BEYOND KADUNA TEACHERS SACK; NIGERIANS CRAVE FOR REBIRTH

A Passionate Lecturer

Yawning Classrooms

Some years back, a friend of mine was denied admission to read English and Literature; the reason being that she has deficiency in mathematics. She later reapplied after meeting up with the requirements, and got the admission. In the course of her studies, one of the novels recommended for them to read was written by one of their English lecturers. What is so special about this novel is that it was written in messed up English by an English Lecturer who has already put up a defense mechanism, saying that she is not a British. A candidate was denied admission into this school to read English and Literature because of deficiency in mathematics, but a lecturer employed to teach English in the same school, probably with no academic deficiency, cannot express her English proficiency in her novel……..The irony of a people. I am not angry because they did not admit my friend in her first attempt, I understand they are following the academic requirements, but it is evil to employ an unqualified lecturer to teach a sensitive course and even to adopt a half baked novel as a study material…..symptoms of a confused society.

 Education Was Once A Masterpiece

Informal education has been in existence and in practice before the colonial masters came and made it formal. It cuts across home management, family life, health, leadership, relationship with the Creator and others etc. Parents have been the first educators but in recent times, teachers spend more time with the children than the parents. This is a fact that must attract careful attention from all stakeholders to education sector. Education remains the number one among the bedrocks of growth and development. It is the only sector that will develop every other sector, yet, it is the most neglected. Our doctors are trained in schools, our engineers, leaders, lawyers, teachers, priests etc. were all trained in schools. The abuse of education in Nigeria explains the decay in every other sector.

 Who will bail the Cat?

The standard of education and curriculum are not the problem. The problem is that dirty politics was extended to education. The leadership of Nigeria is very sick with contagious disease which has infected every sector including education. We have rich curriculum but lack qualified teachers and lecturers to interpret them, just as we have rich laws for governance but our leaders cannot abide by it. Have our leaders not destroyed our standard of education and sent their children abroad to go and study? They left the institutions that they have corrupted for the poor masses who cannot afford the abroad alternative. Our leaders have planted the leadership of theories and all the institutions followed suit.  The teacher’s and lecturer’s theories end up producing students who are more confused after graduation. Our leaders voice out their theories through the mass media and there ends it. The men of God on the other hand preach theories without logical proof, just to give hope to their members and probably get the favour of the government. Theories! Theories! Theories! Who will bail the cat?

 Are We Also Going To Import Teachers?

So many teachers cannot defend their certificates. Poor remuneration, delayed salaries, lack of modern teaching materials, unfriendly teaching environment, etc. are all causative of the decay in the educational sector, but the major factor is the influx of unqualified teachers/lecturers, with no passion for teaching, into the teaching profession. These days, graduates resort to teaching as an alternative to their desired unavailable jobs and this is a big threat to education. This factor is not limited to teaching profession; like I said before, every sector has been infected with contagious disease from the helm of affairs. The influx of greedy leaders that lack the passion and skill to lead has opened the doors for quacks to get into every sector. Nigeria has been importing a lot of things ranging from clothing, toothpicks to foodstuffs like rice, etc. If the authorities failed to intervene early enough, by now many Nigerians will be boasting of imported jollof rice, soup, etc. Are we also going to import teachers to teach in our schools? It is not that we don't have qualified and passionate teachers in Nigeria,  the fact remains that the forces of corruption have surrounded our schools; from primary to higher institutions, making it impossible for the passionate and qualified teachers to be employed. Employment in Nigeria is based on connection and bribe because unemployment rate is too high.

Leadership Test for our Leaders! Will They Pass? 

Not quite long after the Governor of Edo State Governor Adams Oshomhole sacked sacked 836 teachers in Edo State, for certificate forgery and falsification of age, Kaduna State governor, El-Rufai sacked 21,780 teachers who failed primary four exams. This is ridiculous! But come to think of it, if a leadership test is set for our leaders, how many of them will pass the test? If you are a lover of truth, your guess is as good as mine. The question now is: which school graduated these teachers? Which lecturers taught and certified them as teachers? We have a long way to go.

The Yawning Polity

Sacking of teachers is not the solution because teachers do not exist by themselves. There are educational bodies that regulate the activities of teachers and lecturers, and there are people responsible for recruiting teachers. Who are the people that make up this group? Are they all resistant to the infectious disease? What is the guarantee that the sacked teachers will not be replaced with another version of quack teachers? We need to go back to the drawing board for solution. Sanitation of quacks should start from the helm of affairs because they control every other sector. Every piece will fall into its rightful place when the political sector is sanitized. This will not happen by magic. We still have leaders of the church who can tell our leaders the mind of God concerning the evil they are cooking in this nation. I am sure the influx of fake pastors into the synagogue did not contaminate the entire church leaders. Our church leaders should please speak up because our God is not blind, deaf or dumb and He cannot come down to do the speaking and acting when he has men. If they are all waiting for God to do their job for them, I trust God, He knows how to use what we less expected to achieve His aim. He uses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise. But it is better for us to do that which we ought to do to avert so many dangers.

No Safe Haven

Meanwhile, not quite long after the sacking of teachers in Kaduna state, the Kaduna state government announced the death of Professor Jonathan Andrew Nok, the Kaduna State Commissioner for Education, Science and Technology. Though it is not yet certain what killed this commissioner but for him to die few days after the mass sack of teachers is something to worry about. However, it is not strange if one points an accusing finger because this is one of the events that characterize Nigerian politics anyway.

It is not too late to start all over again. It is better we start over again as a country and get it right for the benefit of the coming generation than to keep moving in error until we are all drowned in the ocean of corruption and mediocrity.

Written by Olive Chinyere Amajuoyi