Perhaps because of my background in Philosophy, having earned a Masters in Professional Ethics ((MPE) from Unilag (“Great Akokites!”), I seldom see things in black and white. The grey area is always far greater. Truth is, meeting our ‘needs’ is what enables us to live, literally, but satisfying our ‘wants’ is what makes life worth living, more enjoyable, more meaningful.
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Much has been said about the largesse doled out to our heroines, the Super Falcons, who recently made their country exceedingly proud by winning the Women’s Africa Cup of Nations (WAFCON) for the 10th time! But life cannot be measured only by the tangibles because the intangibles far exceed the tangibles. Yes, it’s true that the sum gifted the players could pay the salaries of X number of teachers, doctors etc as has been repeatedly pointed out in the media. And it’s also true that our retired and serving policemen, military personnel and all government workers for that matter, deserve better pay and a far more dignified retirement. My sincere prayer is that our governments, and by that I mean both the national and subnational governments, will do the needful very quickly. But have we also thought about the millions of Nigerians, primarily the youth, that this win and the subsequent rewards must have inspired? Thereby encouraging them to strive for excellence in whatever they do. Assuring them that their God given talent (whatever it is) is also valid. And in the process restoring much needed hope for the future.
Many a time, when countries seek to host high profile sporting competitions, they are not only looking at the potential direct economic benefits to their society but they are thinking of the joy and the immense sense of pride which hosting such an event and welcoming visitors from across the world would elicit in their people. And the benefits to any nation of a happier, more patriotic citizen cannot be quantified. Saudi Arabia, which in recent times has been vying to host almost every global sporting competition and other momentous events is certainly not short of money. A country once vilified for alleged human rights violation has through this strategy, warmed its way into the hearts of the international community. Hosting such events simply makes the nation more visible and increases its popularity, in the same way that the Super Falcons victory also positively projects the image of our dear nation.
It cannot be disputed that our specie, the human being, has a fundamental desire to be acknowledged and appreciated. This has nothing to do with pride or vanity but everything to do with our existence and relevance being recognised, and the reassurance that our good deeds, sacrifices, abilities or wins have value. Of course, the same applies to government workers too, without whom the country simply would not be able to function.
‘Needs’ and ‘wants’ need to be met side by side. Just like you might buy your child ice cream or a gift to celebrate her success in school and to motivate her to do better still, even when there are countless needs that you are yet to meet. Sometimes, it’s a sacrifice worth making, which in due course pays great dividends for all. It’s not everything that can be measured in numbers.
If we are to be fair, we should acknowledge the many things that Bola Ahmed Tinubu has done. Permit me to speak from the perspective of the education sector, the sector to which I and the publication I represent belong. Within the first two years (or thereabouts) of his Presidency, Tinubu has done the following and so much more:
* Enactment of the Student Loan Act 2023 – Introducing the Nigerian Education Loan Fund popularly known as NELFUND, which has so far disbursed over N77 billion of loans to fund the tertiary education of almost 400,000 students. Many of whom had lost hope about the future. And so had their parents.
* Expansion of Basic Education through UBEC and Almajiri Integration
* Digital Skills Training Initiative: 3 Million Technical Talent (3MTT) Program
* Launched the TVET initiative to empower millions of Nigerian youth with industry ready skills
* Inaugurated a committee, through the Minister of Education, to reposition sports as a national talent pipeline
* Through investor friendly policies, catalyzed plans by the University of Birmingham to become the first British university to establish a branch in Nigeria
* Suspended what some may call the wasteful Federal Government foreign education scholarships while increasing the sums for local scholarships and introducing two new scholarship categories.
Of course it’s not yet Uhuru but I think it’s important to acknowledge just how far we have come in a little over 2 years. With time, our hitherto comatose economy will begin to enjoy the benefits of the policies listed above and more. Let’s give our girls their accolades and if that means rewarding them for attracting good publicity to a nation that has suffered more than its fair share of negative publicity and international opprobrium, then so be it. Ultimately, our dear country will be the better for it. Lest I forget the President’s masterstroke. Lee Kian Yew, arguably one of the greatest and most transformational leaders in recent history, faced a conundrum. How was he going to evoke in Singapore’s newly formed army, a sense of ownership in the nascent country? What would motivate the soldiers to fight and even pay the ultimate sacrifice if necessary. Aha! Give them the chance to own their own house! So that’s exactly what he did. And it worked. Therefore, I can hardly think of a better way to inspire the same sentiment in our girls and the technical crew. Both those based here in Nigeria and those in the diaspora. The need for patriotism cannot be overemphasized. With that singular act, the players based in the diaspora have instantly become Nigeria’s chief marketers.
Now, let’s speak to this current government’s vigorous promotion and support of talent, whether this be in sports, acquisition of digital skills, honing of vocational ability or in the creative sector, where Nigeria has proudly taken centre stage. One is reminded of the great Albert Einstein who once said, ”every child is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid”. Thank you Mr President for recognising this fact and investing in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET), gradually transforming the average Nigerian’s mindset which had always seen such as an inferior form of education to academics. The number of lives this modification in mindset will restore hope to of a decent future, can hardly be imagined. EduTimes Africa certainly cannot be accused of jumping on this TVET bandwagon as the very first interview that it conducted for its maiden issue on January 23, 2023 was with Christian Stehlin of GIZ, the German government agency which supports TVET in over 40 African countries. On a personal level, I opined in my first book, The Last Flight, and in a couple of articles in my rested BusinessDay column, why Nigeria hadn’t considered adopting the German style dual education system as a strategy to tackle the twin evils of unemployment and the high out-of-school numbers, which would automatically accelerate economic development. That was almost 9 years ago.
I have no intention of crossing swords with my Christian faith which rightly says in so many words that ‘where there’s life, there’s hope’. But this does not blind me to the merits of a school of thought which believes it’s when there’s hope that there’s life. I don’t believe the two have to be mutually exclusive. Yet again I say, not all benefits can be measured in numbers.
EduTimes Africa, a product of Education Times Africa, is a magazine publication that aims to lend its support to close the yawning gap in Africa's educational development.