Late last year (2012), the South-South geo-political zone of Nigeria mounted a highly successful education summit where the likes of Oby Ezekwesili poured out their brains. Kalu Prince-Iroha was there, sucking in the details. That summit had the formidable force of the BRACED Commission, owned by all the states of the South-South zone and led by an astute diplomat, Joe Keshi, as director-general.
Now, the South-East zone is set to mount its own education summit, and the force behind the Trojan horse is Praik-Applied, an organisation, that is fully affiliated as licensee of the famous Applied Scholastics International (ASI) that, with study technology and new study applications, specialises in turning around even an academic deaf into a super scholar.
If Praik-Applied is the force, then Prince-Iroha is the brain. This unassuming young entrepreneur and study expert is seen as a fiercely courageous corporate strategist and event management expert who however seems to have seen it all in the treacherous world of business, investment and international collaborative networking.
Prince-Iroha seems to enjoy stepping out in a dance meant only for the lion-hearted, and he has many lion-skin gourds to show for it. Already, he has got all the five South-East governments behind this very important project of coming together to rescue education in the region.
In a brief chat, Prince-Iroha told BusinessDay that education began as the light that shone on the path of civilisation for the enterprising South-East but the same education now seems to be the zone’s burden. He is particularly angry most comedians now cast the east in the mode of a people crazy for money. To him, education should be the real craze. Changing this malady required broadening the rescue efforts of a few governors.
So, on Thursday and Friday, May 9 and 10, 2013, at the womb of one of the most prestigious hotels in the zone, renowned experts from around the world would team up with top brains in the region to look into the planks of education such as child education, basics, vocational education, higher education, teachers education and retraining, science and technology, study technology and applied education.
Above all, the eggheads would find a way to tackle the growing hunger for certificates rather knowledge in the region, a virus that seems to breed exam fraud. The education summit would develop a blueprint for undergraduate financing scheme so that indigent undergraduates can study and pay later or secure soft loans to pull through tertiary institutions.
This task does not seem to faze Prince-Iroha and his team because of the calibre of resource persons on the cards. Participants include policy makers, education managers and heads of educational organisations. “It’s not an all-comers’ affair because space is limited,” he warned. Registration is said to be busily going on online.
The task appears daunting, the goals noble and the objectives laudable. Yet, this team leader has only but motivation for the men and women behind the project. Prince-Iroha seems to be aware that even in his Ohaofia native setting, only the brave step out when the drums of war are sounded.
IGNATIUS CHUKWU
