Education minister’s mission to reform unity colleges

7. Tai Solarin in his article titled ‘The National Secondary School-Day After Tomorrow’ published in the Nigerian Tribune newspaper edition of Monday, January 17, 1972 said: “In 1969, King’s College, Lagos, ‘The Eton College in Nigeria’, sent 32 students in the School Certificate Examination. 31 got Grade One and one very unfortunate student got only Grade Two. Had there been a grade three student, he would have chosen to be hanged on the gallows.” That feat recorded in 1972 tickled my interest when I read the report in major newspapers that the incumbent Minister of Education, Mr Tunji Alausa, on Thursday, February 13, paid an unscheduled visit to King’s College, Lagos, as early as 7.30 a.m. Alausa, while addressing the staff and students after the impromptu visit was quoted to have said, “I came in at 7:30 a.m; it was an unannounced visit; I wanted to see things the way they are. I’ve been around, to your classes, I went to your Chemistry, Physics, Biology and Technical drawing laboratories. I went to your ICT centre and dining room. I must say that the state of the facilities I’ve seen here is not what we want children like you to experience. The facilities are quite dilapidated. I’m making a promise to you now as your Minister for Education when I get back to Abuja, I’ll quickly look into this. I also note that you have not had sustainable electricity for almost seven months. Your school principal told me that the Lagos State Independent Power Supply that the school had enjoyed in the last several years was disconnected about seven months ago, and frantic effort has been made to connect to Eko Disco but it’s just being slow.”

I say thumbs-up to the minister who must have defied the comfort of his air-conditioned office in Abuja to see personally as well as obtain an on-the-spot information about Unity Colleges across the country starting with King’s College, Lagos. That he never waited till when an ugly incident had happened in the college before taking the bull by the horns is a practical testimony of his love, passion and patriotic zeal for the sector he oversees as a sitting Minister of the Federal Republic. In most cases, our leaders are fond of leaving their comfort zones on visits to places under their areas of responsibilities when something untoward had happened or when they wanted to inspect  ongoing projects or inaugurate (commission) supposedly completed projects. So, what can one deduce to have motivated the minister to take that action when none of the above propositions had happened? Was it then based on clues from some of his associates or someone who knows someone, and who also knows someone in return that knows the minister—to apply the Nigeria’s complexity of networking? Could the information have emanated from some parents whose children are students of the school and concerned about the school’s decayed infrastructure? etc, etc. However, it is one thing to be given a clue but whatever the receiver of such does with it is another ball game, simple simplicita.

Whatever might have been the promptings, the minister has been proactive by this step towards salvaging the educational sector from further abyss caused by decades of neglect and abandonment. It is a demonstration of his readiness and love to improve on the standard of the nation’s educational sector over and above how he met it by doing what is within his Ministerial capacity to ensure that our today’s youths are given solid educational foundation that will prepare them for tomorrow’s leadership since morning shows the day just as childhood shows manhood. To me, this initiative by Alausa is a welcome and a commendable development and a good example of how those saddled with the responsibility of good governance can bring about positive transformation in their lines of duty. It was a surprise visit which must have yielded and will still yield great dividends. If nothing, it will remain evergreen in the memories of the students and their teachers. The visit must have given the students a sense of belonging that they are a force to reckon with in the development of their fatherland. That all students across Nigeria are loving children who must not disappoint their fatherland when it comes to their turn to contribute their quota to nation building. Among factors that still made the visit unique are that it did not bring any form of stress on either the staff or the students of the school that could have disrupted their class works, no formal preparations by either the school; no white washing of the school gates and other striking places with paints that could have been washed off few months after the visit by the impending rainy season,  no special levies or contributions from the staff and students to entertain the Minister and his entourage.

Rather, Minister Alausa met both the staff and students in their normal and real selves devoid of any cosmetics. The situation included how the students had been living in darkness for the past seven months within the City Centre of the Centre of Excellence due to debts owed the Disco supplying electricity to the school among other challenges. Regrettably, if the situation is this bad at King’s College, I wonder what it will be like in other Unity Schools and other public schools located in other states. Mr Alausa must not rest on his oars but make efforts to replicate this trend in as many unity schools as possible across the country so that every time he is reporting the activities of his Ministry at the Federal Executive Council’s weekly meetings, he will be on top of developments in his ministry as far as the Unity Schools are concerned. By the way, were there no budgets allocated for the running of those schools on annual basis by the Federal Government in the past? When last did the National Assembly (NASS) Committees on Unity Schools embark on their oversight functions and what were their findings?

 Did the committees close their eyes to such unbecoming and embarrassing scenarios as experienced by the Minister during their past visits or it was a case of ‘the more you look the less you see syndrome?’  Nigerians needs to ask the  distinguished members of the hallowed chambers in charge of this sector questions and they owe us some explanations.

I am sure that based on this experience, Ministry officials manning Unity Schools across the country will, no doubt, be awake from their slumbers and be alive to their statutory responsibilities so that they won’t be caught napping when the Minister comes knocking on their doors since it will not be announced, a case of: once bitten, twice shy. If that is done, it will help raise the standard that has befallen the sector over the years. It is also time that the ministry reactivated its inspectorate division and be charged with the primary responsibilities of paying unannounced visits to public schools and thus keeping them on their toes. They can incorporate ad-hoc staff not necessarily being ministry officials but a combination of people from the organized private sector, NGOs, the media, university lecturers and allied groups that cannot be bought over and whose personal integrity will not be compromised by potential defaulting schools.

Such initiative will engender keen competitions not only in King’s College but in other public schools, and they will sooner than expected begin to record outstanding performances in their internal and external examinations as captured by the late educationist and human rights activist, Tai Solarin, in the opening paragraph of this write-up. Other members of the Federal Executive Council, State Executive Councils, and those at the local government levels should adopt this methodology as an action plan in their various ministries and departments since what is good for the goose is also good for the gander. It will help, indeed, in strengthening the bond of collaboration and cooperation between the leaders and the led with a view to achieving rewarding results for all. Minister Alausa has, by this singular act of sacrifice, written his name in the sand of time and posterity will surely judge him right. This action of yours will be a positive reference mark for years to come as many people will surely remember you then just as many people still recall in contemporary times the good and bad exploits by some of our past public office holders.

• Dada retired from NAN

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