APC, Oshiomhole And The Distressed Governors

By Fred Nwaozor

Even an outsider in the Nigeria’s political sphere wouldn’t claim ignorance of the melodrama being acted by the current National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Comrade Adams Oshiomhole and the governors of Imo, Ogun and Zamfara States in the persons of Rochas Okorocha, Ibikunle Amosun and Abdul-aziz Yari, respectively.

The scene that could best be described as intriguing isn’t unconnected with the primary elections conducted recently by the APC under the watch of the party’s National Working Committee (NWC), particularly as they concerned the governorship race in the aforementioned states.

It’s not anymore news that the governors in question were ab initio reportedly making frantic effort to foist their favourite candidates on the ruling party for the forthcoming guber polls in their respective states.

Their dreams apparently became futile few weeks back when Mr. Oshiomhole publicly informed the teeming Nigerians via a press briefing that he had refused to please a few members of the APC who felt they could maneuver the party’s activity, thereby displeasing the majority who ought to be the prime determinant of the party’s doings.

Oshiomhole’s unequivocal declaration triggered mixed feelings among the overall party faithful and the entire Nigerians, especially those who initially presumed the boss was the governors’ instrument. As some were busy commending the former Edo State governor, some others opined he had shortchanged their interests hence condemned the move in its entirety.

In his words during press briefing, Mr. Oshiomhole told the world that the NWC led by him had fairly chosen to dance to the tune of those they felt had the support of the party’s majority. He therefore notified that since the said aspirants emerged victoriously at the party primaries that took place in their various states, their names would be outrightly forwarded to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the party’s substantive candidates for their respective states’ guber elections.

The wishes of the trio or distressed governors, which was tagged by the NWC as that of the minority, was finally silenced when the electoral umpire eventually published the comprehensive list of the candidates for the impending gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections in the 36 states across the federation.

Since the emergence of the latest development, the trio has ostensibly insisted on its struggle. On his part, Gov. Okorocha alongside his allies has frantically vowed to confront the outcome through any available legal means towards ensuring that his son-in-law, Mr. Uche Nwosu becomes the guber flag-bearer of the APC.

It would be recalled that in his speech, Mr. Oshiomhole had asserted that Okorocha was making effort to create a “political dynasty” in Imo whereby all political offices in the state come 2019 would be virtually occupied by his relatives or whosoever that’s ‘ordained’ by him.

Funnily enough, reacting to the insinuation, the governor concurred with the assertion, stating he was only ensuring that after his exit as the Imo number one citizen, the state would be managed by his likes or those who mean well for the Eastern Heartland; a claim that has reportedly resulted in uncontrollable laughter in different quarters within the state.

The issue at hand is that Oshiomhole has been accused by the trio of manipulation. It’s equally in the know of the public that the boss had been accused of collecting N50m bribe to alter the APC primaries held in various states. The allegation had since been refuted by the accused person and the Department of the State Service (DSS) has as well reportedly interrogated him in that regard.

As various concerned groups and individuals have called on the Independent Corrupt Practices and other related offences Commission (ICPC) to thoroughly investigate Ohiomhole, it would also be imperative for the exercise to be extended to the aggrieved bigwigs of the APC. It’s already rumoured in some quarters that a certain governor allegedly offered the boss a sum of $500,000 but “he rejected it”.

It’s noteworthy that millions of Imolites – both home and abroad – have already applauded the APC’s guber candidate for Imo, Sen. Hope Uzodinma for ensuring that Gov. Okorocha didn’t succeed in his dogged bid to build a ‘political dynasty’ in the ancient state.

It’s similarly worth noting that most of the accolades were allocated to the revered Imo Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madumere whose unequalled cum unquenching determination and vigour led to the current joyous scene.

However, now that the APC as a family has thus far been inconsequentially overstressed by those who were meant to cater for her welfare, it’s pertinent for the leadership of the party to go back to the drawing board with a view to restrategize if they are really looking forward to embracing victory at the fast-approaching 2019 general elections.

Since the downpour is eventually over as anticipated, the best thing that could happen to the ruling party at the moment is to ensure that all major injuries incurred so far are reasonably healed prior to the awaited polls. To actualize this, some vital tools such as apologies, promises, hand of fellowship or what have you, which invariably beget sense of belonging, mustn’t be relegated to the background.

Hence, it isn’t all about constituting a reconciliation committee but doing the needful headlong. Think about it!

Comrade Nwaozor is the National Coordinator,
Right Thinkers Movement

Column: The Crises of University Education in Nigeria: The Genesis

The tertiary education system in Nigeria is riddled with so tremendous problems, starting from under-funding, to strikes, infrastructural decay, and corruption for which Nigeria is king from a general global perception. All these problems cumulate in the alarming fall in generally accepted international standards. Everyone is worried especially as the world community is now very skeptical about the standard of knowledge and degrees emanating from our educational system. And this has been compounded by incessant strikes and insincerity on the part of the nation’s leadership. Whereas the United Nations recommend that 26% of national budgets be allocated to education, Nigeria has hardly ever funded the education Ministry by even 10% of her annual budgets.

However, my contention in this paper is that the fall in the standard of tertiary education does not start from the tertiary level itself; it starts from the primary and secondary school levels. No solid teaching or learning ever takes place in our public primary and secondary schools any more. Many teachers go to school once or twice a week in most of them and are not well motivated to teach correctly. No child ever fails a class any more. Whether you pass or fail, you move to the next level, unlike in the past when pupils were made to continue repeating their levels until they were found worthy to move on to the next. Again, there is also this fact that after the secondary school certificate examination in Nigeria, the next idea that comes to the mind of every child is the JAMB. For every parent and child, it appears so automatic, no other option; whereas in many other countries not every child who leaves the secondary school applies to go to the university.

The questions we should ask ourselves are: who are the eventual candidates for our universities? How do they gain admission? With what knowledge and certificates do they gain admission and are they qualified at entry? Are they not products of our secondary schools where no effective teaching takes place and which are poorly managed? We should stop blaming the fall in standards on the university alone. The fall in standard already started in the primary/secondary school.

In well organized systems, the counseling process is so effective that the pupil is long made to know his actual vocation before the end of his final year at school. It is not everyone that has the calling for university education. Our 6-3-3-4 system of education adopted in the 1980s is simply cosmetic and our Guidance Counselors are lacking in their roles in this direction. It is under these conditions that a candidate enters the Nigerian University and the golden rule of garbage in garbage out automatically applies. It would be foolhardy to expect miracles. What would one expect from a weak base in any enterprise, as opposed to a solid base which ensures a sound academic pursuit?

Tertiary institutions grow at a more astronomical rate in Nigeria than in any other country in the world, but I want to limit my discourse to the university system. In the past one decade, the number of universities in Nigeria has doubled from some sixty universities to well over 120. The only rational behind these increases is mere political considerations of quota and not necessarily of real contextual situations. No cognizance is taken of whether there is qualified manpower to pilot the affairs of those institutions. That is not important for as long as a “son of the soil” will be the Vice-chancellor and education brought home to the State with every Tom, Dick and Harry given admission on Local Government quota basis, as if one from State A cannot study in other states B, M, X, Z, Y as the case may be. It has reached the extent whereby teachers are all sourced from within the State. It is no longer question of University but now of Stateversity. No more cross-ventilation of ideas but that of recycling prevailing knowledge within a locality. This reminds me of the pressure mounted on Imo State citizens to go home by a sister state when a university was founded at Owerri for Imo State.

In my last university overseas, expatriate staff was from 32 countries and foreign students from 112 countries totaling a population of 2914 students. It is not same as when the students of a university come from only one country and perhaps from the few local government areas that make up a particular state! There can hardly be any cross-fertilization of ideas.

I have also heard it argued in a Federal Government University that a particular student should go and look for admission in his catchment area, notwithstanding that his score would give him admission. Instead, candidates with as low as mark as 180/400 were admitted leaving the person with 280/400 not admitted just because he/she came from another state. For as long as merit is thrown to the winds in such exercises, we would only be chasing shadows in getting good candidates for the ivory tower. But we want our children admitted in Universities in South Africa, Britain, the USA where they are not citizens but refuse admission to fellow Nigerians for reasons of discrimination! If other countries of the world were to do that, people like us would not have studied overseas because we were non citizens. And experience has shown that you acquire more knowledge the more you interact with people of diverse cultures. Even this same discrimination is being applied as in the course of the just ended strike by ASUU where the Minister of education would be pleading the cause of only Federal Universities as if all the other universities should be allowed to produce any quality of graduates they like, no longer question of universal standards. For him, State or even private universities are not the concern of the federal government for which it superintends the education Ministry. Nonetheless, his portfolio is not the Minister of Federal Institutions but the Minister of Education for the entire nation!

Also, in Nigeria, having university education has become a status symbol and most parents do not have any qualms about buying their children’s admission into the university. The consequence is that the number of people who vie for university education is over bloated, far more than the facilities available would sustain. For some candidates, it has become a do or die affair as they have sat for this same examination for upwards of three to four times, after which they want to gain admission by all means (foul and crook). They now look for touts who readily accept bribes and perhaps eventually get them placed for courses they did not bargain for. They cannot eventually cope well and surely become “sorting experts”. And so “sorting” retains a status and kills the system.

The establishment of a university should be matched with real needs. When there is a Faculty of Medicine in Abia State, it becomes just unnecessary to have same faculty in the four sister states around it. A few specialized universities in particular zones could be established for serve the needs of the entire nation instead of the proliferation of non-viable institutions that cannot pass accreditation. Universities of Science and Technology ought not to be proliferated as just a few of them need to be established in the entire country. Thus, numerous students, no matter their places of origin would go there to acquire the best of knowledge aided by the best library books in those specialized areas. Concentration of technical manpower would better be guaranteed, instead of scattering these institutions in areas where adequate manpower can hardly be guaranteed. Standards fall because we continue founding institutions without any guarantee of any one of them being standard in content.

Also, the fact of founding universities as a means of job creation has lowered the quality of staff needs as many university teachers are not qualified to teach in the ivory tower since teaching in the university is not the same as teaching in the secondary school. One gets qualified for it by getting specialized in specific areas of research. In many countries of the world, the ability to be a university teacher is determined by rigorous interviews where many candidates are subjected to talk on their specific areas before a panel. It is not question of letters of introduction from a Senator, or the Minister or Commissioner meant to influence the recruitment. Whoever is best qualified, be he a foreigner or indigene is recruited to teach.

Miracles should not be expected from the university. The golden adage of “garbage in, garbage out” normally applies. No one should expect wonders from bad candidates pushed into the university system. One would say in conclusion that greater care and attention should be given to basic elementary school training as a panacea to good products being “garbaged “into the university system. I would even recommend that the high school system be re-established so that the High School certificate or the Advanced level GCE or equivalent certificates be made the pre-requisite for university admission as in many parts of the world. And we should pay greater attention to primary / secondary education levels to be able to produce good candidates for the university system because, unless we admit good university materials, we may not possibly produce good university graduates.

Okeke, is a professor of French & Applied Linguistics.

SAD: OPC Founder, Frederick Fasehun Dies @83

The Founder of the revered Yoruba socio-political organization Oodua Poeple's Congress (OPC), Dr. Frederick Fasehun has passed on at the age of 83.

The OPC, the Yoruba socio-cultural body known as Yoruba Council of Elders (YCE), and the lawmaker representing Lagos West in the National Assembly, Senator Olamilekan Solomon Adeola have mourned the deceased who was also the National Chairman of Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), Dr. Fasehun, who died in the morning of 1st December 2018.

In separate condolence statements, the groups and the senator described Fasehun’s death as a great loss to Nigeria and the Yoruba race especially.

They also lamented that one of the foremost agitators for Nigeria’s return to true federalism, since the military aborted the First Republic through a bloody coup in 1966, had again died without the hope of restructuring realised.

Spokesman of Afenifere, Mr. Yinka Odumakin said: “The famous medical doctor and founder of OPC was a dogged fighter, who played pivotal role, particularly in the resistance to the annulment of June 12 1993 elections and generally in all struggles for emancipation in his lifetime.

“His death at this crucial time in the life of our country was a big blow to the struggle he devoted most of his adult life to. As we cannot question God for taking him when it pleased Him, we pray that his soul will find a comforting testing place.”

Dr. Kunle Olajide, who spoke for YCE, said Nigeria has lost another irreplaceable political, social and intellectual giant.

He said: “One wouldn’t have imagined that Nigeria and the Yoruba race especially would lose a great gem at this crucial state of the nation, when we are moving towards what appears to be an unforeseen circumstances and future that would require the experiences of sages like Fasehun to tackle.

“Dr. Fasehun was a nationalist to the core, who believed in true federalism and fought for it throughout his life. Unfortunately, Nigeria was not restructured as he would have wanted until his demise yesterday.”

The YCE scribe, however, said the only good Nigerians could do to remember Fasehun’s memory was to use the next general election to elect someone with a true agenda and vision to restructure Nigeria.

The Aare Ona Kakanfo, Chief (Dr.) Gani Adams, who is also the national coordinator of OPC, said Fasehun left behind a worthy legacy.

“It was with shock that I received the sad news of the passing of our Papa and founding father of OPC,” he said. “This, no doubt, is a moment of great grief for the entire OPC family, Yoruba nation, Nigeria and the world at large. But it is also clear that the deep sense of loss over the demise of our beloved leader is shared by many like me. I hasten, therefore, to address this statement to commiserate with the immediate family over this painful bereavement.

“Papa Fasehun in his life time made outstanding contributions to the nation’s progress in many capacities, and no doubt left behind a worthy legacy through his careers as a renowned medical doctors and politician, among others.

“He exhibited very good leadership qualities, wisdom and wealth of experience, which he indeed put to use in the discharge of his responsibility, as well as upholding the institution’s tradition of excellence, while alive.”

Meanwhile, Senator Adeola, in a condolence message signed by his Spokesman, Kayode Odunaro, said the OPC founder stood for truth and also fought for human rights throughout his life.

The chairman of Senate Committee on Local Content said his senatorial district had lost a prominent Nigerian, who stood for truth and fought for the rights of his people in Nigerian federation. His role in the fight to enthrone democracy against military rule in Nigeria remains indelible in history.

In another condolence message, former Deputy National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Olabode George described Fasehun as a quintessential embodiment of principled and unswerving advocate of protecting the weak and defending the trampled.

He said: “He was a Yoruba Elder with complete attributes of the Omoluabi culture. But he was also a Nigerian patriot, who fought for justice, truth and democratic ethos. He was a restless and fearless activist, who lived a simple and incorruptible life, pursuing his mission with balanced commitment, with the purity of affection and with a broad nobility of character.”

Meanwhile, Pro National Conference Organisation (PRONACO) said it received the news in shock.

A statement signed by Wale Okunniyi said: “To us, another unfortunate political vacuum has been created in Nigeria by the sudden demise of a Yoruba nationalist, Dr. Fasehun. However, we take consolation in the fact that posterity, in our humble estimation, shall be kind to him, notwithstanding his latter days political challenges, for rising up to lead millions of Nigerians and Pro democracy activists in association with other compatriots to confront military autocracy in Nigeria, when it was most dangerous to do so.”

Dr. Frederick Usiotan Fasehun was born on September 21, 1935 to the illustrious family of High Chief Columbus Akindojutimi Fasehun, the Lomofe of Ondo Kingdom, and before his demise, the High Chief Odunwo designate of Ondo Kingdom, and Madam Olakuojomu, a scion of the Jomu Warlord family of Ondo Kingdom.

He attended St Stephen’s Primary School, Ondo and Ondo Boys High School, Ondo. Dr. Fasehun also attended the University of Aberdeen, where he bagged his MB.ChB. He later became the first African to bag a PhD in the Chinese medicine of Acupuncture from the University of Nankin, China.

He was Nigeria’s foremost anaesthesiologist, the first to supervise a surgery without putting the patient to sleep at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital in 1977.

He was a Fellow of Royal College of Surgeon, Fellow of West African College of Surgeon, a teacher and mentor of many Professors of anesthesia. He was the author of ‘The Complete Book of Acupuncture.’