Of all quotes about the importance of education, the one attributed to Malcom X is by far my favourite. Malcolm X posits that “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today. Malcolm should know, for he himself was a shining light of wisdom, a beacon of hope, champion of the fight for racial and religious equality all of which were possible because he had an education that shaped and reshaped his very dynamic views and action.
Nations that are doing well today have had the presence of mind to invest in the education of their people. Brad Henry contends that “No other investment yields as great a return as the investment in education. An educated workforce is the foundation of every community and the future of every economy”. By current rankings, all states in the North of Nigeria, Yobe inclusive, are classified as educationally less developed and this has been due largely to decades of neglect and sheer dereliction of duty by of past leaders.
Perhaps the greatest disservice to the education sector of some northern states are the lies peddled to give the impression that all is well, especially with foundation schools when, in fact, the situation is better imagined. Governor Mai Mala Buni of Yobe state will perhaps be the first leader to publicly concede that things are very bad, but most importantly, that he is up for the challenge and will do all it takes to turn them around.
To many, this is easier said than done, because it will require a great deal of funding to do as Major Owens suggested that “Education technology and school construction go together. Modernisation, updating education facilities, and making a capital investment in education are all included”. It was perhaps in pursuit of this that Governor Buni made a passionate appeal to stakeholders from Yobe state as well as well-meaning Nigerians to contribute to his education transformation initiative through a N25 billion appeal fund.
Speaking during the launch of the N25 billion Yobe state education appeal fund, Senate President Ahmed Lawan, an indigene of Yobe state, explained that the fund was launched to help reposition education which, according to him, was dealt a big blow by the activities of Boko Haram insurgents who made a habit of targeting schools. Indeed, Yobe state was at the receiving end of a barrage of Boko Haram fire and this obviously worsened a fairly bad situation.
Governor Buni announced during the launch that the Yobe state government has constructed or renovated over 300 classrooms and that’s not counting the 14 mega schools that have been built from scratch across the state even as 315 teachers are set to be engaged to man them. Four months ago, the governor reiterated his commitment to funding education and other critical areas when he declared that the N18 billion refund approved by the Federal Executive Council, FEC, will go into education and other critical sectors.
Yet, funding education infrastructure alone is not sufficient for the kind of reform that Buni hopes to bring to the education sector in Yobe. It is against this background that the Yobe state government is partnering with the Nigerian Tulip International Colleges to reform and revitalise the sector in the state. This much was disclosed when the Managing Director of NTIC paid him a courtesy call in Abuja.
Speaking at the event, the governor recalled that he had “declared a state of emergency in education based on the state-wide performance of our students, especially in WAEC/NECO… This is why we said that basic and secondary education needs serious attention. We believe that a society without quality education is doomed”.
Buni’s education reform, culled from recommendations of the first ever Yobe State Education Summit is designed to be all encompassing as it will cover such areas as: employment of quality teachers, training and retraining of teachers after a competency and professional test had been conducted on them, robust monitoring for compliance, weeding of unqualified teachers for reassignment to other sectors, establishment of at least one model STEM school in all the senatorial zones as well as deliberate investment that will ensure conducive learning and teaching environment for students and teachers. This is in a bid to improve the overall learning experience of students in foundation schools, while also preparing them to compete favourably with their peers in other climes. The reforms will be extended to the almajiri education system which the governor insists must be brought up to standard.
Beginning with recruitment of teachers where close to 400 teachers have been recruited, the state government has also sent 32 students to Azhar University Cairo to study Arabic and Islamic studies. The general idea is to create a knowledge blend that combines the Azhar University experience with its Nigerian counterpart for the good of the system. The government has also sent 233 students to India while several are in Universities scattered all over Europe and Asia.
Speaking at the wake of the scholarship awards to deserving students of Yobe state origin, the executive secretary of Yobe State Board for Arabic and Islamic Education said “the sponsorship was part of the present administration’s effort to improve education in the state. The total number of Yobe indigenes to benefit from foreign scholarship will come up to over 700. 500 will be sponsored for undergraduate students while 100 will be sponsored for Masters and PhD respectively.
An important aspect of the Yobe state education reform is stakeholder buy-in. This was typified by A-5 Days collaborative Workshop between the Yobe State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education and UNICEF to review Basic and Secondary Medium-Term Sector Strategy. Also, very important is the place of useful partnership like the one entered with NTIC, but most importantly, the dedication from heads of organs and department in the Yobe State education value chain on whom the burden of monitoring and evaluation must rest. Because there’s no gainsaying the importance of monitoring and evaluation to the success of the education reforms, governor Buni it seems has been able to carefully select men and women of proven dedication to man sensitive positions within the Yobe State Education System.
This group of dedicated operatives is led by the Yobe state commissioner for education Dr. Muhammad Sani Idris. The commissioner has been tireless in his quest to ensure that things are done appropriately. For instance, the commissioner recently paid unscheduled visits to ascertain the quality of items ranging from 2500 chairs, 2000 beds, 2000 mattresses among others, the contract of which was recently awarded by the Yobe state government. In his remarks, he warned that the state government will not hesitate to reclaim the full contract sum should the items fail to reach the minimum two years lifespan expected of them.
In continuation of his monitoring rounds, the commissioner also visited the School of Persons with Disability in Damagum, the first of such visits by a commissioner where he reiterated the state government’s commitment to addressing the problems of education in the state. The commissioner has also been reported to have stopped by Government College Nguru to have Sahur (early morning meal) with the students during the last Ramadan fast. In the same vein, he also had Iftar (evening meal) with students of Government Technical Science College and Government Girls Secondary School all in Nguru which was aimed at evaluating the quality of meals that students are served.
It must be said that although Buni has done a lot to commit funds into the revitalisation of the education sector in the state, every citizen of Yobe state must be seen to trust as well as own the process. Starting from parents, to teachers as well as those enjoying sponsorship, everyone must accept responsibility for the change already taking root in Yobe state. As legacies go, quality education may well be Buni’s contribution to a better Yobe state of the future.
Bala writes from Damaturu, Yobe state.
