By Comrade AbdulRahman Agboola
The Federal Ministry of Education is today headed by a veteran that rose through the ranks in the education sector in Nigeria. Though the appointment of Alhaji Ibrahim Shekarau as Minister of Education was greeted with mixed feelings, owing to the errors of his administration on education as governor of Kano state, many optimists still describe him as a capable personality with ability to resolve the numerous challenges confronting the sector and to bring succor to both the students and workers.
2014 has witnessed depression among students as a result of overstretched industrial actions by workers in tertiary institutions in Nigeria. Universities were shut for over six months before the interventions of eminent Nigerians that negotiated truce between the Federal Government and the unions but the unions are still struggling with the grey areas in the agreement with government.
It is disheartening to note that polytechnics and colleges of education are warming up for another showdown over palpable problems confronting the sector. Polytechnics and colleges of education resumed for academic activities 13 weeks ago after a prolonged strike over issues bordering on welfare of workers, infrastructural decay and lopsided educational policies responsible for the discriminations against the products of the system.
The minister of education inherited the crises from his predecessor, staked his reputation before the unions during negotiations where he obliged them to grant him benefit of doubt and offered a three months moratorium to solve their grievances as a term for resumption. The three months in quote ended on October 15, 2014 with Shekarau not living up to his promise as he neither met officially with the unions within the period nor made moves to allay their fears.
The issues in contention are discrimination of HND certificates and nonpayment of salary arrears of about N40 billion. The leadership of the National Association of Polytechnic Students led by the Senate President, Comrade Salahudeen Luqman, is already making frantic efforts to engage the minister to facilitate the payment of the arrears to forestall another strike action capable of derailing the academic progress of students.
The problem is the failure of the minister of education to fulfill his freely made promise to the polytechnics three months ago. It is really disappointing that a personality of the caliber of Shekarau who is regarded as an intellectual with opportunity to have served as executive governor of Kano state for eight years showcased the trait of a weakling in handling his opportunity as a cabinet minister.
It is really appealing to the intellectuals in government to showcase exemplary stance in discharging their duties to the people for the sake of humanity in order to rekindle the confidence of the governed in the system. The attitude of the minister towards the aggrieved unions in the polytechnics and colleges of education is unpleasing to keen watchers of events in the education sector as the minister has further exposed the double standard of the Jonathan administration.
It could be recalled that Kano State Government under Shekarau witnessed serious condemnation by Kano indigenes on allegations of poor performance, window dressing and dubious tendencies, which led to the failure of the minister to install his favorite as Kano state governor at the 2011 gubernatorial election. The present administration of Kano state led by a performer par excellence, Engr (Dr) Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso, has gained the confidence of the masses to the extent of displaying open loyalty to his administration by their solidarity even as he cross carpeted from the ruling PDP to opposition APC.
There is a high level of anxiety currently at fore in the polytechnics as a result of the resolutions of the unions to resume the suspended strike soonest owing to neglect and refusal of government to pay the salary arrears before October 15, 2014 as agreed three months ago. The minister of education must be pressurized by the concerned stakeholders to immediately facilitate a meeting with the aggrieved unions and expedite actions on the payment of their arrears.
As a man makes his bed, so shall he sleep on it, is a maxim that justifies the appointment of seeming political bigwigs as ministers from states opposed to the continuity of President Jonathan in office beyond May 29, 2015. The appointment of ministers by Mr President for the purpose of mobilizing the electorate to support his continuity at the expense and variance with the responsibilities of manning the ministries for effective service delivery is a serious breach of trust and lack of good will which must be recorded as a bad precedent for the sake of posterity.
As the preparation for another transition in 2015 is in high gear, the country needs decorum in the educational institutions against the attendant effects of the double standard of President Jonathan whose administration succeeded in keeping students away from learning due to prolonged industrial actions. It is expected that the minister of education will rise to the demands of the polytechnics and colleges of education and avail this opportunity to redeem his dented image before Nigerians.
Comrade Agboola is National Coordinator, Mass Action for Good Governance and Grassroots Development in Nigeria. Email: [email protected]; 08032813279