Who is Samira Jibir? And tell us about your background.
I was born on the 1st of August, 1958 in Jos Plateau, in Northern Nigeria. I am an avid reader, a dogged researcher, disciplined-mentor with big interests in national and international development and growth. I earned the National Certificate of Education (NCE) in 1979 and Bachelor of Education (B.Ed) from the Ahmadu Bello University (ABU) in 1984. I obtained my Master of Arts (M.A.) in Human Resources Management from the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) in 2011. In 2018, I became a fellow of the Institute of Management Consultants and recently, I was awarded my Ph.D in Public Administration from the Nasarawa State University. After founding the Glisten International Academy in 2006, I became the FCT NAPPS President, Vice-President, North-Central, Nigeria: African Women Entrepreneurs Programme (AWEP) and the rest, they say it is history.
What led you to become a renowned educator?
Primarily the Passion! Passion, as they say, fuels growth. The huge gap between the government funded education and the real place that education ought to be has been the source of my inspiration. While we await our national education budget to do better, I believe the private sector can fill the necessary gaps too, thereby causing the real progressive educational development for the critical mass of our population and growth we all deserve.
How has your journey been so far in Nigeria’s developing education industry?
It’s been so far, so good. Nigeria’s education industry has faced challenges such as inadequate infrastructure, insufficient funding, and teacher shortages, particularly with the recent JAPA phenomenon. However, the sector has seen significant progress too through several initiatives from private ownerships across Nigeria, private investment, and also the rise of digital education platforms. Efforts to incorporate technology into education, like e-learning and ICT integration, are transforming access to quality learning.
Additionally, skills training programs and partnerships with international bodies are helping to address the gaps in digital literacy and vocational education, especially for youth and women. Despite the challenges, Nigeria’s education sector is growing, with a focus on leveraging the advantage that technology provides to improve outcomes.
You were formerly the FCT NAPPS President. How did that experience prepare you to become the National NAPPS President?
I think the network of the friends and educator colleagues helped me in building the capacity to transition from an FCT (Federal Capital Territory) NAPPS President role to the National NAPPS President. Other key experiences include Policy Understanding and Advocacy through Leading at the FCT level which provide deep insights into local challenges and policy issues. Also, Stakeholder Engagement and managing relationships with school proprietors, government officials, and the communities in FCT helped me to develop the skills needed to engage with a diverse set of national stakeholders. Another is Programs Implementation where we successfully rolled out initiatives at the FCT level. Finally, dealing with a lot of Crisis Management like funding shortages and multiple taxations wasn’t a child’s play too. Generally, the FCT NAPPS President role provided a valuable foundation for me in leadership, strategic, and operational experience needed to address the complexities of Nigeria’s private education sector at a national level.
As the NAPPS National President, what is your vision for the private schools across Nigeria?
The NAPPS Blueprint of 2024 – 2028 highlights most of the vision. We have set up a needs assessment and gap analysis think-tank committee on economic and technical directions for NAPPS schools across Nigeria. We will revamp the NAPPS leadership and membership drive through discounting, professional development and facilitating partnership and networking. Access to finance will be key to support schools in preparing bankable proposals and have access to grants and funding. In today’s world, little can be achieved without the use of technology. We plan to help NAPPS and schools to achieve a digital transition and education driven technology.
As a last pillar in our revamp agenda, soft skills development and capacity building will be encouraged for management, marketing, sales, and collaboration skills for NAPPS schools’ network. All of these will help to reposition NAPPS and private schools across Nigeria for national relevance and lasting impact. As a catalyst to achieving all these objectives, networking through collaboration and partnership will be encouraged with international organizations, national education agencies, including vendors and partners in educational space. Dynamism in programmes and activities implementation and succession planning will be sustained through remodeling, rebranding and refocusing.
In transforming the education landscape across Nigeria, TVET initiatives are a part of your blueprint. How do you plan to implement the initiative?
Further to my transformative education blueprint for NAPPS at a national level, and as developed by our technical and economic think tank committee, the implementation of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) initiatives would be crucial in addressing our education gaps and eventually the country’s skills gap and while further boosting employment opportunities too. A comprehensive plan is currently being designed to be able to implement TVET initiatives effectively, in the immediate and near future. These include Needs Assessment and Curriculum Development to identify Local Skills Gaps in specific technical and vocational skills. Industry Partnerships and Collaboration with key industries to co-develop curriculums that align with market demands, to ensure that even high school graduates are future job-ready. We are considering Digital Integration to introduce ICT skills as a core component of all TVET programs,
enabling student participants to adapt to an increasingly digital economy, like it is in other parts of the world. We are anticipating special intervention for Infrastructure Development through the Upgrading of schools digital infrastructure by investors in existing NAPPS members high schools to modernize facilities and incorporate technology, like digital labs and simulators, e-Kiosks and Digital Learning Hubs, and possibly Mobile TVET Units too that can move from school to school. In all of these, Teacher Training and Capacity Building will be critical to ensure that the programmes are sustainable across Nigeria. We hope to achieve strategic partnerships and special funding to help catalyse the implementation of the initiatives despite the harsh economic conditions and foreign exchange rate. It is our utmost belief that combining these strategies, our TVET initiative can provide the practical skills necessary to empower Nigerians children and youths, thereby supporting the government’s home-grown skills development programme and driving economic growth and reducing unemployment.
What is your philosophy to revamp NAPPS and turn it into an engine for educational growth in Nigeria?
You will see the details of our plans in the 2024 – 2028 blueprint document. However, to address your question in a more elaborate manner, revamping NAPPS (National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools) and turning it into a driving force for educational growth in Nigeria, the guiding philosophy would center on innovation, inclusivity, collaboration, and capacity-building. The steps will include Digital Transformation and Curriculum Modernization through the collaborative engagement with education experts to revise outdated curricula, incorporating STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics), entrepreneurship, and 21st-century skills. Schools should foster critical thinking, creativity, and problem-solving abilities in students. We plan to engage with International organisations and forge alliances with international educational bodies and organizations to bring global best practices, funding opportunities, and technical expertise to Nigeria’s private schools. Inclusive capacity building for school leaders and educators through professional development and teachers empowerment will be crucial to sustain quality assurance and standardization of the growth process. It is not going to be an easy ride, but we believe that through advocacy, NAPPS will also be better positioned as a strong voice in educational policy making, pushing for reforms that support the growth and advancement of private education. The economic hardship is enough. It is high time we increase the level of advocacy for tax reliefs, infrastructure grants, and regulatory frameworks that encourage private schools growth in education and subsequently be recognized as crucial contributors to national educational outcomes, deserving of government support and partnership.
Sports is a critical part of education and youth development. Do you have plans to use schools and education to develop sports and vice-versa?
Absolutely Yes! Integrating sports into education and youth development is a powerful approach to fostering holistic growth in students. Using schools and education to develop sports—and using sports to enhance education—can be mutually beneficial. This is already in place across the length and breadth of Nigeria. However, there is more to be done to enhance the existing integration of Sports in our School Curriculum through a more holistic development approach that ensures that sports is recognized as an essential part of the curriculum, just like academics for a balanced academic and athletic Growth. We hope to explore the opportunity of school-based sports academies for the purpose of talent identification and development that can also help to achieve sports and education scholarships for students to be encouraged and stay passionate about their sports dream. Also required is the need to develop younger sports teams in order to manage transitions and continuity when older team members graduate from school. However, critical infrastructure development is required to attain these lofty dreams. Developing and upgrading of sports facilities in schools will be crucial through a sustained investment drive by the Government and international sports organization for facilities like football fields, basketball courts, and indoor gymnasiums. These can serve as training grounds for young athletes and hubs for local communities that sports development agencies can leverage. Government should consider more land allocation to schools for this purpose. This will further encourage sports as a career pathway by educating students about the wide range of career opportunities in the sports industry beyond being an athlete, such as sports management, coaching, physiotherapy, and sports journalism.
There is a major out-of-school problem in Nigeria. You have mentioned in the past that you will explore a NAPPS intervention, where possible. How do you plan to work this out?
The problem of the out-of-school children is a ticking time bomb that we need to collectively arrest. And we consider it that to tackle the out-of-school problem in Nigeria, a NAPPS (National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools) intervention strategy could play a vital role by leveraging the strengths of private schools, partnerships, collaboration with religious organisations and community engagement. We believe that as a body, we must come up with strong initiatives to help our future society.
It is important to note that the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) has a big role to play in getting the cooperation of NAPPS and other will organisations and individuals that wish to provide any form of intervention.
We think that identifying Internally Displaced People Camps (IDP Camps) and bringing educational development close to the camps will play a huge role in addressing the out-of-school challenges. NAPPS will be more than happy to work with IDP camps to stem the tide of the out-of-school children.
NAPPS will seek avenues for a Public-Private Partnerships and Policy Advocacy for policies that support greater inclusion of private schools in national education initiatives, such as the Universal Basic Education Board (UBEB) program. NAPPS can lobby for private schools to be part of efforts aimed at universal access to primary and secondary education. We can work with the government to develop flexible schooling models with accelerated learning programs that allow out-of-school children to catch up on missed education. This could include fast-tracked curriculums that help them to gain on lost time.
The NAPPS just concluded its 17th Annual National Conference in Abuja. What is your advice to Nigerian school proprietors who are trying to navigate a Vulnerable, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous (VUCA) operating environment?
I will encourage every school proprietor to read the conference communique for better understanding on the outcomes of the discussions and deliberations over the 2-day period. Navigating a VUCA operating environment requires proprietors to adopt resilience, adaptability, and innovative strategies to thrive in challenging times such as this. We must note that these challenges are driven by global crises, government policies, technology advancements, and funding issues. But at NAPPS, we are determined to help schools in the association to achieve operational resilience, adapt to economic pressures, focus on quality, differentiation and innovation. Investment in leadership and staff development, while staying informed and proactive will help proprietors and their schools to thrive and achieve great institutional outcomes.
Globally, education development fuels economic development. What is your advice to the governments across Africa to improve the economies by advancing their respective education sectors?
Personally, I think that to fuel economic development through education, African governments must adopt a multi-faceted approach that emphasizes quality, accessibility, and relevance in their education systems.
It is time that governments must invest in technology, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, STEM and Vocational Education programmes. Prioritizing technology driven education programs that will inspire and empower students across the continent. By prioritizing these strategies, African governments can create an education system that not only improves human capital but also drives economic transformation, fosters innovation, and supports long-term sustainable growth.
____________________ Hajia Samira Jibir Ph.D is the National President of the National Association of Proprietors of Private Schools (NAPPS) and the Chief Executive Officer of the prestigious Glisten International Academy in Abuja. A mentor and coach to countless female entrepreneurs across the country, she also serves on the Board of Trustees of several National and International institutions a NGOs.
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