ONE development paradigm that has proven effective in propelling real time economic transformation around the world is the adoption of a model that combines mass education with infrastructural development. My inquiry while in Japan attested to that. This model is at the root of the astronomical transformation of Japan from a hitherto peasant agrarian economy to a world leader in technological development. That model is also behind the miracle in China, Singapore and Malaysia, among others.
You may call it two-point agenda in the Nigerian parlance. That is how many countries that have seen development achieved it. We cannot do otherwise here in Nigeria. If we waste the next 50 years doing the wrong thing and pursuing misdirected selfish objectives, we will remain where we are or even worse.
Once the masses of the people are educated and basic infrastructures are provided to make life comfortable, every other aspiration of the state would fall in line. Peace and harmony would be achieved. No one would cry marginalization. But without education, if you like build skyscrapers and gold-coated railways, roads and bridges, they will be vandalized because the intended beneficiaries don’t know the value.
That is why oil pipelines, electricity cables and railings on bridges, etc, are constantly being vandalized in Nigeria. The people are illiterates. They don’t appreciate the value of those facilities. Their mentality is poor. Paradise is not meant for the unclean, the filthy at heart.
Against this backdrop, the recent declaration of free education by the Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha is laudable, historic and heartwarming. It sounds like a dream to many; being the first of its kind in Igbo land where school fees has for centuries prevented millions from going to school. The future of Imo State will be bright if this policy is sustained. We take the Governor by his word.
Furthermore, the Governor has embarked on an aggressive roads infrastructural development throughout the State. My investigation shows that the Governor has embarked on a massive rehabilitation of abandoned inner city roads in Owerri, Orlu and Okigwe in addition to a fifteen (15) kilometre road rehabilitation project going on simultaneously in all the 27 local government councils of Imo State. The people say a miracle is taking place in Imo State!
But cynics are wondering how the Governor is going to fund all these projects? Where is the money going to come from, they ask? But I have no doubt that Owelle Rochas Okorocha, who has been a selfless individual, has the capacity to effectively accomplish the task he has set for himself. Here is an individual who has proven through his Rochas Foundation that free education is possible in Nigeria. All the Rochas Foundation Schools in Owerri, Jos and Ibadan offer free education. And yet, no one has ever asked how he is able to do that?
For one thing, Rochas is telling Nigerians that the states have money to accomplish any project if those entrusted with those monies are honest and want to work in the people’s interest. Rocha’s pragmatic effort is akin to what former Governor Sam Mbakwe did in the old Imo State. Governor Mbakwe had on assumption of office in October 1979 embarked on several educational and infrastructural projects all at the same time. They include building one cottage industry in each of the then 21 Local Government Councils, Imo State University, Imo Airport, Imo Concorde Hotel, Amaraku Power Plant, and rural roads development, among others. That is how a selfless leader works for the benefit of the people. Rochas is in the mold of Mbakwe.
The Rochas education expansion programme is of critical importance. Coming at a time when the disgust generated by the hike in school fees in the entire school system by former Governors Achike Udenwa and Ikedi Ohakim administrations, the Rochas free education policy serves as a soothing balm on the wounded hearts of Imo people.
All right thinking citizens of Imo State should support the Governor because of his capacity to bring needed change in Imo State. On his part, Governor Okorocha should ensure that the free education policy is entrenched by way of a difficult legislation passed by the Imo State House of Assembly to prevent a looting governor tomorrow from overturning it.
Addressing a large crowd at the Imo Freedom Square in Owerri on Tuesday, February 21, the Governor declared that “no student of Imo State origin studying in any institution owned by the state would pay fees”. He announced scholarships for all students and pupils of Imo State origin from primary through secondary and university level.
According to the Governor, students of Imo State origin studying in Imo State University will receive a scholarship of N100, 000 per annum out of which N80, 000 will be free while N20, 000 is loan to be repaid by the student after graduation.
Students in the polytechnics pursuing the Higher National Diploma (HND) will receive N80, 000 made up of free N60, 000 and N20, 000 loan. Those on the Ordinary National Diploma (OND) programme will receive N60, 000 broken down into free N40, 000 and N20, 000 loan. All primary school students will equally receive N25, 000 scholarships per annum. The Governor added that the loans are interest free and have no collateral attached.
But one thing missing from the Governor’s scholarship package is the apparent exclusion of students of Imo State origin studying in other states of the federation. What is the fate of those students? Are they excluded from the scholarships? Why I’m asking is because in 1982, while studying at the University of Lagos (Unilag), I received bursary award from the Governor Mbakwe administration.
The Governor should be magnanimous to extend the scholarships to all students of Imo State origin studying anywhere in the country. Making studying in Imo State owned institutions a precondition for receiving the scholarship would engender undue pressure to gain admission into those institutions. Since all students of Imo State origin can’t confine themselves only to Imo State owned institutions, those outside the state should not be left out in the Governor’s progressive education programme. The contributions of these ones are also needed for the development of the state.
For the first time in history, Igbo children have the opportunity to go to school free without being hindered by the inability of their parents to pay school fees. The burden of school fees has over the centuries prevented millions of Igbo people from going to school. As a matter of fact, it is the failure of Igbo parents to pay school fees that led to the resort to business by the Igbo.
The Igbo took to business as a last resort rather than by choice. And, doing business as illiterates has not been helpful to the Igbo. They’re at the mercy of government policies that always go against their business interest. That, partly, is the reason why the Igbo are not among the richest business tycoons in the country despite their acclaimed business acumen.
Consequently, any process that could bring about radical change in Igbo world view is welcome. Education would certainly perform that magic and take the state to a higher level of efficiency and productivity. That is what transformation is all about. And that is what made the developed world what they are today. Rochas has effectively begun the process by this singular act.
Transformation entails a fundamental change in character with little or no semblance to the established past. There must be a total detachment from the unenviable past. Education is transformational because it brings about fundamental changes in the character of the human person and by extension the human society. Without education, there is no much difference between man and the primates. The mental capacity developed through education is what makes the difference. That is why it is the bedrock of human civilization.
The world is divided into developed and undeveloped nations, which is another way of saying educated and uneducated nations. The benefits of education are numerous and include mental and physical development and wellbeing, attitudinal change, material prosperity, civilized behavior and character, etc. The aggregate of all of this results in development.
On the other hand, the consequences of illiteracy (or lack of education) include the opposite of all of the above positive attributes plus poverty, disease, stagnation, backwardness, fear and dependency syndrome all of which aggregate to underdevelopment. The only force that can liberate a people from the morass of poverty and underdevelopment is education. Without education, forget about national development in the modern technological sense.
Now that the world has moved from industrial age to information technology age, the challenge is even greater. None educated persons have no space in today’s world. Imo people should rally around Rochas in his effort to transform the state. The other states of the federation should embrace free education as the only means to develop Nigeria.
You may call it two-point agenda in the Nigerian parlance. That is how many countries that have seen development achieved it. We cannot do otherwise here in Nigeria. If we waste the next 50 years doing the wrong thing and pursuing misdirected selfish objectives, we will remain where we are or even worse.
Once the masses of the people are educated and basic infrastructures are provided to make life comfortable, every other aspiration of the state would fall in line. Peace and harmony would be achieved. No one would cry marginalization. But without education, if you like build skyscrapers and gold-coated railways, roads and bridges, they will be vandalized because the intended beneficiaries don’t know the value.
That is why oil pipelines, electricity cables and railings on bridges, etc, are constantly being vandalized in Nigeria. The people are illiterates. They don’t appreciate the value of those facilities. Their mentality is poor. Paradise is not meant for the unclean, the filthy at heart.
Against this backdrop, the recent declaration of free education by the Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha is laudable, historic and heartwarming. It sounds like a dream to many; being the first of its kind in Igbo land where school fees has for centuries prevented millions from going to school. The future of Imo State will be bright if this policy is sustained. We take the Governor by his word.
Furthermore, the Governor has embarked on an aggressive roads infrastructural development throughout the State. My investigation shows that the Governor has embarked on a massive rehabilitation of abandoned inner city roads in Owerri, Orlu and Okigwe in addition to a fifteen (15) kilometre road rehabilitation project going on simultaneously in all the 27 local government councils of Imo State. The people say a miracle is taking place in Imo State!
But cynics are wondering how the Governor is going to fund all these projects? Where is the money going to come from, they ask? But I have no doubt that Owelle Rochas Okorocha, who has been a selfless individual, has the capacity to effectively accomplish the task he has set for himself. Here is an individual who has proven through his Rochas Foundation that free education is possible in Nigeria. All the Rochas Foundation Schools in Owerri, Jos and Ibadan offer free education. And yet, no one has ever asked how he is able to do that?
For one thing, Rochas is telling Nigerians that the states have money to accomplish any project if those entrusted with those monies are honest and want to work in the people’s interest. Rocha’s pragmatic effort is akin to what former Governor Sam Mbakwe did in the old Imo State. Governor Mbakwe had on assumption of office in October 1979 embarked on several educational and infrastructural projects all at the same time. They include building one cottage industry in each of the then 21 Local Government Councils, Imo State University, Imo Airport, Imo Concorde Hotel, Amaraku Power Plant, and rural roads development, among others. That is how a selfless leader works for the benefit of the people. Rochas is in the mold of Mbakwe.
The Rochas education expansion programme is of critical importance. Coming at a time when the disgust generated by the hike in school fees in the entire school system by former Governors Achike Udenwa and Ikedi Ohakim administrations, the Rochas free education policy serves as a soothing balm on the wounded hearts of Imo people.
All right thinking citizens of Imo State should support the Governor because of his capacity to bring needed change in Imo State. On his part, Governor Okorocha should ensure that the free education policy is entrenched by way of a difficult legislation passed by the Imo State House of Assembly to prevent a looting governor tomorrow from overturning it.
Addressing a large crowd at the Imo Freedom Square in Owerri on Tuesday, February 21, the Governor declared that “no student of Imo State origin studying in any institution owned by the state would pay fees”. He announced scholarships for all students and pupils of Imo State origin from primary through secondary and university level.
According to the Governor, students of Imo State origin studying in Imo State University will receive a scholarship of N100, 000 per annum out of which N80, 000 will be free while N20, 000 is loan to be repaid by the student after graduation.
Students in the polytechnics pursuing the Higher National Diploma (HND) will receive N80, 000 made up of free N60, 000 and N20, 000 loan. Those on the Ordinary National Diploma (OND) programme will receive N60, 000 broken down into free N40, 000 and N20, 000 loan. All primary school students will equally receive N25, 000 scholarships per annum. The Governor added that the loans are interest free and have no collateral attached.
But one thing missing from the Governor’s scholarship package is the apparent exclusion of students of Imo State origin studying in other states of the federation. What is the fate of those students? Are they excluded from the scholarships? Why I’m asking is because in 1982, while studying at the University of Lagos (Unilag), I received bursary award from the Governor Mbakwe administration.
The Governor should be magnanimous to extend the scholarships to all students of Imo State origin studying anywhere in the country. Making studying in Imo State owned institutions a precondition for receiving the scholarship would engender undue pressure to gain admission into those institutions. Since all students of Imo State origin can’t confine themselves only to Imo State owned institutions, those outside the state should not be left out in the Governor’s progressive education programme. The contributions of these ones are also needed for the development of the state.
For the first time in history, Igbo children have the opportunity to go to school free without being hindered by the inability of their parents to pay school fees. The burden of school fees has over the centuries prevented millions of Igbo people from going to school. As a matter of fact, it is the failure of Igbo parents to pay school fees that led to the resort to business by the Igbo.
The Igbo took to business as a last resort rather than by choice. And, doing business as illiterates has not been helpful to the Igbo. They’re at the mercy of government policies that always go against their business interest. That, partly, is the reason why the Igbo are not among the richest business tycoons in the country despite their acclaimed business acumen.
Consequently, any process that could bring about radical change in Igbo world view is welcome. Education would certainly perform that magic and take the state to a higher level of efficiency and productivity. That is what transformation is all about. And that is what made the developed world what they are today. Rochas has effectively begun the process by this singular act.
Transformation entails a fundamental change in character with little or no semblance to the established past. There must be a total detachment from the unenviable past. Education is transformational because it brings about fundamental changes in the character of the human person and by extension the human society. Without education, there is no much difference between man and the primates. The mental capacity developed through education is what makes the difference. That is why it is the bedrock of human civilization.
The world is divided into developed and undeveloped nations, which is another way of saying educated and uneducated nations. The benefits of education are numerous and include mental and physical development and wellbeing, attitudinal change, material prosperity, civilized behavior and character, etc. The aggregate of all of this results in development.
On the other hand, the consequences of illiteracy (or lack of education) include the opposite of all of the above positive attributes plus poverty, disease, stagnation, backwardness, fear and dependency syndrome all of which aggregate to underdevelopment. The only force that can liberate a people from the morass of poverty and underdevelopment is education. Without education, forget about national development in the modern technological sense.
Now that the world has moved from industrial age to information technology age, the challenge is even greater. None educated persons have no space in today’s world. Imo people should rally around Rochas in his effort to transform the state. The other states of the federation should embrace free education as the only means to develop Nigeria.
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