NGF Backs State Of Emergency In Education

The Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF) has expressed support for a call of a state of emergency in the education sector. Speaking at the National Conference on the Learning Crisis in Nigeria in Abuja on Wednesday, the Chairman, NGF, Governor Abdulrazaq Abdulrahman of Kwara, said resources must be provided for sustainable and promising education. The conference, organised by the Federal Ministry of Education in collaboration with United Nations Children’s Fund, has the theme: “Scaling Foundational Literacy and Numeracy in Nigeria.” Represented by the Vice Chairman of NGF, Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State, Abdulrahman said education is in crisis and a state of emergency should be declared in the sector. He stressed the need to remove all barriers such as gender, poverty, location, disabilities, language and ethnicity, that could hinder children from accessing foundational literacy and numeracy. “We must follow UNESCO standard for education system that is progressive and sustainable, Governors at the various states must commit above 15 per cent above of our budget to education. “I support the call for state of emergency but it must be backed by actions, the resources must be provided and we must look at issues that have mitigated against achieving that sustainable growth. “It is one thing to declare a state of emergency but it’s another thing to put all the resources and elements that will allow us to achieve it. “So, I support putting the resources in place to allow us move fast at it. Our education is in crisis and a state of emergency should be declared in all the sector. We need solid roadmap and I believe it is a collective involvement,” he said.  Meanwhile, the Minister of State for Education, Dr Yusuf Sununu, said learning crisis had been a challenge the education sector is faced with which needs urgent solution. “The consequences of learning crisis are far-reaching and profound as we risk widening the already significant education gap, perpetuating a cycle of poverty, illiteracy, diseases and stifling innovation and progress. “Education is the cornerstone of societal progress and individual empowerment, yet the challenges we currently confront demand our immediate attention, dedication, and action. “In recent years, Nigeria has been grappling with a severe learning crisis that hinders our youth from achieving their fullest potential. “A significant portion of our school-aged population, especially those in underserved communities, face barriers to access quality education. “The factors contributing to this crisis are multifaceted and include inadequate infrastructure, teacher shortage, unequal distribution of resources, outdated curricula, and socio-economic disparities,” he said. Sununu said the country must rise to protect the potential and aspiration of the youths, saying they are the greatest asset and hope for a prosperous future. He expressed the political will of President Bola Tinubu to raise education budgetary allocation from 8 per cent to 25 per cent in the next few years. He said the gesture would be a major breakthrough in addressing the learning crisis issues. In the same vein, UNICEF Representative in Nigeria, Cristian Munduate, said the conference was from outcomes of UN General Assembly in September where countries were urged to accelerate progress on Sustainable Development Goal 4. Munduate said this is to regain ground lost during the COVID-19 pandemic that saw unprecedented school closures globally. “For Nigeria, convening a conference on the learning crisis is opportune as government defines its priorities for the education sector in the new Ministerial Strategic Plan (MSP). “Just as Nigeria has galvanised significant support around the out-of-school problem, so too must it give attention to the learning crisis that is in fact fueling the out-of-school problem in Nigeria. “Three out of four children in basic education in Nigeria cannot read with meaning or solve simple maths problems. “When children fail to learn to read in the early years, they fail to read to learn in the subsequent years. Failure to learn begins to alienate children from the curriculum and their peers. “This contributes to the staggering drop out rates each year between the first and last year of primary school,” she said. She, therefore, called for serious attention to the learning crisis saying learning is not just important for education outcomes, it is key to finding a higher paying job, for achieving better health outcomes and for navigating community and social life. Also, the Chief Education, UNICEF Nigeria, Saadha Panday-Soobrayan, said the learning crisis in Nigeria begins in early childhood education, saying only half of the children are developmentally on track in early childhood. She said that learning gaps persist across the life course and most severe in the north part of the country. According to her, by the end of grade nine, only 74 per cent of pupils demonstrate foundational literacy and 69 pee cent foundational numeracy. She, therefore, said that all hands must be on deck to finding a lasting solution to the country’s learning crisis.

Northern Nigeria Development: Riding on Inuwa Yahaya’s wings

“Good governance is the art of putting wise thought into prudent action in a way that advances the well-being of those governed”. – Diane Kalen-Sukra The above submission aptly captures the colour and character of the current leadership of States in the Northern geopolitical zone of Africa’s most populous country, Nigeria. Northern Nigeria is about to begin a journey unprecedented. But predictably a journey of joy and jubilant expectations. Not because of certainty of facts, since no man is certain of the future except the maker of man, the Almighty God. But certainty of expectations because of the man that is leading this journey. He is a man who has not only demonstrated that he breeds brilliant ideas, but has also exhibited consistently his capacity for successful public policy implementation. That man is no other person than Muhammadu Inuwa Yahaya, the Governor of Gombe State and incumbent Chairman of The Northern Governors’ Forum. Inuwa’s antecedents in policy formulation and clinical implementation of same into action which has been very beneficial to his state citizenry is about to impact progressively on the leadership of the Northern Nigerian States. Someone once said that we must eradicate ignorance and illiteracy from our nations and continent to the nearest minimum for us to have a good development. Inuwa Yahaya’s successful education sector reforms in Gombe State is a compass for a rapid transformation of the education system and structure in Northern Nigeria judging by the successes he posted in Gombe State. In his first term as a Governor, more than 300000 (three hundred thousand) out of school children returned joyfully to school with a model learning environment compared to the best schools in the developed not only that, from a comatose education sector and exam success ratio of below 27% , Inuwa’s radical overhaul, including declaration of a state of emergency in the sector, brought back the glory of education in the state. By the end of his third year in office, exam success ratio has increased to 78%. This model will be fascinating to other Northern states if the Governors are ready for same. While not relegating the importance of Quranic education to the background, Inuwa has integrated the two together in a way that both the children and parents are happy with the policy. Although, there are still many Almajiri children on the streets of Northern Nigeria, Inuwa Yahaya is one of the strongest voices on the plan to integrate these children who roam the streets into foster homes where they can be given a fresh orientation for a better lifestyle. The Northern Nigeria is sure to have a huge reduction of the Almajiri population during the era of Inuwa Yahaya. In agriculture, the mainstay of Northern Nigeria, the farmer- herder clashes is another area the region stands to benefit a lot with the incumbent Chairman. Agriculture has been a top agenda on the mind of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and same with Governor Inuwa Yahaya. I recall during Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Presidential Campaign trip to Gombe how he eulogized Inuwa Yahaya’s Agricultural Revolution in Gombe State with a promise to imbibe and replicate same on a national level. A tech-driven agricultural hub is evolving already in the Jewel in the Savannah as Gombe is fondly called. Gombe State also prides itself in having the largest grazing reserves in Nigeria with vast hectares of land for herders and other pastoralists.The grazing reserve template can be duplicated in other Northern Nigerian States and serve as a panacea to the archaic nomadic style of cattle grazing. If Inuwa’s template is adopted, transregional migration of herdsmen which often causes infringements and resultant clashes with farmers will be drastically reduced. Let’s look at infrastructure and economic development template in Gombe State and how that will rub off on sister states in the North. Gombe under Governor Inuwa Yahaya came up with the first development plan since the creation of the State. It is a 10 Year Development Agenda tagged DEVAGOM. It has a blueprint for sectoral development of the state with timelines and means of funding, clearly defined. With a development blueprint such as this, and shared experiences, a wide spectrum of cross-sectional development is imminent in Northern Nigeria. Look at the 1000 hectares Muhammadu Buhari Industrial Park in Dadinkowa, Gombe State. This is a theme park for rapid industrialization of the state. It is a business enterprise hub that will fire up development of all sectors taking advantage of the huge economy of scale that comes with such development model. Imagine all the states in the geopolitical zone firing up their development turbines at full speed. Employment galore for citizens will be the concomitant end. A vibrant industrial economy that will catalyse sporadic expansion of the individual state’s economic growth is in sight. The dynamic road network expansion witnessed during Inuwa Yahaya’s first four years in office is highly instructive for other Governors in the subregion. Gombe enjoyed a road network program tagged Network 11-100.Via this agenda, Inuwa is constructing 100km roads in all the eleven local government areas that make up Gombe State. What does this portend for economic growth? First, the rural communities are linked up with good roads thereby making ease of movement a pleasant experience for both traders and travellers especially rural farmers who will like to sell produce to the urban dwellers. The smooth roads also mean a reduction in travel time and increased production turnover. The transportation sector in the subregion is also open to emulation of the Gombe template. Gombe Line, state owned transport company has been vigorously rejigged by Inuwa with regular additional fleet. Inuwa Yahaya  has also attracted a few more airlines to the State and also brought in the Federal Might to bear on the state. The State Airport has been put under the Federal Airport Authority to take advantage of more funding. Now, if infrastructure is available and there are no serious investors, it will be a negation of efforts and denied success.