while leaving behind, less than 30 per cent for the execution of capital projects and debt servicing.

    It is my dear country that continues to promote a bogus and corrupt system that can never bring about any development because we keep consuming and consuming and producing little. Our country is a nation that runs a bicameral legislature that is notorious for being the highest remunerated in the world, where the unemployment rate is embarrassing high and the attainment of all the known human development indices such as the United Nations Millennium Development Goals MDGs by 2015, which is barely a year from now, remains a mirage.

    As a way out of the quagmire, the Goodluck Jonathan administration came up with the idea of Presidential Committee on the Rationalisation and Restructuring of Federal Government Parastatals, Commissions and Agencies, under the leadership of retired civil servant and former Head of Service of the Federation, Stephen Oronsaye. At the end of the assignment, the committee recommended the scrapping and merger of 220 out the existing 541 government agencies.

    Unfortunately, the Federal Government appears to have dumped the report. The Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy presented by the Presidency to the National Assembly point to the fact that all the money-gulping MDAs were still provided for in the 2014 budget to the tune of about N200 billion.

    This development is a clear demonstration of the government’s lack of political will to implement policies that can impact positively on the economy as well as the polity. The two untenable reasons that had been given for the inability of government to implement the findings of the committee are: the money to be saved from the exercise is negligible and so not worth the stress and secondly, the legal framework is not in place for its implementation.

    If this is the case, why did we waste money and precious time setting-up a committee when its outcome will never be implemented?

    The comatose economic situation calls for a fiscal philosophy that vigorously tackles corruption, waste, inefficiency, poor governance, bloated bureaucracy and inequitable distribution of wealth. Hence, implementing the report is capable of returning the economy to the path of restoration and rejuvenation. The money that will be saved from scrapping and merging these agencies can be used to set up industries in each of the geo-political zones of the country. These industries will be self-sustaining and without any yearly budgetary allocations. So many Nigerians will also be employed by these industries.

     

    • Adewale Kupoluyi

    Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta,

     

  • CAR: UN wants transitional leader elected ‘in two weeks’

    To ensure stability in the Central African Republic, United Nations Special Representative, Babacar Gaye, on Friday stressed the need for speedy election of a new transition leader in the next 15 days.

    Addressing journalists via telephone from the CAR capital Bangui, Gaye also stressed the importance of starting the process of reconciliation between Christians and Muslims after a sectarian violence that claimed thousands of lives.

    “The profile of the new head of state of the transition could help restore hope,” said Gaye, in his first direct briefing to the press since President Michel Djotodia and Prime Minister Nicolas Tiangaye stepped down.

    According to Gaye, the international community would have to accompany this new team on the road “to free, credible and democratic elections.”

    The UN senior official added that the National Transitional Council (CNT) has 15 days to organize the election of the new head of state under the interim leader, Alexandre Ferdinand Nguendet.

    Nguendet heads the CNT, which the country’s Constitutional Court has given two weeks to elect a successor to Djotodia.

    “We are confident that these timelines will be respected,” he said. “We may even deliver in less time.”

    The conflict in CAR began more than a year ago between the government and MuslimSéléka, a coalition of rebel groups.

    In recent weeks, the fighting escalated further with ex-Séléka and Christian anti-balaka militias fighting each other.

    Last Friday, President Djotodia and Prime Minister Tiangaye stepped down. With more than one million people displaced, the UN officials have been calling for increased assistance for the Central African Republic.

    Formal elections would be held in CAR in February 2015.

     

     

  • Can Nigeria still meet the MDGs targets?

    Can Nigeria still meet the MDGs targets?

    SIR: In September 2000, about 189 heads of states and governments gathered to reaffirm their faith in the United Nations and to adopt the UN Millennium Declaration. The eight key Goals and 21 Targets that were set and agreed to be attained on or before 2015 are: eradication of extreme poverty and hunger, achievement of universal primary education, promotion of gender equality and empowerment of women, reduction in child mortality rates, improvement in maternal health, combating HIV/AIDS pandemic, malaria other diseases, environmental sustainability as well as developing a global partnership for development.

    Almost 14 years after, Nigeria’s attainment of the set goals have been rated differently from good to bad and to worse, depending on who saying what. One thing that is glaring however is that life has not been a bed of roses under the harsh economic climate prevailing in the nation.

    At a Water Summit held recently, President Goodluck Jonathan stated that Nigeria needs over N350 billion annually to meet its water and sanitation targets. Vice President, Mohammed Sambo,was also quoted as saying at a Stakeholders’ Meeting in Abuja that “Although Nigeria has made significant strides in reducing maternal mortality from figures that were above 1000/100,000 live births in 1990 to 545/100,000 live births in 2008, attainment of the health MDGs still remain a challenge in Nigeria, as the current annual reduction in under-five mortality of 4% is far below the 13% annual reduction needed to bend the curve to attain Goal 4 by 2015”.

    For the United Nations Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), Nigeria is among the 38 countries that have already met the internationally-set hunger eradication targets ahead of 2015!

    The status of MDGs in Nigeria indicates that the country is unlikely to meet most of the targets because the incidence of poverty is reported to have increased from 54.4 percent in 2004 to 65.1 percent in 2010 while about 10 million children of school going age are out of school.

    Even though successive governments have worked assiduously in ensuring that compulsory Universal Basic Primary Education becomes the right of every Nigerian child, achievements so far recorded in the sector leave much to be desired. The National Commission for Mass Literacy, Adult and Non-Formal Education has stated that 35 per cent of Nigeria’s estimated 160 million population, about 56 million is considered to be illiterate. Other contending educational issues include inadequate funding, examination malpractice, poor performances recorded in public examinations and industrial unrest.

    With about a year to 2015, African countries should rather begin to think beyond the magic year. The post 2015 development agenda should recognize the changed context of the world, the changing geography of poverty and the need not only to improve the content but also put in place an accountability framework.

    • Adewale Kupoluyi

    Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta

  • ‘4,000 policemen on peace missions’

    ‘4,000 policemen on peace missions’

    Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Mohammed Abubakar has said over 4,000 police officers are serving in various peacekeeping missions worldwide.

    The police chief spoke yesterday in Abuja when he addressed 450 police officers deployed for peace operations in Liberia and Sierra Leone.

    He said the officers were serving in missions of the United Nations (UN), Africa Union (AU), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and many others.

    Abubakar said the police had upgraded their training level and achieved 85 per cent of contingent-owned equipment all over the missions.

    “We have replaced all the equipment that were not working because you cannot take officers and men and send them to a mission area that is very challenging security wise.

    “Without equipment, that means you are telling them to go and die and that is why you have minimal number of accidents in terms of those who are performing outside,” he said.

    Abubakar said that the UN was very happy with Nigeria and they also appreciated what the country was doing in terms of peace support missions.

    He urged the officers and men that were being deployed to be good ambassadors of the country and Nigeria Police Force (NPF).

  • Boko Haram: 1,200 killed in seven months

    Boko Haram: 1,200 killed in seven months

    The United Nations (UN) yesterday said over 1,200 people have been killed as a result of the Boko Haram insurgency in the Northeast of Nigeria since a state of emergency was declared in the region in May.

    According to the World body in a statement, the figure is related to killings of civilians and the military by Boko Haram in Adamawa, Borno and Yobe states.

    It also includes insurgents killed by security forces repelling attacks.

    This is the first time independent casualty figures have been issued since emergency rule was declared.

    Thousands of people have been killed since 2009, when Boko Haram launched its campaign to install strict Islamic law in the north

    The figures do not include those killed during military operations, a spokesman for the UN Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) told French News Agency the (AFP)

    “The humanitarian situation in north-east Nigeria has been increasingly worrisome over the course of 2013,” the UN said.

    There have been 48 separate “Boko Haram-related” attacks in the region since emergency rule was declared, the statement added.

    “Information on the situation is scarce,” with figures of those displaced by the conflict and those who have fled to neighbouring states “hard to gauge”, Ocha said.

    Since the declaration of state of emergency in Borno state, of which Maiduguri is the capital, and Adamawa and Yobe, there has been a massive military deployment in the worst-affected areas.

    Attacks by Boko Haram are continuing despite the big military offensive.

    The military initially switched off the mobile network across the region, apparently to block Islamists from co-ordinating attacks but that has since been relaxed.

  • Respect others’ rights, says UN

    Respect others’ rights, says UN

    December 10 was Human Rights Day to commemorate the Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly.The day was marked in Nigeria. Adebisi Onanuga and Remilekun Osasona report.

    The Universal Declaration of Human Rights by the United Nations General Assembly was held on Tuesday, last week.It also marked the 20th year of the Vienna Declaration and Programme of Action, when member-countries moved against violation of other’s right.

    In Lagos, the state government, civil society groups and individuals joined in the celebration.

    With the theme “Rights of people living with disabilities, the activities also included a Human rights essay and debate competition among private and public schools at Alausa, Ikeja.

    Governor Mr Babatunde Fashola (SAN), at the event, reiterated his commitment to the protection of citizens’ rights, including that of the physically challenged.

    He said the state would redesign its public infrastructure to accommodate the needs of the physically challenged.

    The government, he said, was using the celebration to reaffirm its readiness to continue to uphold the rights of Lagosians, adding that no one is able or disabled by choice.

    The governor, represented by  the state’s Attorney-General and Commissioner of Justice, Ade Ipaye, said the state has passed the Special People’s Law in 2011 to address the challenges being faced by the people living with disabilities.

    Fashola said the state has also provided that the physically challenged enjoy equal opportunity in terms of employment, stressing:  “The state is an equal opportunity employer without discriminating against prospective employees on the ground of physical infirmity.”

    To buttress this view, the governor said not less than four state counsels, who are physically  challenged, have been employed in the Ministry of Justice, pointing out that they are performing excellently well.

    The governor, however, urged the citizens to be responsible and not to encroach on other people’s rights  as there are no absolute rights.

    Earlier, in a key address, the Dean of Law, University of Lagos, Prof Imran Oluwole Smith, remarked that there could not be a human right without the rights of people with disabilities.

    Prof. Smith, who was represented by the Head of Department, Private and Property Law of the university, Dr Chinwuba Nwudego, suggested that a disability fund be put in place and administered by the Office of Disability Affairs and into which individuals, corporate bodies and the government might make contributions. The purpose of the fund, he said, would be to advance the cause of persons with disabilities. He, however, noted that the legislative progression on the recognition and protection of rights of persons with disabilities among the states in Nigeria had been slow and unimpressive given the multitude of efforts by the international community.

    He, therefore, urged other state governments to emulate the Lagos government in recognising the rights of the special people’s rights by passing disability rights.

    Earlier, the Solicitor-General, Mr. Lawal Pedro (SAN), remarked that disability should not prevent any person from achieving success.

    He berated those who discriminate against disabled persons.

    Pedro said records had shown that physically challenged persons performed better than others if given the opportunity.

    Prior to the Human Right Day, the UN had also on November 25, 2013 marked the International Day to end violence against women. The UN had initiated a 16-day action programme, which ended on the human rights day.  The National Information Officer/Officer-in-Charge of the United Nations Information Centre (UNIC), Lagos, Mr. Oluseyi Soremekun, during a visit to Ikoyi Prisons last Monday, said the programme kicked off with 16 days of activisim against gender-based violence campaign, explaining that the campaign called on individuals and civil society groups around the world to act to end violence against women and girls.

    He said this year’s human rights day, which has as theme, “working for your rights” and coincided with the 20 years of Vienna Declaration, also marks the beginning of a renewed effort to strengthen and to further implement human rights instruments that have been constructed on the foundation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights since 1948.

    He, therefore, counselled parents and guardians to respect the child rights, adding:”violence against women and girls is a violation of human rights. Let this be stopped. If we all respect the rights of one another, there would be less friction and violence in the society,” he said.

    The Chief Judge of Lagos State, Justice Ayotunde Phillips stressed the need to protect and respect the  rights of other people, irrespective of tribe, religion  and other circumstances during the Prison organised by the UN in collaboration with the Lagos State judiciary and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC).

    The Chief Judge, who was represented by the Chief Registrar, Mrs. Olamide Akinkugbe said that it is part of human rights to dispense justice speedily and fairly, no matter whose horse is gored. “Justice means the prisons are decongested and freedom is given to those deserving it”, she said adding that she remained committed to prison decongestion and that the exercise would be carried out quarterly in the state.

    Justice Phillips identified rape, domestic violence, marriage of underaged girl, kidnapping for money among other society vices posing challenges to human rights.

    She suggested that more awareness should be created on what constitute human rights to enlighten the people across the world and emphasised that the issue should be kept on the front burner of UN action programme at all time.

    Lagos lawyer, Mr Femi Falana has, however, called for a new approach in the celebration of the Rights Day.

    He counselled human rights bodies  to start  paying attention  to the enforcement and implementation of socio-economic rights.

    Falana, in a statement to mark the day, told the NHRC  and non-state actors involved in the defence and promotion of human rights to appreciate the fact that political and civil rights  are meaningless  to the majority of our people who are battling with deprivation.

    He argued that the rights to life has no meaning to people who have no means of livelihood or who cannot afford medical expenses when they fall sick while freedom of expression is of no relevance to millions of illiterate people adding that it is high time  human rights bodies in Africa paid due regard to the enforcement and implementation of socio-economic rights.

    He regreted that socio-economic rights have been deliberately  made non-justiciable in the Constitution in the country.

    “Consequently, the Government cannot be dragged to court  for its failure to provide adequate funds for education, health, housing, transportation and employment,” he noted.

    According to him,  the Supreme Court has upheld that such laws are enforceable by our courts. “It is on record that our municipal courts and the Community Court of Justice (ECOWAS Court) have begun to enforce the socio-economic rights of Nigerians in accordance with the African Charter on Human and Peoples Rights (Ratification and Enforcement) Act Cap A 9 Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004,” he stated.

    UN Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-moon, in a statement, urged member-states to fulfil the promises they made at the Vienna Conference 20 years ago to end violence against women and girl child and ensure respect for the rights of others.

    He said the UN secretariat was committed to the provision of funds and programmes to vigilance and courage to fight human rights violation.

    He added that the promotion of human rights remained one of the core purposes of the UN since it was founded.

    “The key to success is the political will of member-states. It is the states, in the first instance, that are obliged to protect human rights and  prevent violations at a national level and to stand up when other states fail to live up to their commitments,” he added.

     

  • Human rights day: Working for our rights

    Human rights day: Working for our rights

    As the world marks this year’s Human Rights Day on December 10, the United Nations Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon is urging everyone to intensify efforts to fulfil ‘our collective responsibility to promote and protect the right and dignity of all people everywhere’.

    For the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner on Human Rights, it will commemorate its 20 years of existence with the theme, “Working for your rights”. It is a good opportunity to draw attention to those of our rights that we often overlook in Nigeria and hope thereby to jolt us to consciousness about them.

    The fact that these rights are routinely abused does not stop them from remaining human rights. It only means we have to take steps to assert them. In other words, we must work for them.

    Many Nigerians, including government officials and their apologists tend to see human rights issues as esoteric or alien concept that human rights ‘activists’ make too much noise about. They often remind us that, ‘this is Nigeria’. By that, they apparently mean, we need to see the internationally-recognised human rights ‘within our own context’, a euphemism for saying we are not ‘ripe’ for such standards or we should make do with sub-standards.

    Such argument is arrant nonsense! If we see ourselves as part of the world community and we love to appropriate all the trappings of modernity, including state-of-the-art personal gadgets, toys, cars and yes, private jets, what is so difficult with accepting human rights and promoting and protecting them?

    The Human Rights Day comes a day after the International Anti-Corruption Day. It is therefore important to remind us of how corruption, especially by government officials breach our rights to human dignity. To the extent that money stolen from our collective purse by public officials robs us of good roads, quality education, potable water, access to good health facilities and even the right to freely choose our governments means that our human rights are trampled upon.

    Apart from the various human rights instruments Nigeria has signed up to and is bound by, the Nigerian Constitution remains the most important source of human rights we must work for. I intend to draw attention to some of these here. Sections 33, 34 and 35 of the Constitution recognise the rights to life, dignity of the human person and personal liberty respectively. Those words seem very clear to understand.

    Many see the breach of the right to life mainly from the context of deaths occurring from direct acts of violence such as those perpetrated by armed insurgents and religious anarchists on the one hand and security forces on the other hand. But we must remind ourselves of other under-reported or ‘uncelebrated’ breaches to the right to life which the state must be made to account for.

    These include the hundreds and thousands that get killed in road accidents caused by a combination of bad or collapsed roads, poor enforcement of road safety regulations, failure to prosecute perpetrators and the general lack of concern for safety rules by the citizenry.

    How about the deaths resulting from the suicidal speeds and reckless use of public highways by government officials and their convoys? The abuse of the right to life is also seen in the many reports of lives lost on our waterways because the boats carried more human and material weights than required and there were no regulatory authorities to enforce or the officials compromised safety for dirty lucre. Same is applicable to air disasters.

    Working for our human rights means that we must demand diligent prosecution of the drivers and operators of vehicles that cause the accidents and killings as well as sanction of enforcement officials for dereliction of duty for every avoidable accident, whether or not occasioning death. And society must learn to sheath its sentiments when such prosecutions commence because people will always ask why a particular person is being tried when others in the past or in other areas of our national rot were not so prosecuted. Truly, such defence is jejune, silly and takes us nowhere.

    Another area the rights to life and of human dignity and are abused is in the failure of the health institutions. Too many deaths have occurred in Nigeria due to poor handling of medical cases, be they emergency, life-threatening or routine. This is often caused by outright corruption which means that even the essential drugs and facilities are not found in health facilities. In the cause of my work, I have come across health facilities in our rural communities that cannot effectively treat our commonest of ailments like malaria while childbirth remains one of the most live-threatening adventures in the country. It is time to hold the state to account for the failure to provide the basic facilities that guarantees healthcare. It would include prosecution for corruption in the sector and for dereliction of duty as well.

    Similar to the above is the collapse of our education sector. Public schools, especially at the primary and secondary levels, are in total shambles, not only in the rural communities but everywhere. In their current conditions, our public schools abuse the right of children to life and human dignity and also prepare the children not to be able to stand up and demand such rights in the future, due to ignorance. If children in schools are not guaranteed safe environment, qualified teachers, adequate number of teachers, requisite books and teaching materials as well as proper furniture, they are simply prepared for a bleak future where they cannot cope with their peers within and outside the country.

    It raises a very heavy burden in the mind as to the future of our country. I say this because I have seen what passes for public schools in different parts of the country. And it tells of one thing – the Nigerian state, as represented by our governments at all levels don’t really care about education. Most of the present government officials today went to public schools anyway and if the schools were of these present standards, we would not have had the requisite personnel to run our affairs as a country today.

    We must continue to demand that government puts in more money into critical sectors like health and education.

    But much more than that, we demand that those budgets should go to the real items that would turn around the sector. What we need are facilities, equipment, qualified, efficient and committed personnel to deliver quality services. We demand a departure from the usual budget headings with huge allocations for ‘welfare package’; ‘refreshments & meals’; ‘publicity & advertisements’; ‘sporting activities’; ‘anniversaries/celebrations’; ‘honorarium & sitting allowance’ and ‘international trainings’.