Social objectives

Continued from last week

THE social objectives of the People’s Republic of Nigeria shall be:

1. Free education at post -secondary level beginning wi th the 1970/71 academic session.
2. Free education at the post-wimary level beginning in January 1971.
3. Free and compulsory primary education beginning in 1974.
4. Free and compulsory education for adults beginning in January 1976, and the provision of suitable literature for literate adults.
5. Free preventive and curative health services for all, beginning in January 1973 and the training within 15 years of sufficient Nigerian doctors, in order to attain a ratio of one doctor to 2,000 people.
6. The introduction in January 1974 of

(i)            A comprehensive and compulsory social insurance scheme for all Nigerian citizens; and

(ii)           Schemes for the care and rehabilitation of orphans, the infirm, the disabled, and the mentally deficient or deranged.

7. The studied encouragement of art and culture, and of sports and athletics throughout the length and breadth of the country.

Commentary

1.-4. Free Education

The issue of free education is about the most controversial subject in Nigeria today. Perhaps the main cause of this controversy is that it happen to be the chief advocate of free education at all levels. As a result, a good deal of unfair and unkind things have been said and written, in the course of the controversy, by those who lay claim, not always validated or warranted by their contributions to the debate, to academic competence or eminence.

In Chapter 13 of The People’s Republic, I made what I considered to be a strong case for free education. But this has turned out to be much stronger and more persuasive than it had dared to hope. Many former critics are now fully converted to the scheme. And even my inveterate adversaries have had to move to other theatres to make their traditional assaults on me. I feel highly encouraged.

Only two years ago, the areas of controversy concerning this subject were social desirability, financial practicability, and priority. Today, the first has all but disappeared. But there are still many who genuinely doubt our capability to find the means to introduce and maintain free education at all levels, in the foreseeable future. I have, therefore, decided to consider only the other two aspects of the debate: priority, and financial feasibility,

There are powerful social, political, and economic arguments in favour of free education at all levels in any kind of economic system—be it socialist or capitalist.

It may sound paradoxical, but it is too true that one of the causes of gross inequality of income is education. The educated person tends to be employed in positions which attract much higher salary than the uneducated or illiterate person. This is more so in an underdeveloped country such as ours. Here in Nigeria, the supply of educated workers is relatively much weaker than that of illiterate ones. Consequently, the former receive, relatively to output, much higher income than the latter. The glaring wide gap thus created is one of the most potent causes of deep social and political disaffection in Nigeria today.

This disaffection is not confined only to income groups and individuals. It also exists among ethnic and territorial groups, due mainly to the gross disparity and imbalance in education between the northern and southern parts of the country. It is now generally accepted that if we want to keep Nigeria united, and harmoniously so, the yawning gap in education between the north and the south must be closed with the least possible delay, and immediate steps must be taken to this end.

The exceeding importance of education and the urgent priority that must be accorded it are also emphasised by the UNO. In its Resolution of 5 January, 1962, adopting 1960-70 as the United Nations Development Decade, it recognised, among other things, that, besides being of primary importance, the economic and social development of the less developed countries was of basic importance to the attainment of international peace and security, and to a faster and mutually beneficial increase in world prosperity. It, therefore, called upon member-states to pursue policies that would accelerate the development and prosperity of the less developed countries; and directed the Secretary-General to take the following steps to the same end:-

(i) To help the developing countries towards the achievement and acceleration of sound self-sustaining economic development through industrialisation, diversification and the development of a highly productive agricultural sector.

(ii) To help to accelerate the elimination of illiteracy, hunger and disease which seriously affect the productivity of the people of the less developed countries.

(iii) To help in adopting new measures to improve existing measures for promoting education in general and vocational and technical training for the developing countries.

(io) To assist in the intensification of research to exploit scientific and technological potentialities of high promise for accelerating economic and social development.

To be continued