AN OPEN LETTER TO PRESIDENT YAR’ADUA

BY: ABUBAKAR JIMOH

Dear Sir, on behalf of all Nigeria students, this is to draw your attention to ongoing strike action that could lead to dilapidation of Nigeria educational sector embarked upon by the Academic Staff Union of University (ASUU).

To avoid an action that could jeopardize our educational sector, ASUU during the era of the former president Olusegun Obasanjo said to set up an adhoc committee to look critically into the matter arising behind the union’s action and report to the Federal government. But the effort proved abortive as result of non-consideration posed by the government. This in return led to the three months strike inherited by your administration immediately after you resumed office.

In your campaign, prior to your inauguration to the villa, you promised to bring to an end, the problems in Nigeria education sector and provide the nation with standard education system. Supported with the fact that you served as lecturer in Nigerian university, these were the major considerations of many students supported you with their votes. All with the hope you would restore the lost standardization in the educational system.

While resuming office as the president of this nation, you instantly set up and communicated to people your scopes of work under the phrase “Seven Points Agenda”. This was indeed viewed by the people as an amiable vision which would bring to this nation a vibrant development. Since the Agenda comprises the majors sector of the economy such as education, agriculture, health care, infrastructural facilities, industrialization etc, which demand immediate attention towards the growth and development of the nation.  Among which is “standard education system”.

Sincerely speaking sir, Nigeria students are yet to witness the dividend of your educational promise which had coined their supports towards your election. Rather, the system is going mutilated. This range from the inadequate leaning equipments in our universities, insufficient reading textbooks include academic journals through which students could be adequate informed about the current development concerning their courses of studies. Our libraries are all full of dusty centuries made equipment and outdated reading materials. This has so far resulted to the poor academic performances and negative development in many students. 

You could imagine leaning with such obsolescence provisions in our current challenging technologically evolution world. Annually, our universities produce thousands of graduates who strictly depend on their lecture note books throughout their studies as students of the universities. Among these are practically oriented courses which our graduates learnt under merely theoretical studies.

However, if we manage to graduate and pass our various examinations in the universities under these worsen conditions, how competitive are we in the global market? What can we give in return to our beloved fatherland in appreciation of being educated? What can we offer the literary challenging world? How confidence are we in transferring the knowledge we acquired in the former walls into physical equivalents?

Another issue demands immediate consideration leading to the ASUU strike action is the low salary scales of the universities lecturers. These are the people who have dedicated their entire lives in impacting knowledge and wisdom, training and developing leaders for the society. They have dependants on them whose the needs are embodied including children to give standard education. The needs which low income earning could not accommodate. 

Remember sir, that education has for long been adopted as the major mechanism through which a nation could achieve a timely independent; instant and adequate growth and development. The same faith through which Nigeria gained its independence in 1960.With the level of the ongoing fast moving global intellectual challenges, a nation with zero or less education standard will definitely find it difficult to survive.

Looking at the strike decisions embarked upon in this nation so far, none has yield positive return to the students other than negative consequences. These include lost of focus, dullness, discouragement, development of socially unacceptable behaviour in many students. In this case, Nigeria students need immediate consideration towards a neglected sector which could doom their futures and that of this nation.

In conclusion sir, Nigerian students therefore urge your administration to kindly resolve the problems in education sector so as to avoid further damages this would cause not to only the students but, also to the development of this country as well.

Abubakar Jimoh writes from

University of Abuja

abujimoh01@yahoo.com

Robot  # 1 | 06.11.2009 02:17

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