TIMELY WORDS FOR THE EMERGING WORLD LEADERS

We always look at state house and Aso Rock for leadership, we are the leader. In democracy people are the leader (Democracy is the government of the people for the people and by the people). In the definition, Government appears once and people appear three times. It’s in your hands and it has to be value driven culture and value system, because you have a position does not make you a leader. People who had make impact in the world people like Martin Luther King Jr. did not have position, people like Mahatma Gandhi did not have a position, even Nelson Mandela was influencing from the prison without a position, Mother Theresa rule the world from Calcutta. Don’t let them tell you that you are leaders of tomorrow, that is balderdash, rubbish, you are leaders of today (Now) because there is nothing like tomorrow. I realize that when you step into tomorrow you called today yesterday and tomorrow you are talking about, it becomes today.

When you step into leadership watch out for this, there are some people who have skills but lack attitude, Mobutu messed up, Kabilah chased him out and Kabilah sat down and messed up. IBB messed up the people chased him out and many other who rule with draconian law. They went in with good intention, with degrees (Dr, Phd, MBA), they get the skills. In leadership skills is not enough, that is why David said I led the people with the Integrity of my heart and the skillfulness of my hands, the two goes hands in hands. That is why Chinua Achebe said “things fall apart the center cannot hold mere anarchy is loose upon the world” when you see anarchy it means center cannot long hold and the center I am talking about is not the skills is the attitude, it’s the selflessness that runs down our world..

Those who are selfish, you may gain everything now but in the next 15 years, you will know why there is a difference between success and significance, you can become successful by making money but you only become significant by making people. When you make people, the people will turn around and make the money for you. So have a selfless attitude, selfishness have taken over the atmosphere. Money cannot be compare with good name; good name is rather to be chosen rather than silver or gold. Money gives you prosperity but a good name gives you posterity, it goes beyond you, it goes into your lineage, family. I want a situation that people will look into my children and tell them God bless you and say what do we do and they say not because of you but because of your dad, not because of you but because of your grandfather. Consider Awolowo, my father and almost elderly people that I met werecrazy about this man, Awolowo brought civilization to western Nigeria, everybody in western Nigeria then had free education, he left a name. When I see the children, grandchildren I treat them with respect not because of them but because of the name they carry. The best inheritance you can give your child is a good name, there is no how Osuji, Abacha, Wabara, IBB,etc, can be a good name.

Mother Theresa died a pauper but she was so much influential than Warren Buffet, Dangote. In Calcutta in Indian she decided to sacrifice her life in poverty. It’s not by your wealth and it’s not by your birth, Prince Charles was born in a royal of family but compared to Princess Diana, even in death she was more influential.

Leadership begins now and the better we are able to raise a new generation of leaders now and also individually we can begin preparing now for the kind of leadership that is missing in Nigeria.

CORRECTING THE MESS IN EDUCATION SECTOR.

On a very sad note, in our clime we confuse schooling with education and today we are paying dearly negatively for it. Schooling is different from education, unfortunately for us, we left the most vital and begin to chase shadows. Schooling is the process of being formally educated at a school, while education is the activities of educating or instructing or activities that impart knowledge or skill in an individual. Or better still, education is the Knowledge acquired by learning and instruction.

There is a line of distinction between the two and obvious our policy maker, the player maker and agencies in our educational sector do not know the difference and that is why there is confusion everywhere. The greatest things colonial master gave us is education but today Nigeria has messed up what was given to us. We are not emulating the colonial master in embracing the best practices of education, after we have messed up what they gave to us, instead of us repairing the damage and finding solution, the rich, well to-do, the poor and those in government took their children and wards abroad to obtain quality education, which they know quite well that is what we lack.

Over the years, government is not considering and paying serious attention to the foundation, which is the primary education and imagine when the foundation of a house is faulty, what happened? That is an invitation to disaster. Firstly, we are not having adequately trained and qualified teachers at the primary level, what they teach our children are irrelevant to their demand, time and age. Investment in the teachers that will teach our children in school should be the utmost priority of government. A teach cannot give what he does not have, therefore, to secure the future, its high time we look in the direction of training and re-training the teachers. The curriculum are wrong and we are not delivering values anymore. We must revive the national policy on education the formative years of every child is vital and must not be taken for granted and most importantly, public schools must be well funded.

Solution to our moribund education is not lowering the cut-off marks that JAMB (Joint Admission Matriculation Board)  is embarking on but re-evaluating and improving the standard. Teachers are suppose to be highly intelligent people, reducing the cut-off marks to 150 is an insult on teaching profession.

What is the relevance of JAMB in the life of our nation and our children? JAMB has outlived its functions and relevancy in Nigeria, they only cause confusion for the student and they have succeeded in causing retrogressing harm to our children. The day JAMB died and lost its relevancy was the day schools were allowed to conduct post UTME after students have written JAMB examination. JAMB should be scrapped and the bogus funds spend on JAMB every year should be spent on training, re-training and adequately equipping and improving the teachers. Spent it on redeveloping and remodeling our moribund and declining education standard.

Organisations, institutions and employers of labour are part of the problems and the mess in education sector. In their advertisement, looking for students with two-one, looking for student with 5 year to 7 years of working experience from a newly graduated student, is that not futile?

Where they missed it is that, they should not expect students to study law, marketing, business management, banking, etc and come out from school and automatically become a lawyer, marketer, business manager, banker, etc, without practice, without someone taking him through the practicality of the profession. What we need now is a leader who will prioritize education.

In other developed and advanced countries of the world, CEO and employers sit at the project defense panel of the students and many students got employment without writing any interview and test to get the job.

In the past we used to have international students on our universities but today, all our students are abroad because there is no standard and no value for money paid.