Education is an investment that pays off anytime anywhere. And in a world of crumbling economies and turbulent times, where investors spend sleepless nights trying to figure out how their stocks are doing, investing in education becomes even more paramount.
By investing in education, governments, corporations, communities, non-governmental organisations and individuals can help prepare the youths for the challenges ahead. If children are the leaders of tomorrow, then, it is time Nigeria started investing in them!
Regrettably, it appears that illiteracy has come to stay in many developing countries of the world, including Nigeria, and has continued to pose a threat to many such nations.
That situation, however, appears to start changing, soon, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has pledged that his administration would commit more resources to the education sector to ensure that every Nigerian child, regardless of their background, has access to quality education.
Speaking when he received the leadership of the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), the President declared that poverty should not be a barrier to education, emphasising the transformative power of education in combating poverty.
”If we all believe that education is the greatest weapon against poverty, then, we have to invest in it,” he said.
“Poverty should not prevent anybody, any child, including the daughter or son of a wood seller, ‘bole’ (plantain) seller or yam seller from attaining their highest standard of education, to eliminate poverty. If you eliminate poverty from one family, you can carry the rest of the weight.”
Sadly, it has become a well-known phenomenon that young university graduates in Nigeria don’t always find life easy, especially when it comes to securing jobs.
But having acquired a university education, they are better equipped to take their destiny into their hands. But what happens to those poor children who have zero opportunity of going beyond the primary school level?
Well, be that as it may, the fact remains that after primary school education, sending children to secondary schools, and later to institutions of higher learning, becomes the sole responsibility of parents and relatives.
For children from poor families and poverty-stricken villages, their hopes and aspirations to attain a reasonable academic standard in life are often dashed. Having thus been forced to abandon the idea of going to school, some of them take to street hawking and other menial jobs while the more desperate ones among them resort to stealing and other misdemeanours as a means to an end. Catering for themselves and their families early in life becomes a way of life.
In most cases, these untold hardships lead to frustration and helplessness, and having no one to turn to, these poor creatures may end up committing felonies, thus exposing themselves to more dangers.
Such Juvenile delinquencies, which are now becoming very rampant in Nigeria due to hopelessness, pose a serious threat to the entire society.
Children with bleak future abound in many Nigerian towns. Thankfully, the Tinubu-led administration has come at the right time to help create a better tomorrow, through education, for poor children.
Of course, the administration needs the support of stakeholders, chief among the students, to succeed in the task of turning around the nation’s education sector.
Like the people from the six geo-political zones and religions in Nigeria, the students, as the President has urged, need to ensure unity among themselves to achieve more.
”You have to promote unity and stability among each other,” Tinubu said. “You have to employ democratic means in your programmes and elections. I have to say, anyone who is unable to accept and celebrate a free and fair election, does not deserve the joy of victory.”
Who’s after VP Shettima?
Controversies are nothing new to politicians. Yet, none fear getting mired in controversies than the politician, especially of the Nigeria stock.
This week, Vice President Kashim Shettima said that the remarks he made in support of the candidacy of the just-elected Senator Godswill Akpabio as the President of the 10th Senate were twisted by agents of division.
In a statement issued by the Director of Information in the Office of the Vice President, Abiola Sola, Shettima said that his support for Akpabio was not intended to look down on anybody or a section of the country but to underline the importance of diversity and justice.
The statement reads in part: “During an interactive session with senators campaigning for the emergence of Senator Godswill Akpabio and Senator Barau Jibrin to lead the 10th Senate, yesterday, Vice President Kashim Shettima emphasized the nation’s current political structure and made a case for the emergence of a Southern Christian and a Northern Muslim as the fairest balance to promote inclusivity at the centre.
“Senator Shettima’s statement was motivated by a profound awareness of the divisive factors within our great nation and was in harmony with the governing party’s pledge to ensure inclusivity across all regions and among all groups.”
The statement said Shettima’s statement was “stripped of context and mischievously circulated as an attempt to minimize the suitability of Muslim contestants in the race for the Senate leadership.”
Thus, according to the statement, Shettima’s remarks have not only been taken out of context but also misinterpreted to suit an agenda that sabotages the country’s bid for unity.
Explaining further, the statement said that Shettima only intended to imply that considering the fact that Nigeria’s president and vice president are Muslims, it would be appropriate to elect a Christian than a puritanical Muslim, even if the Christian is an unserious one, to achieve balance.
Undoubtedly, achieving balance in all ramifications is all that is needed in Nigeria now as without achieving that goal there cannot be peace and development. After all, the pressing problem of achieving our country’s development remains our highest immediate priority.
Since the oil boom period of the 1970s, the nation’s economy has been in crisis despite continued expansion in oil production with inefficiency in governance further deteriorating the state of the Nigerian economy.
Political instability and lack of proper accountability in the country have severely impeded the ability of successive governments to implement economic policies for the common good of the people, thus creating a lack of basic amenities for the people in the country.
The solution for addressing Nigeria’s problems and consolidating democratic governance in the federal republic lies in having a government or leadership that works on the principles of good governance and is, most importantly, accountable to the Nigerian people.
Good governance in Nigeria is essential to its stability and growth and that of the economies of West African countries in the sub-region. While corruption and abuse of power have long been the main features of Nigeria’s economic and political landscapes, they do not have to remain and be carried forward by the Tinubu-led administration of which Shettima is the number two.
Mismanagement, government irregularities, and corruption in Nigeria are among the major problems of national growth and development. These problems and their practices occur in nearly every level of bureaucracy, ministries, departments and polity, as well as in the upper and lower administrations and agencies in the nation.
Unfortunately, at a time when issues that stand to promote unity and development of the country should preoccupy the minds of the people, it is the issue of religion and where one comes from that seem to be at the front burner.
It is alarming that a plea meant to ensure balance in the polity and, consequently, lead to peace and development, has been unfairly misconstrued to imply that the Vice President said the most incompetent Christian candidate is superior to a Muslim candidate.
Of course, it is not difficult to understand why the shocking interpretation wrongly credited to Shettima was found distressing by some and hijacked by those with a malicious agenda to push.
After all, one of the unique characteristics of Nigeria as a multi-ethnic nation is the diversity pervading the country. These diversities manifest in forms of social, cultural, religious, political, language, economic and historical and geographical differences.
Such differences are like a double-edged sword in terms of national unity in Nigeria since most conflicts and crises rocking the nation are guided by such factors.
Still, we must, as Nigerians, refrain from manipulation of religion and ethnicity with a view to enjoying material benefits. What we must do include uniting ourselves to develop our dear country – Nigeria.
