Happenings

Political Office Holders and other category of government officials have been admonished to serve as role models to Nigerians to ensure sanity returns to the polity.

This admonition was given by the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam f Shafaudeen-in-Islam Wrldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke in his sermon during prayers to commemorate this year's Ed el Kabir celebration at the Shafaudeen Mosque, Wakajaiye, Ibadan, Nigeria.

''Nigeria suffers from poverty and kleptocracy. We must not allow the environment to corrupt us. Those people in government should allow sanity to reign, they must role model good virtues. For Nigeria to have peace, justice and equity must prevail, while there must be transparency and accountability'', Prof. Olagoke asserted.

Prof. Olagoke also called on parents and guardians to place more emphasis on good parenting saying, ''good child rearing must be the preoccupation of Fathers and Mothers.''

Sadly, the contrary is the case in Ibadan, and other major cities in Nigeria, as the choice of words, mode of dressing and behavior of several youth leaves much to be desired.

Of worry, however, is the recent arrests effected by the Ibadan zone of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in the Elebu area of Ibadan, capital of Oyo state.

This suggest that the ancient city is now a fortress for the ''yahoo'' adherents while the  Oyo state Government must take urgent steps to reverse this.

The All Workers Covergence(AWC) has said that the indefinite strike action it facilitated was called off after achieving its major purpose.

The AWC made this disclosure  in a chat with People through its National Coordinator, Comrade Andrew Emelieze.

''The protest was meant to be an indefinite strike action and shut down of the Federal Secretariat Complex, Ibadan, which was successfully done on Monday, 29, July, 2019, at the end of the day the workers converged and it was unanimously agreed that having created the needed awareness there was the need  for a review.''

'' Moreso, the protest was  not meant to deny  people of their rights, we therefore decided to observe reactions surrounding the protest and  based on the reactions we received, we decided the next line of action. Most importantly, the message has been sent to the right quarters and workers have been freely able to express their displeasure, anger and unhappiness over the non-implementation of the new national minimum wage, the continued kidnappings, killings and other violent crimes of innocent Nigerians at home and abroad.

The National President f Innovation Enterprise Institutions(IEIs) Dr. Andrews Jegede has expressed the hopes that the Federal Government shall address the challenges confronting IEIs in Nigeria.

Dr. Jegede made this position known recently, at the sidelines of a National Advocacy forum for the popularization of IEIs in the South West Geo-Political zone.

‘’ I want to believe that the Federal Government has most of the problems confronting IEIs in the country. There are about 150 institutions presently in the next five years, they could be between 200 and 300'’, the National President stated.

Nigerians in the six geo-political zones are not happy about the kidnappings, killings and other violent crimes been perpetrated by criminals all over the country.

They are at a lose over the seemingly helplessness of the government to ensure the safety of lives and property of its citizens.

They readily make reference to several communities such as Molusi, Olorunsogo, Molete,Felele among others in Ibadan, Oyo state, where some community leaders and Landlords and Tenants Association aid and abet criminals with the backing of law enforcement agents, as good examples of how crime has taken a very dangerous dimension.

Indeed, a lot of Nigerians are of the opinion that dialogue is the way to go, while others believe that community leaders who sponsor criminals should be identified and brought to justice as a step towards addressing the country’s security challenges.

In this interview, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that Nigerians must first be convinced that some traditional rulers and elite are above board in the present situation before the issue of dialogue can be propagated. Excerpts :

A cross section of Nigerians are of the opinion that a national dialogue will address the county’s various problems. Do you agree ?

The issue of national dialogue is not supposed to be limited to the time when the elite are been affected by the hostilities of the times, which today has manifested in insecurity.

A profile of institutional indiscipline and corruption dates back to the 60s when Alhaji Tafawa Balewa observed that civil servants were no longer contented with what obtained then as natural life that was commensurate with the individual wages based on their cadre.

He observed that they preferred to forcibly have bicycles, which they would ride with pleasure to their different villages.

In the 70s, a foreign economic expert described the Nigerian system of government as that of kleptocracy.

Furthermore, Nigeria was observed to have governments that condoned evil and corruption based on the fact that those unfortunate elite caught in the game would never be brought to justice or convicted.

Many of those who talk today cannot absolve themselves from having contributed,at various degrees of impunity, to the present problems which urgently need a serious national conference; with a view to overhaul the provisions of the constitution, to a more holistic level of justice standard so that posterity would not continue to curse us.

There is the need to appreciate the former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo on his concern, though his antecedents would always portray him as not been sincere because while in government, he stated that that he might have advisers, but nothing would compel him to take to their advice.

However, we don’t need an angel to preach virtues, hence the advice of our great elder statesman must be heeded by President Muhammadu Buhari government.

There is also the need to appreciate the efforts of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Enitna Ogunwusi and the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi 111, whose concern have made them to speak out on behalf of the voiceless.

They don not want the Yoruba nation to be unnecessarily undermined and ravaged by the faceless non-indigenes, whose activities are yet to be effectively charged to the conviction level to serve as deterrent to others.

However, the traditional rulers seem to have gone the extra mile to warn those of Yoruba origin who own the herds of cattle and engaged the services of the Fulanis, for rearing and grazing, so that we do not fight an unjust cause.

What about the several Churches, Mosques, schools and institutions, companies and industries and even private homes that engage the services of the non-indigenes on matters of security.

Once we have put our house in order and ensured that some traditional rulers hands are clean, as well as that of the elite, the agitation by the Yoruba to have their way would be justified.

On the issue of national conference, we must avoid the jamboree sort of what happened during the administration of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan in 2014, many of the representative were never respected in their domains because they had never shown interest in the security and welfare of the people, who they claimed to represent.

There is the need to separate rhetoric or game of theories from the pragmatism and records of concerned activities for the people who we may claim to represent.

A choice based on mere political affiliation and diabolical service of Yes man platform for the strong individuals, will always mar the objectives of any conference.

Service to humanity has nothing to do with egomania, which always characterize the state of most of those who have been having opportunities to attend conferences on issues pertaining to Nigeria.

This must have been one of the hallmarks that weakened the strength of the 2014 conference because after it, most of the participants only enjoyed millions of Naira showered on them, without having anything to show on returning home.

National conference should start from the past Heads of state and former Presidents with their economic and political experts to identify our areas of weaknesses and threats and those factors that must have been responsible for our Democracy turning into kleptocracy.

The gross abuse of the immunity clause and the preferred alternative to ensure seriousness and discipline in governance.

Attendees must from their various domains create platforms of town hall meeting with those professionals and opinion moulders as well as former state Governors, traditional rulers and religious leaders of note and relevance to the people at the grassroots, within their areas of jurisdiction for brainstorming before going for the conference and for feedback.

If we are able to go by the national conference, accordingly, the intervention of God would eventually see us through to have a safe and secure nation again. God save Nigeria.

The Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olgoke has warned that unless the Nigerian Youth does what is right the coming generation will suffer.

Porf. Olagoke gave this warning on Wednesday, when the Southern Youth Forum(SYF) presented an award to him at the his office in Wakajaiye, Ibadan, Nigeria.

‘’If care is not taken, the coming generation will suffer. The youths have to take their destinies in their hands. In Nigeria, there is no sense of patriotism and nationhood. Government in Nigeria is just wasting money on trivialities and creating problems. The youths must take their destinies in their hands with sincerity. Anything given to anybody has been made for the person to cherish it. Unfortunately, Nigeria is surrounded with cottons of ignorance.’’

‘’The solution is for Nigerian youths to look inwards and make use of the opportunity of the little education they have to move forward. Politicians will continue to dictate to professionals, rather than allow professionals to come up. Inherent problems must be identified and expunged before one can say he wants to excel where others have failed’’, Prof. Olagoke noted.

Earlier the National Secretary of the SYF, Comrade Luke Ogemba who said he was representing the forum’s National President, Hon. Olarinde Thomas, stated that the forum decided to present an award to Prof, Olagoke because he was a source of inspiration to Nigerian youths, while stressing ‘’ we will like to tap from your wealth of experience.

Among those who accompanied Comrade Ogemba on the visit were, Comrade Tobiloba Amodu(Ondo state), Comrade Fynface Allo(Rivers state) and Comrade Stanley Omoregie(Edo state)

Over 300,00 trained and registered Teachers in Kenya are without jobs.

According to well informed sources in the Education Ministry, schools in the country are short of 96, 00 Teachers, with with primary schools  having  about 10 million pupils being short of 38,054 tutors and Secondary schools, with about 2.8 million students, have vacancies for 58,291 teachers.

Following Government aggressive campaigns to achieve 100 per cent transition from primary school, there has been a high enrollment rate coupled with  the fact  that 9,472 women and 6,950 men applied for government teaching positions but were not employed.

 6,872 of  the applicants posses  Bachelor of Education while   1,596  had diplomas. Certificate holders seeking jobs in primary and pre-school schools accounted for  5,686.

The standard of Primary, Secondary and Tertiary education in Nigeria is a source of worry for all Nigerians irrespective of Tribe, Religious persuasion and social background.

However, the unattractive annual budget allocation to the education sector has continually manifested in the troubled learning environment, shortage of qualified Teachers and teaching aids, poor salaries and absence of incentives for those who impart knowledge.

Nigerians insist that the public higher institutions of learning in the country are yet to meet the purposes for which the institutions were established, even as they argue that the private ones are exploitative and fall short of acceptable international standards.

Sadly several fraudsters have exploited the situation, in connivance with a sizable number of supposed qualified Teachers, to defraud Parents and Guardians of their hard earned money ? in the guise of overseas admissions.

In this interview with, the Founder, Spiritual Head and Grand Imam of Shafaudeen-in-Islam Worldwide, Prof. Sabitu Olagoke opines that Policy makers in government have to co-opt those with the technical know how to move the country forward. Excerpts :

What are your views on higher education in Nigeria, considering the falling standards ?

The Nigerian educational system started to have problems as a result of several retrogressive factors confronting its management, but with neglect and misplacement of priorities from all stakeholders, most especially on the side of government-which is supposed to set and enforce standards and quality in an environment of discipline. For example, federal character aims at ensuring uniformity of purpose and equity. But it has ended up in collapsing the ethics, as reflected in the admission standards, which have discriminatory minimum scores for admission across the six Geo-Political zones.

Unfortunately, this does not reflect in the quality of grades of those affected, but paradoxically in the quality of the products and their performance ratings.

This is the major concern of the South West that is struggling to go back to the virtuous era of discipline, quality, standards, graduate reliability and employ-ability that could be compared to the modern day acclaimed global competitiveness, through best practices.

Today, we are having 170 universities that are yet to make the first 200 best universities in the global rating.

This is purely due to under funding of education in Nigeria, most especially in the areas of Teachers’ standard upgrade, lecturers’ capacity building need and facility update challenge to meet up with the global trend of development in the world of Science and Technology, through the ever dynamic world of Information Technology(ICT).

Instead of government complying with the UNESCO’s benchmark of 26 per cent of the national budget allocation, Nigeria’s funding pattern of education is yet to attain 10 per cent.

Tertiary Education Trust Fund(TETFUND)has achieved in the areas of structure, but not totally in the area of facility.

The struggle to ensure that all tertiary institution Teachers have first, second and third degrees, is appreciable, but only fractional and unfortunately, the interest of having Doctor of Philosophy, is not for research and development purpose, but for accelerated career progression in the world of academics.

Worse still, our Professors in various fields of human endeavor are yet to be fully engaged in the scheme of aggressive nation building because of the murky waters of our partisanship driven political hostile environment, where expert views are supposed to be sought, but politicians use money to make a wrong choice. This has resulted in the re occurrence of problems in a more dangerous way.

Government’s inability to fund Polytechnic education, as appropriate, makes it a challenge.

Higher National Diploma (HND) programs are still limited by the National Diploma status of the institutions in question.

Today, most Polytechnics are mere surrogates of Universities.

Unfortunately, university education is more in favor of the cognitive domain that is more of research.

Polytechnic education, with adequate facilities, are expected to compete favorably with what obtains in the industries, which can transform, when harnessed, university theories into physical dynamic machinery of operation, that favors the Psycho-motor domain of education.

All institutions are supposed to work in tandem, with correlative synergy` to promote the country’s industrialization.

Nigeria’s costly neglect of the Technical Colleges, has made us to lose out in the areas of vocational and entrepreneurial evolution that would have formed the very practical bases for industrialization, but for the stigmatization effect.

Parents and children are running away from patronizing this aspect of Engineering appreciation, which the Canadian government has proved to the whole world that their products are crucial, with recruitment in mind, in the establishment of cottage industries for the Small and Medium scale Enterprises(SME).

90 to 98 per cent of this sector are responsible for the industrialization of China, Hong Kong, Russia and the United States of America.

The policy makers need to look inward, by contacting the relevant experts, both from the Polytechnic and University sectors to resolves this matter.

As the administration of  Zimbabwe President,  Emmerson Mnangagwa prepares to deliver good governance   women of  Mashonaland  province  have called on government to ensure that the process of decentralizing powers is bereft of political considerations.

This call was made recently by  women from the rural province during an interactive session organized by the Institute for Young Women Development,  for women of Mashonaland and their   representatives in the Parliament , at  Bindura .

 One of the participants from Guruve, stressed that the discussions on devolution must be apolitical saying  "What is required in particular is for national officials (both political and administrative) to commit to a devolution process that respects the rules of the game. Importantly, if devolution is to succeed it should be a shared objective supported by both those with and without power as well as by the general citizenry." 

 Another participant, Margret Chimombe from Shamva  suggested that the lawmakers should educate the women on the aims and objectives of the proposed devolution of power, adding ''"It's only a few people who are aware of what this is about. Some are in the dark so it should the duty of office bearer to come down to us and tell us what this animal is all about before any other engagements."

 In her submission, Member of Parliament for Women's Quota Bindura-Shamva constituency, Dorothy Mashonganyika  warned the women to be wary of politicians who might want to use the process to feather their nets saying ''We do not want political involvement but let us respect political structures as they also play a part in representing our views''.

 President Mnangagwa had indicated that his administration would implement  decentralize power.during his  2018-2022  tenure, but the people of Zimbabwe  have been expressing fears that politicians  would hijack the process  to further their political  agenda.