In what way can you say life has prepared you for leadership?
I can categorically say in so many ways. I had all my education, most especially my primary and secondary education here in Ibadan before I proceeded to the Federal College of Education, Osiele in Abeokuta for my higher education. Thereafter, I started my career as a games teacher and in the long run I became the state chairman of the Games and Sports Teachers Association of Nigeria. As a result of my performance at the state level, I rose to the position of the national president of the National Association of Primary School Games Teacher (NAPGAST). I served as the president of the association for so many years with great achievements. It was as a result of this that my people declared their interest in me to also represent them at the Oyo State NUT level, as they persuaded me to join the union. I heeded their call, joined and contested elections as the branch chairman of the NUT Ibadan South West Local Government. By the grace of God, I won the election. Thereafter, I served as the state treasure of the union before attaining the particular position as the state chairman of NUT, Oyo State Wing.
How does that make you feel?
I’m happy and grateful to God; you can’t do anything against what has been destined. It is God that has actually led me to where I am today.
You are the first NUT member to be on the board of the State Universal Basic Education Board (SUBEB). What opportunity has this brought to the table in terms of development?
You see, that is one of the good developments we are appreciating Governor Seyi Makinde for as a union. The law that set up the SUBEB and Teaching Service Commission (TESCOM) has it that there must be teachers’ representatives on the boards, but all along the law had not been taken seriously by the previous administrations, until when Gov Seyi Makinde came on board. We proposed the idea to him as a kind of reminder, and he agreed that indeed teachers must be represented where education policies are being made, among other things that have to do with education. That was what gave me the opportunity to be appointed as a member of the SUBEB and my predecessor as that of TESCOM. That has actually given us the opportunity to participate actively in decision-making with the state government on educational issues.
We have witnessed a lot of developments through this opportunity. When you are part of decision-making you are able to express your concerns and defend your constituency. The board is saddled with many responsibilities, one of which has to do with executing education projects in the state. For instance, when it wants to site a project in a particular place, since you are part of the decision-making process, you stand in the right position to advise the board members. You also have the opportunity as a member to let the board know its areas of strengths and weaknesses. We at the NUT level are at the grassroots and we have our ears all over the local governments. Our members will always call to inform us about happenings at their ends. So, at the board level, members depend solely on you for the right information. Also, in some cases, where our teachers for any reason or the other misbehave and the board wants to really decide their fates, at that point, you are there as the Senior Advocate of Nigeria to defend them. I have always had the opportunity of coming home to report back at the NUT level through the State Wing Executive Council (SWEC).
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You will be charting the course of this great union in the next three years. What do you intend to do differently?
One of them is to ensure that before school resumes for the next academic session, all our teachers are computer-literate. This is crucial so that the case of an analog teacher teaching the digital pupils/students does not arise. More so, the SUBEB is looking forward to recruiting teachers in the primary schools. By then, the recruitment exercise will be a Computer-Based Test and if this is the case we wouldn’t want to rubbish the old teachers. We wouldn’t want a situation where the old teachers will be running after the young ones to teach them this or that. These are the conditions that have been given at the board level.
It is also part of my plan to rebrand the NUT. As part of our corporate social responsibility, we intend to visit our schools in the state and ensure that an enabling environment is provided for our children to learn. In our schools today, be it primary and secondary, hardly will you find the children engaging in one extra curricular activity or the other. The schools today have been turned into battle grounds. It is either they are fighting in a school today or tomorrow in another a parent is there to fight with the teachers. We want to partner with the government to resuscitate moribund activities in our schools. At the secondary school level, we have discussed with the TESCOM and we have equally engaged the permanent secretary at the zonal level to look into the curriculum to see what kind of programmes the NUT can organise for students in terms of quizzes, sports or debating competitions. This move will engage the children, while the teachers at the grassroots will equally have the opportunity of participating in school programm at the state capital, Ibadan.
Most importantly, I want to run an inclusive government so that all of our members can have a sense of belonging wherever they are. It won’t be that they are just paying their dues and not enjoying any of the benefits. Not all of them will be our officials, but they will be glad to hear that NUT is organising a joint programme in which they can participate fully. Meanwhile, at the primary school level, we have been able to conclude SUBEB on a football competition and we are already working on that.
One of the key things that I also have on my agenda is the idea of teachers’ appreciation. No one is appreciating the teachers these days. If people are not doing that then, we as a union should take up the responsibility. So, we are thinking of exploring the opportunity that we have been given to celebrate World Teachers Day to appreciate them. So, for the forthcoming World Teachers’ Day, we will constitute a committee that will cut across sectors; involving the crème de la crème of the society as well as people of integrity who will do the selection for us concerning the candidate for the Best Teachers Award with the acronym BETA. Aside from that, we are going to pursue a logical conclusion on the issue of teachers’ welfare in the state because that is our core value.
You sounded as if as far as education is concerned in the state all of the needs are met and there are no challenges?
It’s often said that the presence of peace is not the absence of agitation. Let me put it on record that everything has been working well at the secondary school level and that the few challenges we are having are at the primary level. The issue of the running cost in our primary schools is still a cause for concern. Our plan is to meet with His Excellency to shed light on the grey areas in the education sector, but then, he keeps demanding for data, among other necessary things. If our plans work out well, the issue of running cost will be resolved soon. Also, there is a shortage of teachers in the primary schools. That is the reason we need accurate data. Meanwhile, we have enough teachers at the secondary school level, due to the recruitment of 5000 teachers by the governor last year.
He didn’t just stop there; he also converted some non-teaching staff members in the civil service who have the certificates to teaching staff in the public schools. Apart from that, there are additional teachers, close to 2000, who were asked to be seconded from primary to secondary school. However, a committee had been put in place by His Excellency to look into the issue of these categories of teachers if they are going to be returned to the primary school or be transferred to secondary school.
As a union, we want this category of people to be upgraded to secondary school because if you ask them to come back to primary school, they may find it difficult to operate in their full capacity. They might have lost interest in working at the primary school level. More so, they have tasted the condition of services at the secondary school level. After the conclusion on all of this, then we can now sit with the government to discuss on how many teachers are needed in the primary schools. That is what we are working towards now and I want to believe before we resume for the next academic session, all of these issues would have been solved.
What is your union doing about the non-issuance of primary school leaving certificates to graduates of primary schools in the state?
We are seriously working on correcting the anomaly. When we meet with His Excellency, we will let him see the importance of the certificate because we strongly believe that the primary school graduates must have something to show for passing through the stage of life now and most importantly in the future. We are taking the issue up with the government in order to put things in proper perspective.
and then