The Topmost Priority.

A journalist once asked me, "if you were the President of Nigeria, what will be your number one priority? What will you emphasize above all others?"

"Education", I answered without hesitation. My answer surprised the journalist. She did not expect it. She expected me to say something like Petroleum Resources or Power and Steel or Agriculture and Natural Resources or Health. Education did not feature high on her list of priorities because, to be honest, it does not feature high on the list of the priorities of successive governments in Nigeria for a long time now. Nigerians are used to our Presidents appointing themselves Minister of Petroleum Resources. 

Somehow we, as a country, have come to believe that our "salvation" lies in the Petroleum Sector. It is a grossly mistaken belief. No resource-based sector, no matter how richly endowed, holds the key to genuine sustainable growth and development. Besides - and we do not seem to grasp this sobering fact! - the World is fast moving away from fossil fuels to renewable sources of energy. Very soon oil will lose its value, and then it will matter very little, in practical terms, how much petroleum resources we have. Only human-based sectors, such as education and other social services sectors, hold the key to genuine, sustainable development and prosperity. Nations only truly grow and develop, in a sustainable manner, with highly developed and functional human capital. Education is the primary driver of human capital development and, hence, all forms of development. Get your educational sector right and you eventually rise to your potential and master your national destiny.

This is so because education ties into all sectors and aspects of national life and human existence. Without education, both formal and informal, the President cannot be the President in the first place! Apart from citizenship and age requirements, the constitution requires also that the President be educated to a certain minimum level. Addtionally, education confers on the human resource the skills and expertise necessary to develop and deploy all other forms of resources as goods and services for national growth, development, profitability and prosperity. Without a highly educated and capable human resource, all other resources will remain fallow and, hence, useless and unprofitable.

Not able to hide her surprise, the journalist asked me why I choose education as my topmost priority. I answered her as follows:

"You see, without education, there will not be the required manpower in all aspects, to run the nation purposefully and productively, nor will there be the purposefully proactive and productively engaged citizenry necessary to administer the country successfully. Education develops and builds the human being and the human being, in turn, fully develops and productively and sustainably uses and manages all the resources available to the nation. Thus education is the key to a great future for any nation and the most powerful weapon with which the World can be changed."

 

That is what the Madiba, Nelson Mandela, had in mind when he said:

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

You want to change Nigeria for good? Invest heavily in all aspects and levels of education; sustain the investment for the long-term; leverage on international relationships and partnerships to help finance such investments, and empower universities and research institutes to deliberately work on solving the various developmental challenges that beset us as a nation.

This, in practice, will involve drastically improving the condition of service of all categories of teachers (this will attract the best brains to teaching and motivate them to give their best), training enough teachers all across the country, building standard schools in all communities all across the country (perimeter fencing, adequate classrooms, well-equipped laboratories, well-equipped libraries, well-equipped workshops, adequate hostels and dining facilities in boarding schools, well-balanced meals, beautiful landscaping, adequate sporting and other extracurricular infrastructure, 24/7 power supply, adequate teaching and learning aids, etc.), international best practice administration, adequate number of teachers in all schools and in all subjects (including coaching and auxiliary teaching staff, and lab attendants and technicians, etc.), timely and regular payments of salaries and other entitlements, etc.

You see, paying mere lip service or engaging in token, drop-in-the-Ocean, investments in the sector, as has been the practice so far, will not do. It has to be massive and all-encompassing. It has to be an emergency, a "brutal" revolution in the educational sector. It has to be, massive, all-encompassing, sustained and longterm. It has to be well-planned and well-executed. It has to affect every community, ward, Local Government Area, State and the entire nation. It has to begin now and be sustained Ad Infinitum. 

It is Agoso Bamaiyi, your friend for a greater Nigeria and the best things of life.