Power for the sake of power

Our political leaders are obsessed with the acquisition and retention of power for its own sake. There seems to be a total ignorance about the right application of political power.

That is why there is usually a near-total collapse of governance during electioneering campaigns. All sectors are neglected including very vital ones like health and education. Sitting political office holders freely use state funds to finance their campaigns, neglecting their duties to the people. Refuse dumps take over the streets, potholes are ignored until they become gullies. Virtually all organs of government are paralyzed leaving the people in the trenches.

In recent times, we have witnessed a spate of irresponsibility and impunity hitherto unknown. State governors decided that nothing would happen if they used the money meant for the payment of workers’ salaries to fund their campaigns. And indeed, nothing has happened.

Even after they win elections, they spend the next one year or two trying to consolidate their hold on power. Most elected office holders seem to believe that acquisition of power is an end in itself, but how wrong they are!

This ignorance about the ultimate use of power is the bane of this country. So many important matters are relegated and treated as nothing just to make room for the political leaders to pamper their precious tool and toy, power. Every sector has its own tales of woe emanating from this erroneous conception of the use of power. The health sector is in a shambles. It is so terrible that up till now, this great country cannot afford to construct one standard hospital that is well staffed and equipped to take care of the health needs of our great political giants. They still have to fly out of our shores to treat simple body aches and stress.

Our security situation is terrible. The security operatives are living under intense oppression and abuse. They are treated like slaves and are victims of the power dragons. One look at the average living quarters of the police will reveal a lot about that sector. As a direct consequence of the abuse they suffer, the people they should serve become their victims.

The agricultural sector is not spared the agony of gross negligence. The situation is so bad that we have to import fish, chicken, turkey, rice and other food items that we should be exporting to less endowed countries.

I am particularly concerned about the education sector. This sector is very critical and must be a priority concern of every well-meaning government. I believe that the education sector should be the first item on any government’s to-do list because it is the sector that produces the manpower to drive every other sector. If we do not get the education sector right, therefore, every other sector will remain comatose.

The education sector is submerged in all kinds of evil ranging from administrative leakages, poor quality teaching and learning, deplorable infrastructure in schools and teacher training institutions, poor planning, curriculum deficiency, lack of supervision, examination fraud, compromised examination bodies, hooliganism, cultism, absence of necessary equipment for practical learning, paucity of local content and so much more. Half of these ailments are capable of weighing any system down, no wonder our education sector is in a sorry state today. It is so terrible that no political power holder can bear the thought of having even his beloved dog go close to any of the places we call schools to be trained.

It is no longer news that in the rankings of universities in the world, no Nigerian university comes into the first one hundred. Ghana is now a reference point and a place of academic refuge for Nigerians who wish to give their children quality education. Cyprus, Korea, India, Malaysia, Ukraine, Russia and many other countries now lure our children to their countries to help us educate them. Of course, a lot of capital flight is involved and our moneybags pay up easily. Many struggling parents also cough out the money by enslaving themselves just to ensure that their children are well educated. If nothing else, they can be sure that the menace of cultism will not catch up with their loved ones. Again, they can be sure that the course will end at the stipulated time and their stay will not be determined by strike actions. They can rest assured that the cancer of sorting and sex-for-marks syndrome will not play out and affect the children. They can be sure that only qualified teachers will teach their children and not those who got the job because they were well connected to the right people. This is a national shame. Shaaaame!

A new administration is on board now and once more, hopes have been awakened. We are hoping that the new drivers of the Nigerian project will work assiduously to bring this great nation out of the region of shame. A state of emergency should be declared on the education sector and all the prevailing ills discovered and dealt with one by one.

This country is of age to discard the colonial feeding bottle and put in place our own home-grown, home-powered education model that will address our own issues and propagate home-grown ideas. Our history, culture, resources and peculiar physical features should be prominent in our curriculum.

It is time to instill a new thought pattern to replace the old pattern that has crippled our nation. If this is possible, the only way to do it is to reshape the education industry.

Some time ago, the reigning slogan was ‘Rebranding Nigeria’. It was a way of changing our terrible image abroad. There can be no rebranding until we beam the searchlight on our education sector and give it our full attention.

It will be a welcome development, one that will really gladden the hearts of all Nigerians and strengthen our belief in the change that the ruling party is talking about, if this government enacts a law that makes it compulsory for all political leaders to send their children to Nigerian schools whether primary, secondary or tertiary. This will be one giant step forward by the crippled giant of Africa.

Nnenna Ihebom